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does weight affect tone?
- Thread starter Traynor
- Start date
IME heavy ash has a different timbre than light ash. I'm talking about a drastic difference in weight, and I'm not convinced that the difference in tone comes from weight alone.
Also, as noted by others: if you're talking about basses that weigh just a pound or two different, then any tonal differences that do exist will be really small, and it's doubtful that anyone but you will notice... and you might not notice.
Then there's this: two basses that are identical in every way including weight can sound different simply due to the variable nature of wood. So, if there's a tonal difference between basses that are identical but don't weigh the same, you cannot conclude that the tonal difference is because of the difference in weight.
This is my long-winded way of saying Yes / No / Maybe.
Also, as noted by others: if you're talking about basses that weigh just a pound or two different, then any tonal differences that do exist will be really small, and it's doubtful that anyone but you will notice... and you might not notice.
Then there's this: two basses that are identical in every way including weight can sound different simply due to the variable nature of wood. So, if there's a tonal difference between basses that are identical but don't weigh the same, you cannot conclude that the tonal difference is because of the difference in weight.
This is my long-winded way of saying Yes / No / Maybe.
I know what Rogers says, and I love his basses, but if the market suddenly spurned semi-hollow basses, I suspect he'd go back to not chambering 
))
As far as puck goes, yeah, bummer about Price but that's the nature of the game. The playoffs are almost as much a matter of skill as durability and determination. If the blue shirts win (as I expect now), I'll be pulling for them!
))As far as puck goes, yeah, bummer about Price but that's the nature of the game. The playoffs are almost as much a matter of skill as durability and determination. If the blue shirts win (as I expect now), I'll be pulling for them!
Check out his interviews on YouTube. He states quite clearly his belief that lighter instruments sound better. I do agree that many people (such as me) have other reasons for wanting a light bass that would result in us paying more, but in this instance that is not the only reason for it. I'm not saying that everyone agrees with him - for example, I don't...I'm more on your side with believing that weight is irrelevant - but I'm offering him up as an example of someone who thinks that lighter=better tone.
On an OT note, shame about Price going down.I thought they would have made the final otherwise and had a good chance at bringing the Cup back to Canada.
That adds stiffness (the end of the neck can't vibrate) rather than weight, though, I would have thought?
It should be possible to model the extreme end of things, though, if someone has an offcut of granite kitchen worktop and the means to mould it into a shape sufficient to bolt a neck, bridge, and a pickup to. It should be roughly the right thickness. Ditto for a big chunk of balsawood.
Sorry, but the Cup is not going back to Canada. It's not going to NYC either.
Whoever faces LA or Chicago is going to be turned into minced meat. Their only hope is injuries.
Just pissed that my Hawks blew a 2 goal lead last nite...on home ice! Slackers letting off the gas again! lol
Whoever faces LA or Chicago is going to be turned into minced meat. Their only hope is injuries.
Just pissed that my Hawks blew a 2 goal lead last nite...on home ice! Slackers letting off the gas again! lol
No, no, you miss ze point my friend. Unplug your bass, push the headstock against a wall or a door, play a note and see. For that matter, if you have a hollow or semi hollow, rock it forward out of the comfy cusion of your belly and play a note. you will be inspired to play many notes. It's an experience !
Been there, done that. A handy dead spot fix when recording, although I prefer using the desk my stuff is on*. It adds sustain, but it's adding stiffness so less energy is being sucked out by flapping the neck around. The weight of what you are pushing against isn't the issue - a wall is the weight of a house, but it works with less weight if it stops the end of the neck vibrating.
* I am not sure what is the best tonewood for a desk to assist with it is.
Which is connected to the world so I have the weight of the world on my headstock...no wonder my shoulder hurts.
Somebody go bolt a bridge and neck onto a tree. Slap a pickup on it and let us know how it sounds.
Even better set up an amp and do a video. I'd like to hear the TB eggheads wisecrackers purists and comedians pick that to molecules !
Hmmmmm...How it sounds depends on the type of tree.
Hmm I have a nice black cherry tree that went down in a storm on one of my lots. I've been meaning to get the portable band mill guy to cut it up into some nice slabs for bodies. Maybe I'll go over there with my limb saw and cut off a nice straight 4" branch and give it a try.
I think the neck is much more influential to the tone than the weight of the bass overall. You could take two basses of the same brand/model that weigh the same, one with a maple/maple neck/fingerboard and the other with a wenge/wenge and they will sound quite different.
OTOH you could take two basses of the same brand/model, one weighing 8lbs and one weighing 12lbs and they will sound different but not nearly as much different as the first pair, even though the weight difference is large.
OTOH you could take two basses of the same brand/model, one weighing 8lbs and one weighing 12lbs and they will sound different but not nearly as much different as the first pair, even though the weight difference is large.
I own a chambered 5 string Sadowsky (7.4 lbs! Wow!) and it sounds great - The B string sounds every bit as good as my old Ken Lawrence (which was as good as it gets, to my mind) and it plays even better - AND, I barely feel it on my back/shoulders. I freakin' love it.
He does, however use a fairly "high mass" bridge, which I find a bit of a puzzle.
If you believe what a famed luthier like Roger Sadowsky says, the lighter weight basses sound better, which is why he chooses the lightest wood blanks and also now chambers all of his NYC basses.
But personally, I don't think it affects tone in any appreciable way whatsoever, especially not in an electric instrument. However, I've never seen any appreciable evidence supporting one side or the other, so I think the official verdict has to be "uncertain".
My shoulder and back sure are happy though with how amazing my 8-ish lb Sterling sounds though, and I loved the tones that came out of my 7-ish lb Precision Lyte that I had years ago.
Here's a way weight effects tone: I'm happier playing a light bass so, which means I play better. LIGHTER BASS = BETTER TONE!
Body thickness affects tone much more than weight, I found out the long way.
I owned a bolt-on Epiphone Ripper(all maple, 11.5lbs), own a Ric 4003(all maple, 9.5lbs), and decided to build myself a PJ that was all maple for a bright, aggressive P bass tone.
The problem for my Warmoth PJ was that even though both of my other bassed were different weights and had totally different body/neck joints and pickup types and positions(Ric single coils vs G&L MFD humbucker/P) they sounded similar in many ways, and had that harsh piano sound.
The PJ sounded more "dead"(some would say "solid") and I attribute that to its' thick body. It weighed the exact same as the Ripper(11.5lbs)
Even though both my Ric amd Ripper had different size bodies, they were both significantly thinner, and resonated with brilliance.
I owned a bolt-on Epiphone Ripper(all maple, 11.5lbs), own a Ric 4003(all maple, 9.5lbs), and decided to build myself a PJ that was all maple for a bright, aggressive P bass tone.
The problem for my Warmoth PJ was that even though both of my other bassed were different weights and had totally different body/neck joints and pickup types and positions(Ric single coils vs G&L MFD humbucker/P) they sounded similar in many ways, and had that harsh piano sound.
The PJ sounded more "dead"(some would say "solid") and I attribute that to its' thick body. It weighed the exact same as the Ripper(11.5lbs)
Even though both my Ric amd Ripper had different size bodies, they were both significantly thinner, and resonated with brilliance.
Maple is a strange wood - it's so stiff that it does behave differently than alder/ash. I've never really liked maple-bodies for the reasons you list - but it is't weight that does it. Why your P-bass sounds dead, I suspect, is that you just got a less than great piece of maple. Lord, a P-bass body made of maple must weight a *ton*!
I find thin maple(rock maple) bodies to have a hard wood/metallic tone, for the most part. You're not going to get Tool's "Sober" sound with alder or swamp ash very easily. Hard Ash sounds a bit closer.
I have a 2nd maple P body that I want to shave down and I'm pretty sure it will be bright and resonant. I've noticed this trend with rock maple. Green Day's "She" was a bright maple Gibson Grabber.
Also the center neck-through strip on Billy Gould's early Aria Pro(not the one from The Real Thing) was rock maple. Another bright, brash sound that is rare for alder/ash.
Although I love my Ric I feel my tone is tied to rock maple neck-through construction more than Ric's pickup configuration. In fact a large part of the Ric tone for me is the thin maple body and its' neck.
I have a 2nd maple P body that I want to shave down and I'm pretty sure it will be bright and resonant. I've noticed this trend with rock maple. Green Day's "She" was a bright maple Gibson Grabber.
Also the center neck-through strip on Billy Gould's early Aria Pro(not the one from The Real Thing) was rock maple. Another bright, brash sound that is rare for alder/ash.
Although I love my Ric I feel my tone is tied to rock maple neck-through construction more than Ric's pickup configuration. In fact a large part of the Ric tone for me is the thin maple body and its' neck.
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Also, I shouldn't say my Warmoth PJ sounds dead or not bright. It's just not quite as resonant and ringing as my Ric or my old Ripper.
The average Fender player would probably not describe it as dark at all. I just like a very brash sound.
The average Fender player would probably not describe it as dark at all. I just like a very brash sound.
- Jun 30, 2010
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Speaking of which… a friend made a fretless w/the body made from of an old maple butcher-block. It was a big, thick Jag shaped body and it weighs a bloody ton. He has G&L L-2000 pu's electronics in it and it sounds like Moby Dick! - deep, full, rich and flavorful. But even playing it sitting will give your leg cramps! Maybe for a recording, but I would never consider playing it live. So the point is there is always a happy medium based on rational function that needs to be achieved in our romantic quest for ultimate tone.
