how does the body wood affect overall tone?

Man... you are opening Pandora's box.

 

The wood doesn't matter at all-it's all in the electronics...

...no no just kidding. I just love to watch you guys bitch.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonewood

 

Our Guy, Chris Brandt has an article on this topic in this months issue. Physics Rules!

 

Dude you guys are all crazy its not the wood or the electronics. Everybody know its the kind of glue you use. I swear this site is full of baffons.

 

Baffons?! LOL, is that a type of monkey?

 

LOL, your thinking of baboons, they're the ones with Technicolor butts.

 

it enhances the mid-hump®

 

Since you're experimenting, there is nothing to ask but plenty to do. Build four bodies with the same design, one each from the timbers you mentioned. For example, a simple pbass design allows for the scratch plate assembly to be reasonably easily removed and installed. Use one neck only, and assemble on the given body to be tested. So the scratch plate assembly and neck can be shifted to each body as required. Record each assembled bass, record it and note the differences.

If you just want generic information, this topic has been over done so use the search facility.

 

Better yet:
build a neck with electronics all in it, and all the bodies you need (at least two of each wood type, to catch any deviations within the species ).
Then you can use machine screws and inserts to join the neck-electronic unit to the different bodies and perform the test.
that's about the closest I can imagine to 'all else equal' test.

BTW: use some kind of wave analysis tool to be sure not to be biased - your ears will lie to you, because the differenses are soooooo minimal.

 

how about building three 'identical' bodies from each wood species where

* two bodies are made from the same board

* the third body from a species is made from a different board

* paint all of the bodies the same color so that there is no visual indication of which body is which

* mark an identification number in the control cavity that corresponds to a data sheet on the bass, and cover it with opaque tape until all of the testing is completed

* after all of the bodies are completed, mix them up and have a friend randomly assign each a number. mark this visably on the body. use this number to keep track of all of your testing data

* use the same bridge, pickups, pickguard, strings, and completed neck for all of your testing


once you have completed all of your testing, reveal the hidden control cavity numbers so that you can corrolate the construction data with your testing data. what would be interesting to see is how different the two bodies from the same board sound to each other, and also how close they sound to the third body made from the same wood species but a different board. you could also identify variation within the same species this way, and see if this is greater/lessor than the variation between different species


most important if you follow this plan to the T ...

you can now talk as the authority on how body wood impacts tone

all the best,

R

 

I don't know what you're planning on doing for your experiment but it sounds like an awful lot of work for a physics class. Truth be told you could probably get a masters in psychology, physics, or music (you chose) if you did your due diligence on the topic.

You are likely to get every answer from "no difference" to "it's the most important thing" (which is why you could get a psych degree). Any way you slice it, you're getting opinions and just that. For a physics project, you need to do some science.

I recommend checking this page out
http://www.noyceguitars.com/Technotes/Articles/T2.html