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How much does routing new cavities in a bass affect sound?

P

pattyløve

Apr 7, 2009
238
14
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Sydney, Australia
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Endorsing Artist: Ashdown Engineering, D'addario
#1
So I have a MIM jazz bass that has been subjected to a LOT of mods over the years. One of these mods was turning it into a PJ a few years ago. To do this, i obviously had to rout a bigger hole for the neck pickup.

It has since been converted back to a JJ but i am now considering what other options i can try out for it. Eg a humbucker, MM pickup, soapbar etc. Im not worried about ugly routing holes etc because its underneath the pickguard. My biggest concern is wether taking more mass out of the body can drastically change the body's tone/resonance and such.

Is this a valid concern or is it a very minimal change to the body in the scheme of things?
 
#2
Very minimal. Even if we consider that the body does affect tone (widely debated, though personally I think it does), it affects it very minimally, and a little less mass would have almost no affect. Just look at all the chambered basses out there.
 
#3
putting in the new pickups will change your tone way more for you to notice anything. if at all if you make the new routes but test the bass with the old pickups if they can fit, it will be interesting to make a few recordings with the same gear and settings, to find out if there is any different. i suspect there will be next to none.

for example, record a p bass stock
then route for a J or MM at the bridge but record the p pickup again before wiring in the bridge pickup. will you hear much difference? probably next to none!
 
#4
The neck joint and bridge will mean more then body mass. Obviously changing pickups will alter the tone the most.

String vibration is directly related to the solidity of the neck to the body and its ability to translate the string vibration. Softer body woods absorb some of the vibration so the sound will be softer and the notes will decay a touch quicker.

Having said that pulling mass out of the body will not matter much if all the elements are thought out. If it was a problem then hollow body basses would never work.
 

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