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Maple body basses - why there's not that many?

#41
I own 2 maple/neck through basses, and they are both *very* heavy, I actually started working my shoulder's to help with this and I use a wide strap, but they both sound awesome, and both sound very different because of the pickups, I really can't tell if maple has its sound or not, but I'm willing to bet that weight is the reason its not very popular
 
#42
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Never weighed either, but they're both pretty damn heavy, they also sound amazing
 
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#43
Tone Twins 2.JPG Carvin LB-20 2.JPG And I have 3 maple neck-thru basses; while they're not the lightest ones in my herd, they're not the heaviest, either. Left to right; 9.33 lbs.; 9.26 lbs.; and 9.20 lbs. The Carvin LB-20 is all maple because it was supposed to be a Rick substitute, at a time when new lefty Ricks weren't being made (and it looked like they wouldn't ever be). Did a pretty fair job, too. It's currently strung BEAD with heavy tapewounds, because , obviously, I don't really need a Rick substitute...:)
 
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#45
jg42 said:
Interesting info, any idea whether Pedullas are entirely solid or somewhat hollowed out for weight saving? I actually looked at their website before asking the question here and was just wondering since they're de facto are one of the fretless tone standards, why not many bass builders use maple for the body.
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Entirely solid. You'd have to ask the Pedulla club for exact specs, but I think they're all 1.5" or less, which, combined with their more compact bodies makes them pretty competitive, weight wise. The biggest body they have, the Buzz/MVP can have some heft, but I've never played any that were ever heavy.
 
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#46
SanDiegoHarry said:
I had a maple body built by Warmoth many years ago. It weighed a TON and sounded awful. I'm not a HUGE believer in "Tonewoods" but that bass sounded like it was made out of metal. No lows, all highs. Bleh.

One of the reasons that Ricks have that "rick" sound is that they are all maple. And that's fine, if you dig it - but not my thing.
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"tonewoods" are only part of the sound equation.
 
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#48
[Doctor j referred to the Ric 4003 earlier in this thread.


QUOTE="bassman10096, post: 17526645, member: 44874"]I always expected an all maple body to be heavy and have smooth lows overwhelmed by sharp highs and high mids. No so. My Gibson G3 is all maple and just has a very nice punch with even tone through the range. Funny that nobody's mentioned the all-icon: Rickenbacker. Range is very wide (Chris Squire to Paul McCartney). Maple is definitely underappreciated.

Leo went with alder because in the post-war US, it was considered box wood and could be had for next to nothing.[/QUOTE]
 
#51
Godin and Peavey, if I remember correctly, made bodies out of Silver maple, which is a fast growing, softer, maple. I'd imagine it is lighter than rock maple. In fact, I think that Godin even makes some guitar necks out of silver maple, which I think would be a terrible wood for that application, but it seems to work. Some drums have been marketed as "maple drums", but use silver maple, which isn't as dense, and definitely doesn't sound like maple should, but I really doubt the soft maple hurts the tone of my Peavey Patriot, but who knows.
 
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#56
jg42 said:
Interesting info, any idea whether Pedullas are entirely solid or somewhat hollowed out for weight saving? I actually looked at their website before asking the question here and was just wondering since they're de facto are one of the fretless tone standards, why not many bass builders use maple for the body.
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While the Rapture is solid maple, the pickguard covers a considerable cavity (relative to the downsized body) that intentionally and significantly reduces the weight. Not sure if the NPG (no-pickguard) model Raptures currently offered have a similar sized cavity for the electronics.
 
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#58
KJMO said:
Godin and Peavey, if I remember correctly, made bodies out of Silver maple, which is a fast growing, softer, maple. I'd imagine it is lighter than rock maple. In fact, I think that Godin even makes some guitar necks out of silver maple, which I think would be a terrible wood for that application, but it seems to work. Some drums have been marketed as "maple drums", but use silver maple, which isn't as dense, and definitely doesn't sound like maple should, but I really doubt the soft maple hurts the tone of my Peavey Patriot, but who knows.
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I have a Seagull acoustic made by Godin that's got silver maple. Sounds fantastic.
 
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#60
vmabus said:
I have three Ibanez Srs from the mid-90s that are all maple. The brochures state that they are "Light American Maple." They don't seem heavier than the basswood or mahogany bodies, but the attack and sustain are much better.
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I've got a '96 SR1205 neck through here. The neck is 5 piece maple and wenge. The body wings are half maple, half mahogany, it's over 12 pounds, closer to 13.
 

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