Ive always looked at it as Weight, Density and the effects they have on the vibrating string....rather than focusing on the actual "wood" itself.
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NOT the DEFINITIVE wood does/doesn't matter thread!
- Thread starter birminghambass
- Start date
I always love these threads. It's funny because when I play a bunch of basses that are not closely related to each other in succession, I find that I still sound like me. The slight variation in tone between instruments can probably be explained by the differences in strings and pickups/pickup placement and preamp, if applicable. If you really want to get a noticeable change in sound, look at strings, pickups and preamp first. Don't even get me started about heads and cabs. All your walnut this, ash that will be evened out by the fact that you are reproducing a doubly transduced electrical signal and potentially processing it any number of times.
Well, I'm typing this on a wooden keyboard, and no one noticed...CAN'T YOU FEEL THE WARMTH?
My obervations:
Density (Hard vs Soft) - Seems to have to most effect
Price (or rarity) of wood does not equal better sound
Every peice of wood is different (the ash on bass #1 may not sound as good as the ash on bass #2)
Either way, its not worth getting too worked up about
Density (Hard vs Soft) - Seems to have to most effect
Price (or rarity) of wood does not equal better sound
Every peice of wood is different (the ash on bass #1 may not sound as good as the ash on bass #2)
Either way, its not worth getting too worked up about
Maple is light in color, so it sounds bright. Rosewood is dark in color, so it has a dark tone.
The darker the color of the wood, the darker the tone. If you use ebony, it is so dark that your rounds will sound like flats, and if you use flats, you will get an upright tone.
These are facts and cannot be disputed.
The darker the color of the wood, the darker the tone. If you use ebony, it is so dark that your rounds will sound like flats, and if you use flats, you will get an upright tone.
These are facts and cannot be disputed.
And curly maple delivers a curly sound.
I can hear the difference when I'm playing the instrument, because I know the sounds that my hands make.
I find that the fingerboard wood makes a bigger difference than the body, but I can hear differences in body wood as well.
I admit that the differences CAN be subtle but they are there.
My biggest caveat comes with this; as piezo pickups become more common in slab basses, tone woods will become much more noticeable because of how piezos work. They actually pickup the vibrations in the wood that magnetic pickups almost completely ignore.
I find that the fingerboard wood makes a bigger difference than the body, but I can hear differences in body wood as well.
I admit that the differences CAN be subtle but they are there.
My biggest caveat comes with this; as piezo pickups become more common in slab basses, tone woods will become much more noticeable because of how piezos work. They actually pickup the vibrations in the wood that magnetic pickups almost completely ignore.
I read a story written by a music store employee about EVH going into his store and plugging a cheap guitar into a combo amp. The store employee said that EVH sounded ::GASP:: just like EVH.
Imagine the kind of growl you would get from a Rickenbacker made of tiger maple!!!
I'm no expert but from what I experienced I think the way different wood ages also has importance...
For instance Maple ages nicely... Those highly worn maple necks from the 60s are just phenomenal beyond words in every aspect...
But a shiny new maple neck always makes me want to vomit (it's sound!)... That's just me though..
That has nothing to do with comfort of playing and I can understand why people like it... I can also enjoy playing an instrument that sounds like vomit to me, if it's nice to play, you know... Just wouldn't want to own one... So fingerboard is most crucial IMO and age is a huge factor.
For instance Maple ages nicely... Those highly worn maple necks from the 60s are just phenomenal beyond words in every aspect...
But a shiny new maple neck always makes me want to vomit (it's sound!)... That's just me though..
That has nothing to do with comfort of playing and I can understand why people like it... I can also enjoy playing an instrument that sounds like vomit to me, if it's nice to play, you know... Just wouldn't want to own one... So fingerboard is most crucial IMO and age is a huge factor.
I've heard subtle differences in acoustic instruments, a chunk of solidbody, I'm sitting on the fence with that one.
Vomit? Fingerboard is 'most crucial'? C'mon. I can imagine some people might find that ridiculous. ;-)
Ever did a blindfolded test with (preferably blindfolded) people?
I only once touched an instrument that resembled the idea of vomit, and that was a Volcano. Not because of the woods that were used, it was the sound of the pickups in conjunction with the horrible frets. It sounded like grinding glass and it felt like it too.
Ever did a blindfolded test with (preferably blindfolded) people?
I only once touched an instrument that resembled the idea of vomit, and that was a Volcano. Not because of the woods that were used, it was the sound of the pickups in conjunction with the horrible frets. It sounded like grinding glass and it felt like it too.
Yes! Vomit! I have a sensitive stomach. Find it ridiculous? Welcome to laugh ;P
Of course it's not the most crucial thing in the world, you know...
It's far less crucial than... Almost everything.
But in the relatively unimportant subject of... wood... Fingerboard is alot IMO.
I can definitely tell the difference blindfolded between a Rosewood and a Maple neck... Try me. 99%. 100% if it's the same amp and the same model of Bass in similar production year.
Pbassmanca
In the pocket n' thumpy. So woody, so greasy...
I'll tell you one thing, in my experience the density and even possibly the species of wood that a bass is constructed of in terms of the body and the neck, can and do have an impact on the overall tone. I posted on another thread a couple times about how I had an ash body Maple neck P Bass that even though it went through four different sets of pickups , which definitely provided variance in the tone ; the underlying sound of the bass remained the same in terms of its overall mid-range content, the depth of the tone in terms of the low end, and the way that the top end sounded on the bass. No matter what I did with that bass I could not get that g string to sound like a classic P bass G string. It was trebly but somehow muted, lacking what I would describe as that "open - bark" you get on the G string on some P basses. So yeah, the wood is an immutable part of the sound.
Pbassmanca
In the pocket n' thumpy. So woody, so greasy...
HAHAHa...
old school
and
But no cheeky tricks like rolling the tone down only on one of em or whatever
old school
and
Lets do this!!
But no cheeky tricks like rolling the tone down only on one of em or whatever
