NOT the DEFINITIVE wood does/doesn't matter thread!

[metron]

Woa woa a wood thread? Is it 2009 in here or what? Huh? Is this thing on?

 

[Pedullist]

The question is not whether a bass made from pallet wood or crate plywood (I own a 60's bass made from what looks like crate plywood that I love) can be cool. They certainly ARE cool. Who does not love a masonite Longhorn? But the question under discussion is whether or not these trash wood basses sound just like my Modulus. I may be in the minority here, but in my opinion they do not.

Yeah, like that question will be answered in this thread... I have not used the word cool. I described its sound and feel. Plus, it's a pallet bass. Let's not take ourselves too seriously.

It did not sound like any of my Pedulla's, but I'm afraid that if you make a P out of AAAAA quality wood, contour the hell out of that pallet bass, give both basses the same pickups and electronics, and blindfold me, I'm not too sure whether I could tell the difference.

 

[bassbenj]

Yeah, like that question will be answered in this thread... I have not used the word cool. I described its sound and feel. Plus, it's a pallet bass. Let's not take ourselves too seriously.

It did not sound like any of my Pedulla's, but I'm afraid that if you make a P out of AAAAA quality wood, contour the hell out of that pallet bass, give both basses the same pickups and electronics, and blindfold me, I'm not too sure whether I could tell the difference.

Well, according to this non-definitive poll over 70% of TBers think they CAN tell the difference, though half of those don't care what the difference is.

 

[Mechayoshi]

None of these fit what I want to say.

Basses of same woods can sound the same or different, not counting everything else that affects tone. My answer is yes and no, but I will say that purposefully seeking out curtain species because they might sound a certain way is unnecessary.

 

[pappabass]

Only true way is to have 2 identical basses, different woods, swap strings, all electronics between the 2 then you will know. maybe,,,,,,

 

[mapleglo]

Only true way is to have 2 identical basses, different woods, swap strings, all electronics between the 2 then you will know. maybe,,,,,,

Unfortunately, that won't work. There is much variability within the same species of woods, so you may get a "maple-y" sounding piece of mahogany, and a "mahogany" sounding piece of maple. You'd likely need a much larger sample than one of each. More like 50 or 100 of each.

 

[Alexander]

I agree ^^^

I do think specific pieces of wood contribute to the overall tone of an instrument. Where this conversation goes sideways with me is to say this species of wood definitively sounds like "X" and this other species definitively sounds like "Y" - you can generalize, but there are so many variables that come into play. I can't pretend to know all of them, but I have to imagine variations in weight/density, age and treatment of the wood, finish options, combination with other woods (neck and body), construction of the instrument, etc. play a part as well. I can play five examples of the "same" instrument and almost invariably will hear different nuances with each one, even with the same wood configurations.

Then of course add different pickups, pre-amps, amps/cabs, playing styles, EQ, room dynamics, etc. etc. and all bets are off.

 

[madmaskbass]

All I have to add is that I have recently found a love for Warwick basses a brand known for touting the musical properties within the material choices they use. Their slogan is "the sound of wood"...Most of this discussion has focused around the main materials used in the bass building world, maple, ash, mahogany etc. Warwick (not the only one) have built a brand around wood choices being an important part of their product line. Biggest difference that I can see is the common use of very dense and very heavy woods like Wenge and Bubinga. They even have basses that do have the same pickups (same position) same bodies and the only differences is the wood and there is much discussion on a noticeable difference in sound based on this variability.

In my own experience I have owned a number of basses that were made of the normal styles of materials and once owning a thumb bass I can say that wood makes a difference in tone based on at the very least density of materials. Tapping acoustically on the body of my thumb bass produces a strong resonant note.

Anyway everyone is right that picked the wood makes a difference. The rest is wrong for life!

 

[Boristhespyder]

I am surprised nobody has brought up the effect of moisture content of the same wood on tone.

 

[birminghambass]

Only true way is to have 2 identical basses, different woods, swap strings, all electronics between the 2 then you will know. maybe,,,,,,

The "wood matters! " experiment...

 

[madmaskbass]

The "wood matters! " experiment...

haha love it!! Your a legend! gotta keep the home fires burning mate! Your efforts are awesome and the efforts of the opposers is equally as inspired. No wonder scientists are all mad (my dad is a micro-biologist and I can scientifically prove they are) lol.

 

[tfer]

I find the 'sample size of one' arguments amusing. The test has been performed dozens, and probably hundreds of time, each time with the same result.

At what point is it no longer a sample size of one anymore?

 

[Badwater]

IME and to my ears, tone woods have a huge impact on sound with acoustic guitars. And I would say that it accounts for about 30% of the guitar's tone and sound quality. Add another 50% for the design and structure, and the other 20% for the strings.

With solid body basses and electric guitars, the wood is less of a tone factor than the strings, or pickups. And, with Bass, the player's hands have more impact on tone than the wood.