opinions on natural finished basses (additional question)

[oldskoolskatedad]

I like walnut

 

[Lesfunk]

Big fan of swamp ash and Koa with clear finishes

 

[BarfanyShart]

I like wood grain, it is just about a requirement for me to see the wood on an instrument, but I don't like it raw so much, I much prefer a stain or transparent colored finish.

 

[xposaune]

I've grown to really like natural finishes including this flame top Sadowsky Satin.

 

[Suho]

For pure wood beauty, flamed koa is probably tops. I have a custom Strat with both neck and body of all flamed koa. My Ibanez (unknown MIJ 90s Soundgear 5) has what I believe is a solid padauk body. I love it.
For necks, I think birdseye maple with an oil finish is the bomb.

 

[PaulS]

I really love Burl finishes. Also simple Ash with transparent finish works for me.

 

[coyote1]

 

[Bringindafunk]

I love natural basses and the simpler the better. I personally don't love fancy tops or veneers but I have seen some beautiful models where it's been done right. I also shy away from burled or spalted woods, but that's also more of a preference than a hard and fast rule. I've seen beautiful examples of both and would not hesitate to buy one if it looked great.

Natural ash with a maple fingerboard is my favorite, but walnut and zebrawood will always catch my eye when I'm window shopping and the new roasted pine fenders look awesome as well.

 

[NortyFiner]

Depends on the wood, really. I can't stand nat finishes with a maple board that the body is almost the same color as the neck; to me, that G&L posted near the start of this thread looks like it was made from my dining room table. There needs to be some kind of contrast to make a natural finish look good, I think, whether it's different woods, strong grain patterns, a rosewood board or whatever.

 

[Thumpin6string]

My choice is birdseye maple, cocobolo, purple heart and mahogany.

 

[juancaminos]

Although I tried to get a builder to strip my Telecaster in the early 70's and I love the Walnut Jazz body in the TB classifieds, I am not a natural finish guy. Not even Burst finishes although they are starting to grow on me a bit.

 

[2F/2F]

Pretty much the worst look possible for a bass, IMO. At the very least, tint the lacquer and/or dye the wood before applying any finish. I don't want my musical instruments looking like Pacific Northwest coffee tables.

My first two basses, which accounted for my first 20 years of playing bass, were fretlesses with clear finishes over ash – both features I don't screw with any more. I hate them both.

Here's one of them. Yuck. It has been sitting practically unplayed for almost 15 years, because I don't play fretless any more, and I hate the way it looks.

 

[Element Zero]

you really don’t see maple bodies at all on basses, save for rickenbackers

Or nearly every Pedulla ever made...

 

[QweziRider]

what, in your opinion, is the best wood to use for a natural finish.

I love a gorgeous quilted maple. With color or natural (got a natural one in my pile).

 

[Samatza]

Oil finish on a bubinga top, I love this colour.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

While wood does look nice, I prefer solid colors.

Some people like Motown, others like Mozart, others like Metal. Some even like Justin Bieber.

 

[Rib 13]

It may be just me but it seems that my natural finish Peavey T-40 weighs less than most T-40s

 

[JRA]

I hate the way it looks

i think it's great looking! and that board sure looks inviting.

for the most part, i want to hear about the pretty look of those chopped down trees

i love 'em all! while i prefer black axes in general (just too easy!) i have several axes that sport alternative 'motif'. natural finishes are just easy on the eyes, IMO, and so many of them can have that 'wow' factor because, well: wood can be beautiful! the only 'naturals' i have currently are paulownia bodies courtesy of glarry. some of us in the glarry club have speculated that the really good, nice looking pieces/bodies of paulownia are found on the branded glarrys and that the lessor pieces go to the unbranded instruments (e.g., ebay), but: paulownia is pretty cool --- lightweight, lots of cool grain patterns, and common (at least in asia). i have a nice swamp ash body that was originally stained (walnut) that i'm going to sand and refinish (soon?) just to show off its fine qualities. it's a heavy piece. so i like the natural-ness....not everything can be 'none-more-black' all of the time.....right?

here's a paulownia body:


these bodies are preserved under a thick poly finish which helps keep the soft wood from denting easily.

 

[Benj-jammin]

But there's a lot with a maple top

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Gee-zuz Vinny, those are beautiful basses! Doesn't get much better than that!

 

[lomo]

I went through a phase when I craved coffee table tops....then they fell out of my favour and I wanted solid, opaque finishes......and now I like a bit of everything....it depends on the entire package. Of my 6, 3 are stained translucent (1 red, 1 orange, 1 honeyburst) and 3 are nat (black limba, spalted maple, "eye" poplar).....and I have a sold sonic blue in the oven. In general, I prefer the way nat and stained finishes age as compared to opaque finishes. I have a soft spot for maple and highly figured fretboards.