P-bass alder or ash body

[Night Prowler]

Maybe I´m wrong, but why is it more standard with alder body in precision basses rather than ash bodys?

 

[bassistgook]

I'm pretty sure alder is the more common wood used on the p. I personally prefer ash bodies though and believe they are available with that on some models. Hope this helps.

 

[Night Prowler]

I'm pretty sure alder is the more common wood used on the p. I personally prefer ash bodies though and believe they are available with that on some models. Hope this helps.

Yes, but why is that? Is it because of tone or weight, or what?

 

[Luckydog]

If you're talking about older Fenders, I don't know that there was a huge difference in wood type, based on the P or J models. May be just an era thing though. In the 60's it seems most Fenders were alder bodies, then ash became pretty prevalent, and in the 70's it seemed like most were ash. I dunno, maybe a tone for the era preference, but could also simply be a wood availability issue. Classic P's can be found in both ash or alder. Many people think of 60's flatwound strung P's as alder, and used for Motown, R&B etc. Lots of people think of 70's roundwound strung P's as the typical rock bass. But I would bet its just what woods were available at the time, and not some real design intent.

 

[SamanthaCay]

I believe ash is far less consistent as far as the weight and tone goes where as alder is more consistently similar from piece to piece making it a better wood for production.

 

[Dan55]

Ash, particularly swamp ash, has very nice grain patterns, so is often used when the finish allows the grain of the wood to be visible. Alder would more commonly be used when the instrument is finished in solid colors.

Dan

 

[spade2you]

Typically the P pickup has such strong tonal characteristics that lumber choice isn't terribly critical. Ash is popular on the trans colors because it has a stronger and darker grain pattern than alder. Alder has a decent tone, but isn't much to look at.