So if wood type makes no difference in tone...

[DrMole]

Correct, the null hypothesis is that guitars made from "traditional" woods do not sound different from guitars made from non-traditional woods. They used a valid basic experimental design. The problem I see is that the particulars of the methodology are messy. Both the traditional and non-traditional groups used different combinations of woods. The intra vs. inter group variation is not parsed out (i.e., were the sonic differences between the various traditional guitars or between the various non-traditional guitars more or less than the differences between tradition and nontraditional?). Also the listeners were random people recruited via social media who responded via survey online - not exactly a well controlled test group. I'm just not sure how much you can take away from this study.

Random listeners ( not "experts"who might claim to hear a difference, online listening.
Two major issues, + the group variation mentioned above.
Agree. Not much can be taken from that exercise. Perhaps comparing the accuracy rate of random people vs experts might provide some interesting tone-cannon fodder

I didn't see any p values( did not look hard) but the validity of the 0.05 p has come into question recently and will probably change before my next "competency assessment" at work, shattering decades of statistically insignificant knowledge

 

[juggahnaught]

How is it that every one of these threads goes to nearly 20 pages (or more) and a thread about music or practice only makes it to two pages?

Lowest common denominator, I think.

 

[FatStringer52]

 

[JoeWPgh]

Can you show me a single example comparing multiple basses of each wood to come to that conclusion? All I ever see is this alder bass sounds different to that ash bass, which tells nothing at all about probabilities.

I have nothing for you. My point was that probability is irrelevant to a specific. You are asking for a specific. You have to do your own research.

 

[crazyBassClown]

I have nothing for you. My point was that probability is irrelevant to a specific. You are asking for a specific. You have to do your own research.

I've done my research. There is no probability that a wood type sounds a particular way. You are the one making a claim that it does.
That tonewood matters hinges entirely on this probability existing.
I'd be surprised if you could even get all the tonewood people to agree on what particular qualities each wood provides.

 

[DrMole]

How is it that every one of these threads goes to nearly 20 pages (or more) and a thread about music or practice only makes it to two pages?

Lowest common denominator, I think.

Or, it could be about belief systems and dearly held dogma vs measurable, reproducible results.

Personally I will keep trying to divide by zero as I joust windmills

 

[bassplayer9512]

... How come hollow bodies sound different from solid bodies? Hmmmm?

Because they are constructed completely differently than a solid body. If wood influenced tone so much then pickup replacement would be pointless as well as strings.

Pickup, pickup position, tone circuit, and strings influence tone more than what wood it was constructed out of.

That being said balsa wood will have a duller sound that a piece of ebony but that has more to do with bridge string dampened by the wood. only the extreme ends of the spectrum make a noticeable difference.

To my ears my walnut Ric sounded no different than the maple bodied Ric. I went walnut because I liked the look of walnut and the finish on the neck more.

 

[mcnach]

People believe what they want to believe. Of course wood matters. But that's not the crowdthink opinion here. That's fine.

I no longer care to "educate" a public that has no interest in learning anything. And OP, I'd advise you to just give it up as well.

Could you be more condescending? What a champion

 

[Slevage]

Wood and construction techniques should not be intermingled.

 

[40Hz]

... How come hollow bodies sound different from solid bodies? Hmmmm?

Apparently you’ve never heard of resonance or the effect of a resonant chamber on sound.

Go do some reading on basic acoustics.

 

[Kelly robinson]

This type of discussion comes up way too often considering that there are scientific instruments that can measure wave forms with great precision that could be used to end this debate once and forever . The problem is they are extremely expensive as I understand things and thus only available to the most - well financed places and people . I would be curious to see what AgedHorse has to say as he is one of the most connected people on here and may have an interesting perspective on this . ... Till there is some hard science involved - everyone is merely speculating based on whatever anecdotal experiences they've had . You might be better served by practicing your bass skills instead of worrying about it's construction materials . I know I would !!! LOL ..... Kelly

 

[DrMole]

Wood and construction techniques should not be intermingled.

Finally, it was dared to be said.

Some of us danced around it, a few actually called out the OP.
The original premise is a two-part hypothesis that together have nothing to with the other.

 

[40Hz]

I no longer care to "educate" a public that has no interest in learning anything.

Apparently what you really no longer have is a desire to discuss things with people who don’t agree with your conclusions or are easily swayed by your opinions.

I’d prefer to be informed rather than influenced by someone with an axe to grind.

 

[crazyBassClown]

This type of discussion comes up way too often considering that there are scientific instruments that can measure wave forms with great precision that could be used to end this debate once and forever . The problem is they are extremely expensive as I understand things and thus only available to the most - well financed places and people . I would be curious to see what AgedHorse has to say as he is one of the most connected people on here and may have an interesting perspective on this . ... Till there is some hard science involved - everyone is merely speculating based on whatever anecdotal experiences they've had . You might be better served by practicing your bass skills instead of worrying about it's construction materials . I know I would !!! LOL ..... Kelly

You could do this experiment to a good enough standard with any basic recording setup and a quality microphone. Any difference not detectable with that is meaningless.
The hard bit is getting a large enough sample of basses made of different woods to actually use to make the comparisons, and then getting agreement on what differences should be looked for and matter to the listener.

 

[gln1955]

This type of discussion comes up way too often considering that there are scientific instruments that can measure wave forms with great precision that could be used to end this debate once and forever . The problem is they are extremely expensive as I understand things and thus only available to the most - well financed places and people . I would be curious to see what AgedHorse has to say as he is one of the most connected people on here and may have an interesting perspective on this . ... Till there is some hard science involved - everyone is merely speculating based on whatever anecdotal experiences they've had . You might be better served by practicing your bass skills instead of worrying about it's construction materials . I know I would !!! LOL ..... Kelly

These kind of studies are actively suppressed by the global tone wood cartel.

The truth is out there

 

[Mechanical]

Also - Wood DOES matter, but just a little - just for your "bedroom sound" - Not audible in a gig. AND - any wood differences are negated by a touted "High Mass Bridge" that prevents the wood from vibrating. If you have a resonant piece of wood, you want the lightest possible bridge. High Mass Bridges are used now because there is less and less "Good Wood" and they help the instruments to have a more consistent sound quality as the wood varies.

Surprising professional luthiers everywhere! Ask Vinny if it makes a difference. Or Jeff. Or Michael. Or the other Michael, or Hans-Peter, et al.

 

[Mechanical]

The OP’s question is about construction, not wood. Wood makes a tonal difference - less than 1% of the final tone, though.

Is Paul Reed Smith in your neighborhood? Maybe you should stop by.

 

[13bass]

Years ago there was an article in Wood & Steel, the magazine Taylor guitars put out, where Bob Taylor discusses why you can't pigeon hole any wood and say it's bright, or dark, or whatever, because there is so much overlap from one piece of wood to the next and the differences overall are very subtle, and difficult to always determine unless you find two guitars with woods at either end of the spectrum. I have the chart that was in the article attached, but still trying to find the entire article. In short Bob states you pick a particular guitar because you like the sound of THAT guitar, regardless of the tone wood used. Listen with your ears, not your eyes he said.
Also attached is a link to the article about his pallet guitar as well. Great story, and how many say it's a very nice sounding guitar, and made with no special "tone woods".

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Kro]

In short Bob states you pick a particular guitar because you like the sound of THAT guitar, regardless of the tone wood used. Listen with your ears, not your eyes he said.

Amen.

 

[Machiavelli]

Do they?