Ok, so how would you classify where the choke is?
If you're saying wenge has an overall compression, I don't agree with that. IMHO there's at least one push down in the low mids, and I also think the highs are accentuated... high highs tho... not high mids. IMHO, there's a definite zing up high that's characteristic to wenge.
I don't think wenge is harsh either, btw.
Are you saying you have or had a walnut/ash body with an ash/maple neck that was harsh?
What's your favorite wood combo?
I think I need to spend a little more time with my various MTD's and see exactly where I hear the compression. I've been playing my Skjold's so much that I realized I haven't played my MTD's all that much.
In general with Wenge, I hear tight lows and crisp but not harsh highs. I guess if I were to put a choke anywhere, I would say the choke is more in the low-mids at least compared with other wood combos. I do find myself adding a touch of low mids when I play my Wenge neck MTD's. I guess when I say compressed "in general" with Wenge, I mainly say that comparing it to a Maple neck.
My favorite wood combo...that's a tough one, but I suppose I really like Myrtle top/Tulipwood/Wenge/Wenge the best and right along that combo I like Maple top/Ash/Wenge Wenge. Tulipwwod and Ash in general have really worked well with my on most MTD's.
For a smoother sound, I dig both Ash/Maple/RW and Tulipwood/Maple/RW quite a bit as well. I've also liked what I've heard with a few Mahogany MTD's, one with a Wenge/Wenge neck was cool, and the other I want to say had a Maple/Ebony neck that was cool.
For the most part, I like every MTD I've come in contact with except for the above mentioned Walnut top/Northern Ash/Maple/Maple combo. It was terribly harsh and brittle. No matter what I did with my amp or the basses eq, I just couldn't dial in a tone that was usable for me. It have a pretty unique and percussive slap quality, but still it was overly harsh. I talked with Joel at TGS, and he did mention that the wood combo would tend to be on the bright side, and he swore that it had to do with the Northern Ash as compared to the Swamp Ash. He offered to take it in on trade for me, but I opted going another route.
The only other MTD that I wasn't wild about was a Tiger Myrtle top/Alder/Maple RW that was pretty much dull as it gets for a MTD. I'm not wild about Alder though in general.
I still have yet to really try an Ash/Ash/Maple MTD. I've played one once, can't remember where (may have been NAAM), but I just remember that it was hard to say whether I liked the tone or not because of the area I was in. I really need to find anothe rone of these and sit down to give it a good play...by the sounds of it, I really think it's something that I'd like a lot!
can't say i blamd him...that bass is gorgeous
