I wonder if my Cottonwood top will make that much of a difference from your bass tone.
I talked to Mike about this extensively when I ordered my Saratoga last fall. I was originally going to put a cottonwood top on a poplar body. Since, yes, cottonwood is from the poplar family. I was looking for something that would get me as close to a solid poplar body but still have a top on it. But, in the end, I decided to go without a top. For the sound I was looking for, it made more sense to go without the top. He said without the top, the bottom end would be more open and the bass would have more punch. Which, for this bass, was what I was looking for. Mikes tops are fairly thick, so any top is going to have some effect on the tone, to some extent. Mike is really good at knowing what that effect will be based on what it is paired with and what type of wood the top is.