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"Tone" "Wood"

I did NOT think of that. Do we need to tap the wood in "playing position"? Does that affect the tap tone?

Indeed. Exactly what orientation does the tapping need to be in relation to the wood grain in order to get the most "tone"? Parallel? Perpendicular? Something on the Z-axis? A parabolic function of the grain that intersects an asymptote of the tap vector?
 
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I know this isnt really helping the OP, but damn is it fun!

Hey Hey Hey !!!

This thread was not started to be "fun". Tone wood is a serious subject; it is at the very core of luthiery. How can you build anything good if you start out with wood that does not have tone? You can't, that's how.

To build a really great guitar, you need to start out with the correct wood, assemble it with hide glue in the time-tested way it has been done since the middle ages, and then add hardware from the 1950s. I even joined in on the Ric criticism, and dragged the thread off topic myself, but lets face it - your first idea is always your best, and you should never change anything. That's why Rics are great, because they are frozen at the peak of perfection - 1962. If your hands hurt when you play one, that's your fault.

The guy in the Ric video is a little off base too. You can't really intonate a Ric bass. If they meant for that to work, they'd mount the bridge in the right place to begin with. All those adjusting screws and stuff are just for show. Same thing with the height adjustment and the truss rods. You're supposed to play a Ric the way it is. If you're too much of a wussy to deal with that, then get a Fender.

Oh hell, off-topic again.
 
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I used a Fender® thin tort guitar pick as a shim between the tone wood neck and the tone wood body on my P-bass. I wonder if the tone is still in tact because the tone woods are connected with a Fender® tort pick, which is genuine Fender® tort. The real problem could be that I did not used tone glue. All I had was Elmer's Wood Glue.
 
Actually, the strings terminate twice at the neck. The nut and the tuners. Hmmm ....

Plus, hit a string and place the headstock of your bass against a wall then do the same with the body. Which one produces more volume? So which one resonates more?


Before you take offense, remember what forum this thread is in.

OMG you're right. My baddness!

You know those rolled gauze things they put in your mouth. My main bass is made of those.
I've found that Johnson & Johnson DFloSS strings aren't as resonant as the Colgate brand.
I did try the Water Pic DI but it shocked the shite out of me.
 
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Here's a project I've been working on for a while. As you can see, there are a number of different woods: yellow, brown, and orange. That should give it a wide range of tones, I think.

P8191650.JPG


If there are any professional luthiers reading this, I would really appreciate a full scientific analysis of the tone that I can expect. When I tap test it, it comes out a lot like the kitchen table. That can't be right, I guess there is some knack to tap testing, like whistling through your fingers or playing the trumpet. I'm afraid I will never amount to anything as a luthier if I can't even divine the sonic characteristics of material by rapping it with my finger.

To think that Leo Fender pulled a piece of alder out of a cord of wood, tapped it, and thus began everything ... I stand in awe.
 
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