Tone wood

[doomprophet8]

I would try to not overthink the tonal qualities too much and some good recommendations have been made. Make sure the bass fits you, is as comfortable as it can be. If it fits it will sound good too, you play better on a comfortable instrument.

If you have someone building the bass for you I suggest you talk to that person.

If you build it yourself then go with alder, maple neck and ebony fetboard because you like it and while it might not be perfect in the end, it won't be a terrible choice for sure. Building a bass is always exciting and overwhelming and you want to get it perfect but it is a learning curve and you have to be prepared for things coming out different than what you imagined.

And try many different strings, I believe they have the biggest impact on the sound of your bass.

And welcome and good luck with your project!

Thanks for ur words. I should try and search about the strings too. Thanks

 

[doomprophet8]

My guess is the paint color will make a bigger difference.

U mean I don't need any tops? The flamed maple has no extra cost for me . Should I choose it or not?

 

[Max Bogosity]

Blind tests consistently show that people can’t distinguish what an electric instrument is made of from the sound. Get whatever you think is cool.

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

U mean I don't need any tops? The flamed maple has no extra cost for me . Should I choose it or not?

Mine work great......

There are three quilt maple wings in the pic below, the Redwood is a cap on black walnut, but it has a Wenge neck thru, with a Wenge fretboard. The others are maple neck thru, with Pau Ferro fretboards. All with carbon fiber inserts in the neck. Great tone, but each play and maybe sound a little different.

Pros and Cons to each...... BTW the dot fretboard is fretless.

 

[Vinny_G]

Blind tests consistently show that people can’t distinguish what an electric instrument is made of from the sound. Get whatever you think is cool.

If it's important for the player then it is important.

 

[Bassamatic]

I hope that you realize that any effect of the body wood is eliminated with a high-mass bridge. The weight prevents the wood from having any effect.

If you have a great sounding, resonant body (you can tell by knocking it with your knuckles) you want the lightest possible bridge so it can be heard.

 

[doomprophet8]

Whatever anyone says, there's definitely a correlation between wood and ton, the neck probably contributes more than the body, but it is a system... the bridge is also a major component as it's what couples the strings to the body. Of course, the strings, electronics etc. are a huge factor. If wood doesn't matter then all basses with the same electronics, p/up positions and strings would sound the same (electronics, p/ups and strings are a constant, they do not have the variance that the body/neck have. (We're not even discussing the neck through body vs. bolt on neck either).

So for the neck do u offer maple or wenge for the sharp and punchy tone?

 

[doomprophet8]

Mine work great......

There are three quilt maple wings in the pic below, the Redwood is a cap on black walnut, but it has a Wenge neck thru, with a Wenge fretboard. The others are maple neck thru, with Pau Ferro fretboards. All with carbon fiber inserts in the neck. Great tone, but each play and maybe sound a little different.

Pros and Cons to each...... BTW the dot fretboard is fretless.
View attachment 3563599

So what is ur opinion? Should I have a flamed maple top ( no extra cost) or with no top(just that alder body with a finish) ??!!

 

[AboutSweetSue]

You’ll want Northern White Ash for brightness, sustain, and string attack, which can lead into aggressiveness. It’s heavy, but it also holds screws very well, and helps to makes everything fit very tight...allowing for increased sustain.

I switched from WA to Swamp Ash to Alder on the same bass, same neck, same pickups, same everything. Alder is what I’m sticking with. It’s a good all around wood, excellent for a p bass. The WA too much, but sounded great. I’m more into a mellow thump.

 

[doomprophet8]

You’ll want Northern White Ash for brightness and sustain, which can lead into aggressiveness. It’s heavy, but it also holds screws very well, and helps to makes everything fit very tight...allowing for increased sustain.

I have a ash body bass and I want to try an alder one cause it is lighter and with more punches and bites .

 

[Vinny_G]

You’ll want Northern White Ash for brightness, sustain, and string attack, which can lead into aggressiveness. It’s heavy, but it also holds screws very well, and helps to makes everything fit very tight...allowing for increased sustain.

I switched from WA to Swamp Ash to Alder on the same bass, same neck, same pickups, same everything. Alder is what I’m sticking with. It’s a good all around wood, excellent for a p bass. The WA too much, but sounded great. I’m more into a mellow thump.

But how much sustain does he needs?

 

[JW56789]

Your selection of maple/wenge neck with ebony fingerboard will have lots of attack, with the bonus that ebony will reinforce your truss rod, it's that stiff in 1/4" thickness.

As for the body, IF you're going for a tinted (see-thru) finish, use flame maple; otherwise for an alder-only body, you could tint or go to a solid color.

But from what you're after tone-wise, alder will do fine, but I'd go for Swamp Ash, it would add some more brightness, would take a tint well with the swirly grain, save a little money over a maple top.

You're in the right range of choices for what you seek, you just need to decide your final choices.

 

[micguy]

The materials that a bass is made from do affect its performance; the question is how much, and of course, if the differences are audible. If you're looking for sharp aggressive sound, the place that wood makes the most difference is in the fretboard - maple and ebony are the two usual suggestions for sharpening things up.

As the Acoustical Physicist 'round these parts, I'll throw in that the thing that affects the strings' vibrations are its end conditions. What that means in practical terms is, at the ends of the vibrating portion of the string, what it's attached to matters. If you don't believe that, play a fretless - it sounds very different, because one of the ends has a finger rather than a piece of metal defining what's going on. If you want the most "attacky" sound, the bridge is not the area to look to - any bridge is 100x (maybe more) massive than the lowly fret on the other end of the string. Focus on the frets - big, stainless frets will put the most, stiffest metal under that end of the string, and will make the wood appear harder, as there is more surface area being coupled to the fret (you use snow shoes to walk when the "ground" is soft snow, same principle here). This will affect the tone in the direction you seek. Some folks like banjo (really small) frets (Lee Sklar, for example). Why? because they aren't "attacky".

 

[AboutSweetSue]

I have a ash body bass and I want to try an alder one cause it is lighter and with more punches and bites .

I’m just telling you my observations from legitimately swapping out woods with everything else being equal. One ash bass compared to another can vary greatly...compared to alder it can jump all over the place. In reality, your bridge, neck, harness, strings, and pickups will make the difference. The body....if weight is the issue, I’d choose based on that alone, build your sound up around it. I mean, I changed my bodies trying to tweak it, not drastically alter it. I can say from actual experience, the body matters the least on a solid instrument, especially when considering the big two...ash and alder.

The interesting thing is that the alder body is less bright than WA, and with less sustain, but more gut punch. This isn’t supposed to be according to online resources, but I suppose it lines up with some characteristics of WA v. alder. And, it’s all negligible anyway, maybe the finish is what’s causing the difference.

 

[Vinny_G]

Some folks like banjo (really small) frets (Lee Sklar, for example). Why? because they aren't "attacky".

And easier/faster to play.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

But how much sustain does he needs?

You’ll want all the sustain.

 

[Vinny_G]

You’ll want all the sustain.

Why?

 

[GrapeBass]

So for the neck do u offer maple or wenge for the sharp and punchy tone?

All debatable LOL

IMHO and IME, I don't have enough experience to answer that question ;-)

I believe, with bolt-on necks, that a maple neck sounds less 'focused' than one with a rosewood fingerboard of the same ilk (width + shape etc.). These are pretty subtle differences, nothing that would 'hit you over the head' with. Hey, some people can taste differences in wine between vintages etc. - most can't.

 

[micguy]

And easier/faster to play.

A tiny bit, maybe. I have basses with identical profile necks, but with 3 different fret heights, and I really don't notice a "speed" or ease of playing difference.

 

[GrapeBass]

I’m just telling you my observations from legitimately swapping out woods with everything else being equal. One ash bass compared to another can vary greatly...compared to alder it can jump all over the place. In reality, your bridge, neck, harness, strings, and pickups will make the difference. The body....if weight is the issue, I’d choose based on that alone, build your sound up around it. I mean, I changed my bodies trying to tweak it, not drastically alter it. I can say from actual experience, the body matters the least on a solid instrument, especially when considering the big two...ash and alder.

I've heard the complete opposite. Ash has two 'flavors,' one of which is swamp ash... that's pretty light, so let's not discuss swamp ash, besides it's rarer these days. Let's compare general ash with alder... alder's density )and weight) vary much more than ash but it is cheaper, which is why it became and is more popular. I guess a good caparison would be to find a piece of ash and alder that weight exactly the same (same density) and swamp those. I tend to agree somewhat with your statement "the body matters the least on a solid instrument," generally.