I doubt it was deleted, and the TB crowd liked that thread - I just can't find it, and it wasn't controversial ... not even close to controversial.
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Tonewood Club
- Thread starter GodPlayedBass
- Start date
I doubt it was deleted, and the TB crowd liked that thread - I just can't find it, and it wasn't controversial ... not even close to controversial.
Somewhere there’s a trumpet forum where people argue over the musical qualities of brass from different mines. Or “virgin” brass vs recycled brass.
I think that the "wood does matter" side has the more reasonable, serious-minded, credible posters.
Question:
If a customer is having a solid bodied electric bass built and requests X wood because of the tonal qualities they believe it will have,.....
...if the builder can charge a premium for the requested wood, should the builder,
A: try to explain how it all actually works?
B: simply oblige the customer?
And the bonus question:
Should the builder then start stocking these premium woods and even advertising them as tone woods?
If a customer is having a solid bodied electric bass built and requests X wood because of the tonal qualities they believe it will have,.....
...if the builder can charge a premium for the requested wood, should the builder,
A: try to explain how it all actually works?
B: simply oblige the customer?
And the bonus question:
Should the builder then start stocking these premium woods and even advertising them as tone woods?
The luthier most-likely doesn't care why you want a particular wood. What the wood costs is already set, markup by luthier is also typical. I don't believe any specified wood would have an extra special premium unless it was really difficult to work with.
Builders may not have a warehouse but rather various suppliers who deal in various wood types.
Most builders have stock on hand.
But my question was more about the ethical side of things.
A "what would you do?" Scenario.
But my question was more about the ethical side of things.
A "what would you do?" Scenario.
It's not that wood doesn't matter, it's "this species of wood vs that species of wood" doesn't matter. We've all played bad instruments and good instruments, and "this one is better than that one" usually adds up to a variety of factors, even when those instruments are supposed to be identical.
I’m still gonna pick cool woods to build from. And doesn’t matter if others think it will change the tone or not, it’ll still feel good to play that tone wood 
Yeah most players just know there axe sounds great but don't pay much attention to the things that went into it to get that great sound....Like wood .Electronics.pickups.strings.bridge. preamp..
That. But as an example, I have 2 P basses: 1 is alder/rosewood, and the other is alder/maple. All things being equal, I experience these as completely different tones both unplugged and plugged-in. But, I recognize that not everyone is going to hear this, which is completely fine.
Its like having perfect pitch - there's a keyboard player I know that has perfect pitch and I do not have it. He hears any pitch and knows what it is. I happen to have excellent relative pitch recognition, but my ears don't quite do what his does. I think our experience of understanding tone may be something like this. As different people, we may experience it differently.
I think players try to dictate what makers do too much. If I was in the market for another instrument my instruction to the maker would be much more limited than earlier in life.
I am not a luthier but if a client was asking for an instrument that didn't meet his criteria, I would tell him that his request would likely not meet his expectation.
If I thought the instrument was going to sound bad or look bad, I wouldn't make it. I can't see how making a bad instrument with your name on it could be good. If the customer couldn't understand that I was trying to help him, then I wouldn't want his business.
If the instrument was otherwise going to be good, I would make it. I would accept it back if it didn't meet his expectations during the 1 week trial and sell it to someone else.
Impossible. That bass is absolutely nothing like a P bass in any way, shape or form, other than the pickups and pickup location.
Have you considered finding someone with nuanced ears to have a listen?
Absolutely - a locally famous cover band bass player said that although the overtones are slightly maple fingerboard / ash body precision flavoured, there are distinct rosewood fingerboard / alder body with tort finishing notes, and so overall it sounds identical to every single P bass ever made.
Plus, before he played it, I told him it sounded like a P, so naturally his cognitive bias took over and his experience was exactly that of playing a precision and so I win the internets.
I don't care for tort. Too midrangey.
The classic audiophile "my ears are better than yours" that never passes double bling testing. It's one thing to claim to have a certain ability, it's a whole different thing to still have it in the light of testing.
