What is your favorite tonewood?

[mark beem]

Swamp ash + maple for me!

 

[Just Thumpin']

How would you describe the alder with rosewood bass?

Very balanced with a good mix of lows and highs. Nothing excels, but then again nothing falls short either! This is a SWEET sounding combo. Mine is a 1965 Fender Jazz, so I am not sure how much age has caused it to meld into the harmonious instrument that it is. That said, my walnut / ebony Fodera sounds significantly better to MY ear. It is just so personal that all I can say is follow your own ear! Cheers....

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I'm an Ash & Maple man myself.
the first "real" bass I ever played was an Peavy from the mid 80's, don't remember what model it was. Neck Thru Koa body sides, Koa with purple heart striped neck, Ebony fretboard. It had MONSTER bass, but wasn't that bright. cool bass, though. It's mu uncle's which I borrowed for about a year before I bought my Stingray (and what a transition that was...)

 

[TonyP-]

[QUOTE="W";5735158]Swamp Ash with top Swirly bubinga[/QUOTE]

Body: Alder with Bubinga

Neck: Graphite or Maple with Ebony

 

[onyonks]

-ebony neck
-ebony fingerboard
-ebony top
-merbau back

 

[The_Ox]

I've always had a soft spot for Alder, but my second choice would be Mahogany with a beautiful bookmatchted Bird's Eye Maple laminate top, high end, yet vintage.

Clear Gloss finish too.

 

[flipper_gv]

can't decide my favorite in these:

black korina/wenge/bubinga/ovangkol/ash

 

[no1likesme]

plywood

 

[eastcoasteddie]

plywood

mmmmm...nothing like the resonant frequencies of lots & lots of glue.

A firend of mine made a bass body out of plywood. It looked cool, but sounded like $hit that's been pi$$ed on.

 

[cnltb]

Very balanced with a good mix of lows and highs. Nothing excels, but then again nothing falls short either! This is a SWEET sounding combo. Mine is a 1965 Fender Jazz, so I am not sure how much age has caused it to meld into the harmonious instrument that it is. That said, my walnut / ebony Fodera sounds significantly better to MY ear. It is just so personal that all I can say is follow your own ear! Cheers....

I echo your perception of the alder/maple/rosewood board.
Mine is not a jazz and only 4 years old tho.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one

 

[johnk_10]

I've been building basses since 1973 and my preferences are:
a swamp ash body for tonal beauty and..
and alder one for smooth thump.

(for Fender type basses anyway)

johnk

 

[Dagumol]

Mahogany. I use for guitars, bass and drums. It's a magical wood.

 

[GAPendragon]

Ash, Walnut, Mahogany and Korina.

 

[cfsporn]

Northern Ash (heavier the better)
Alder (lighter the better)
Walnut
Ebony
Pau Fero
Maple
Olive


I also have a bass with a solid pernambuco bass whose tone I love, but good luck getting that now.

 

[vstring3]

Maple

 

[BassHappy]

Always learning, evolving and growing, and consider myself no expert whatsoever - and I reserve the right to change my opinion - but so far it is the honduras mahogany in PRS #11 - the same wood used in building many marimbas at that time. In those days (1976) Paul would suspend the neck blank and body blank from wires on the ceiling through eye hooks and strike the wood with a marimba mallet. If it didn't ring for 10 or 15 seconds he wouldn't use it. I am sure the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard helps the sound as well.

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net

 

[inthebassclef]

I myself really like maple. I like maple/maple necks on alder bodies and maple/rosewood on ash or maple bodies.
the trend is I like all my basses to have maple as a major component in them.

 

[RED J]

Quiltspalted mongobooglium

 

[Nephilymbass]

I like ash and bubinga for body woods. They sound different but both are good. Ash is light weight and very versatile with an active pre its great if you want a single bass to cover a lot of tones. bubinga is great for low stuff but its pretty heavy. Best low b string Ive heard was a bass with a bubinga body. Not a fan maple on a neck but as a top it can be nice. Neck wise I tend to gravitate towards basses with mostly Wenge. Other than my musicman the last 5 basses Ive bought had Wenge in the neck. Purpleheart is a nice fingerboard wood. I definetly prefer it over ebony or maple or basses If im doing a lot of slapping it tapping. I bought some dye to stain the Purple Heart board black but haven't gotten around to it yet. If it turns out good ill probably go with it for the fingerboard on the custom in saving for.

 

[Petethebassman]

Northern ash + 1-piece maple neck is my #1 favourite combination for sustain and growl and a snappy attack. Alder + maple with rosewood fingerboard is my #2 for warmer, blooming tones.