What makes a bass sound thinner than another.

[vvvmmm]

Or is it time we ask instead, which metal is best for wood?

I asked around, and all the ladies in my life say, "gold".

But then, they would.

 

[thrashingbass]

My "cheap" basses do not sound thin-some resonate more than others unplugged. Sound different, but not necessarily worse, IME. You can always compensate with preamp/amp knobs/specialty pedals. In my case, even my cheapest Sonic Bronco lacks a thin sound unplugged.

With guitars, my cheapest is the warmest of them all, though it does sound great with the current pickups. My most expensive sounds the brightest and "thinner", but it does not matter that much.

One should regardless do not mind too much, the important thing is your bass inspires you regardless cost, and that it fulfills the intended musical purpose for which it is played. If it sounds too thin for comfort, choose something else. I just do not believe it's correct to state that the cheap basses"have" a thinner sound. It could be true in your experience, but worth considering that the old cheap was much worse than the new standard in many affordable basses.

 

[BassicJazzy]

My "cheap" basses do not sound thin-some resonate more than others unplugged. Sound different, but not necessarily worse, IME. You can always compensate with preamp/amp knobs/specialty pedals. In my case, even my cheapest Sonic Bronco lacks a thin sound unplugged.

With guitars, my cheapest is the warmest of them all, though it does sound great with the current pickups. My most expensive sounds the brightest and "thinner", but it does not matter that much.

One should regardless do not mind too much, the important thing is your bass inspires you regardless cost, and that it fulfills the intended musical purpose for which it is played. If it sounds too thin for comfort, choose something else. I just do not believe it's correct to state that the cheap basses"have" a thinner sound. It could be true in your experience, but worth considering that the old cheap was much worse than the new standard in many affordable basses.

You are so right about this. My favorite bass, at least to play, is my least expensive. It helps that it's a fretless.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Upgrade and plug in.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Upgrade and plug in.

Sometimes the upgrade isn't as good, depends on what you like. The upgrade for my Ibanez SR370EF has a less favorable neck and a less desirable board wood. More money does not always equal a better bass. What it does equal is generally better tuners, better finish, perhaps more features.

 

[Phreaky Phriday]

Per your request.

This study is interesting and worth sharing. It was published in 2021 in the Archives of Acoustics by several researchers in Department of Mechanics and Vibroacoustics at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Poland. It concludes that that different tonewoods in an electric guitar produces a measurable and audible difference in sound:

Abstract (excerpt):
"The presented study examined how the sound of a simplified electric guitar changes with the use of various wood species. Multiple sounds were recorded using a specially designed test setup and their analysis showed differences in both spectral envelope and the generated signal level."

Conclusion (excerpt):
"The tonewood used in the construction of an electric guitar can have an impact on the sound produced by the instrument. Changes are observed in both spectral envelope and the produced signal levels, and their magnitude exceeds just noticeable differences found in the literature. Most listeners, despite the lack of a professional listening environment, could distinguish between the recordings made with different woods regardless of the played pitch and the pickup used. The conducted test does not allow any conclusions regarding a more holistic outlook on a guitar’s timbre, as the observed relations are complex beyond the scope of the obtained results. Further tests regarding the guitar’s entire frequency response are required. It should also be noted that these tests were conducted based on a simplified guitar model, which might have overemphasized the researched phenomenon.”

The whole article is here: Jasinski et al. Archives of Acoustics 2021, vol. 46 no. 4, pp.
On the Audibility of Electric Guitar Tonewood | Archives of Acoustics

thank you for sharing, i didn't have a chance to read the article until now. This is fascinating and i stand corrected. I really liked their plucking mechanism - i assume that's the big sticking point in experimental design. Hopefully someone does a massive follow-up to study what tones we typically get from different species, consistency within species, etc.

 

[s_wood]

thank you for sharing, i didn't have a chance to read the article until now. This is fascinating and i stand corrected. I really liked their plucking mechanism - i assume that's the big sticking point in experimental design. Hopefully someone does a massive follow-up to study what tones we typically get from different species, consistency within species, etc.

Right! I’ve been hoping for that as well!