Whats the difference of woods?

[Dark Horse]

*smoooooch*
you fail at reading comprehension (or perhaps you feign insult).

I did not mean offense, I'm sorry.

I didn't "fail at reading comprehension"...your EXACT words were -

To be fair, that's rather like trusting snake-oil merchants, palm readers, and faith healers to know of the validity of their claims about their peddled wares

You failed at making a point in a respectful manner. Maybe you didn't "mean" to be offensive, but you were. You flat out compared many of us to a group of people that knowingly delude people in an effort to make money.

Don't bother replying. At least people like Aspidites, though he doesn't agree with us, is respectful enough to not call us thieves and liars.

 

[Brad Johnson]

And it's Friday.


One of my favorite complaints about luthiers like Mike Tobias, Roget Sadowsky and I'd guess Kevin Brubaker would be included is that the reason they offer different tonewoods has nothing to do with tone... they're just trying to screw customers out of money. This despite the fact that the different woods typically don't carry a different price. Of course it's usually uttered by people who've never spend any real time with any of their work. Not that they need to.

The same people can't seem to understand the difference between using pretty common woods for tone vs. harder to find wood for looks. And that's okay.

 

[john_g]

Did anyone mention morning wood? Eh? Eh? Aww c'mon...thats funny right there.

 

[THand]

...

IIRC, Geddy Lee didn't seem to like the tonal changes when he chopped up his old P Bass into a teardrop shape...but I think he also added another pickup. Of course if he thought it was "just the pickup" that changed the tone, I suspect he would have removed it.

Same thing happened to Eddie Van Halen when he cut a "V" into his Ibanez Destroyer...he said it totally ruined the tone of that guitar, and regretted doing it.

 

[mulchor]

Don't bother replying. At least people like Aspidites, though he doesn't agree with us, is respectful enough to not call us thieves and liars.

I think you're going out of your way to be dense. I apologized, regardless.

If anyone else cares to understand my implication...

I was commenting on the rhetoric.

Eminor3rd's post that I quoted said that since the expert luthiers (who make their living selling fancy-wood variants at custom-bass prices) believe their woods are superior, we should believe them.

I did not say expert builders are thieves and liars. I did not say they are wrong.

What I said is that trusting the expert peddlers of fancy wood just cuz they're self-proclaimed experts is the logical equivalent of trusting a . . . and I followed it with a So get all pissy if you like, but you're really mistaking it.

Imagine the following.
You approach an expert master craftsman.
"Hello Master Craftsman. Do you believe your creations are better than ones cheaply made from cheap ingredients?"

There's no way the answer will be "no."

As far as healing with faith goes, almost no one who does it is a thief or liar. I know and fully embrace the benefits of prayer.

A few years ago there was a study conducted looking at clinical outcomes based on prayer. The patients who had people praying for them fared marginally worse than those who did not. As someone who enjoys prayer, what does this mean to me? It tells me that prayer is a wonderful beautiful gift, but it's not particularly effective for curing serious disease in empirical clinical settings.

If my son gets sick, I'm going to pray (and pray if he remains healthy too).
I shall also continue to enjoy instruments made from beautiful tonewoods.

 

[mongo2]

A few years ago there was a study conducted looking at clinical outcomes based on prayer. The patients who had people praying for them fared marginally worse than those who did not. As someone who enjoys prayer, what does this mean to me? It tells me that prayer is a wonderful beautiful gift, but it's not particularly effective for curing serious disease in empirical clinical settings.

Somehow I knew god, prayer, or UFOs would eventually show up in this thread.

 

[mulchor]

Somehow I knew god, prayer, or UFOs would eventually show up in this thread.

I'm glad to deliver

 

[mongo2]

I'm glad to deliver

Yeah, I see it becoming more about beliefs than anything else. I got to go back to dressing some fret ends....later.

 

[Dark Horse]

I think you're going out of your way to be dense. I apologized, regardless.

If anyone else cares to understand my implication...

I was commenting on the rhetoric.

Eminor3rd's post that I quoted said that since the expert luthiers (who make their living selling fancy-wood variants at custom-bass prices) believe their woods are superior, we should believe them.

I did not say expert builders are thieves and liars. I did not say they are wrong.

What I said is that trusting the expert peddlers of fancy wood just cuz they're self-proclaimed experts is the logical equivalent of trusting a . . . and I followed it with a So get all pissy if you like, but you're really mistaking it.

Imagine the following.
You approach an expert master craftsman.
"Hello Master Craftsman. Do you believe your creations are better than ones cheaply made from cheap ingredients?"

There's no way the answer will be "no."

As far as healing with faith goes, almost no one who does it is a thief or liar. I know and fully embrace the benefits of prayer.

A few years ago there was a study conducted looking at clinical outcomes based on prayer. The patients who had people praying for them fared marginally worse than those who did not. As someone who enjoys prayer, what does this mean to me? It tells me that prayer is a wonderful beautiful gift, but it's not particularly effective for curing serious disease in empirical clinical settings.

If my son gets sick, I'm going to pray (and pray if he remains healthy too).
I shall also continue to enjoy instruments made from beautiful tonewoods.

Actually, you replied to this post :

I make absolutely no claim to be an expert, but I do consider the luthiers that are speaking in this thread to be experts, and to know whether or not different woods affect the tone of their instruments.

To which you said :

To be fair, that's rather like trusting snake-oil merchants, palm readers, and faith healers to know of the validity of their claims about their peddled wares.

Which is either calling the luthiers and builders that have commented in this thread "liars and thieves" for knowingly attempting to mislead someone in the hopes of financial gain....or "too stupid to know what they're selling"...either way, insulting.

Then you add insults like saying I'm "going out of my way to be dense", when all I'm doing is looking at YOUR WORDS IN THE CONTEXT THAT THEY WERE STATED.

So what do you believe we are .... Lairs and thieves, or just plain stupid ?

You are doing a lot of backtracking now, saying that you believe Faith Healers, etc...but even if you say that now, it was YOU who lumped them (and us) in with "snake oil salesmen" and "palm readers".

The fact is that you meant it as an insult, and now that you've been called out on it, you are trying to backtrack.

Anyway, have a nice day. I'm done with this conversation.

 

[Dark Horse]

Somehow I knew god, prayer, or UFOs would eventually show up in this thread.

All the best threads end up there eventually.

 

[mulchor]

The fact is that you meant it as an insult, and now that you've been called out on it, you are trying to backtrack.

No backtracking. I fully stand by what I said.

But not by what you want to pretend I said.

 

[mongo2]

No backtracking. I fully stand by what I said.

But not by what you want to pretend I said.

Nope, you're busted.

 

[johnk_10]

No backtracking. I fully stand by what I said.

But not by what you want to pretend I said.

let's see now. if those that read what you said in context, interpreted it the same way, feel insulted are wrong (pretending), and you are right. pull the other one.

 

[mulchor]

Okay. Surely if internet experts think I'm evil, insulting and wrong, I must be.

I'm wrong and that's all there is to it. I was deliberately trying to insult, and the face was just window-dressing.

I should be caned with Brazilian rosewood.

 

[David Jayne]

Very good point. I've played both, and the sound is significantly different between the two basses. Also, I have two Sadowsky Modern 5-24s, one is koa on mahogany, and the other is alder. The koa/mahogany one is much more agressive sounding than the alder, which is mellower and warmer in tone. Both have maple necks with ebony fretboards.

And along those lines, these two P basses are identical except for the necks, and colors. The bodies are alder '08 USA Std. Fender. They weigh the same within 2 ounces, have the same strings, the pickups Ohm out identically, identical pots etc.
Would anyone here be surprised to learn that they sound quite different from each other? Sure, they both sound like P basses, but two rather different ones.
Unplugged, the differences are obvious, and remain once plugged in.
I don't have a way to record and post clips, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

 

[WoodyG3]

A fact is a truth verifiable from experience or observation. You may use a different definition in a lab environment but the rest of us don't.

Native Americans and ancient Greeks both used willow bark to reduce pain and fever. They didn't need scientific proof to know that it worked. Scientists eventually figured out the key ingredient in willow bark and aspirin was born.

Maybe science will eventually isolate the key factors that determine exactly what causes different tonal qualities to be associated with the various components of a bass guitar, including the woods used. Until then, I'm good with following the anecdotal evidence from people who have built and played thousands of instruments.

 

[interstatejoe]

Okay. Surely if internet experts think I'm evil, insulting and wrong, I must be.

I'm wrong and that's all there is to it. I was deliberately trying to insult, and the face was just window-dressing.

I should be caned with Brazilian rosewood.

I'd recommend Maple as it would be a bit "snappier".

 

[BarkSlayer]

Maple, alder, basswood, concrete, steel...to each his own - for whatever reasons. The thing we should be celebrating here is - we have a choice.

 

[odin70]

Maple, alder, basswood, concrete, steel...to each his own - for whatever reasons. The thing we should be celebrating here is - we have a choice.

Proof, please.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Maple, alder, basswood, concrete, steel...
to each his own - for whatever reasons. The thing we should be celebrating here is - we have a choice.

Actually we don't. Haven't you read the thread?