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Whats the difference of woods?

#102
BananaKing said:
I think that the only real, qualitative way to settle this for both sides completely (or as much as possible) would be to get a recording studio set up with 3 or 4 high quality configurations and do both a DI and a Mic'd version of Dark Horse's Test. Record the results and print them out in a variety of charts that show any amount of information required by either side.

Then, re-do the test in a few different locations to eliminate any signs of environmental "Tampering". Maybe do it on different days as well.

You would have to do this with both sides present, video-recording, and a WIDE set of samples (Electronics, Woods, Necks, Strings, etc......).

Other than that, we'll have to go by experience.....

(I personally believe that the wood has a fair bit of impact on the tone).
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There is no real quantitative way to prove what many of us have experienced. That's fine with me, I know what I've experienced and that carries far more weight that someone else playing basses in a shootout.

When I need quantitative proof of what a bass sounds like, I pick it up. Nothing short of that is going to tell me what I really need to know.

There probably are legitimiate reasons why people who discount wood (and no, it's not just rare rain forest wood, love when someone jumps to that silly extreme) don't hear a difference. When stated, many people take them as insults even though they may be just as real and quantitative as the "proof" they seek... so I won't. I've spent time in the past trying to convince people that wood can often matter and can make a much bigger difference than they seem to believe. These days I just refer back to my favorite quote from Animal House and move on.

:cool:

If you think it doesn't matter, it doesn't. Be happy with that.
:hyper:
 
#104
odin70 said:
Wood may affect sound a little (if anything at all)..but to me its the last thing to consider. Amp, strings, picups is way more important.
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Would a Rob Allen bass with two passive jazz pickups sound like a fender? Would a piezo pickup and tape wound strings in a fender sound like a Rob Allen bass? Through the same amp of course....

The obvious answer is NO, not even close. same pickups, same strings, same electronics, same amp.

Somebody please explain to me why this is if the body, neck and fingerboard play a negligable role...Please explain this to me...:rollno:
 
#106
Another point:

Take a set of Lindy Fralin single coil pickups (in the standard 60s jazz position) with a passive preamp, a Badass bridge and DR Hi beam strings...You put those in absolutely any bass on the planet and they sound exactly the same.

We are talking; Fender, Steinberger, Fodera, SX....Any bass no matter what the neck and body are made of...
 
#107
Well, we're all flawed humans, our hearing isn't as good as most animals, our preconceptions and past experiences cloud our judgement, who knows what variables exist in different environments... and there's no empirical data to....






uhhhh... Sorry, what was the question?
 
#109
Dark Horse said:
Some interesting research that shows that the shape of a electric guitar body affects the resonant frequency of the guitar -


If the "shape" of the body affects the sound of the guitar, so must the "composition" of the body.
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Not a logical conclusion.

In fact, since the shape seems to also be a factor, I'm wondering if wood type is even less of a factor, overall.
 
#110
bigbottomline said:
Huh? I'm talking about one variable - wood type. You're talking about comparing different basses? That wouldn't prove that the wood makes the difference in tone, as there are many other variables.
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My point is that since a double blind test isn't necessary to hear the difference between two basses in the store it's not necessary to have a double blind test to hear the difference between a bass where the body or neck is swapped for another since after the swap it's a different bass.

Nobody's walking about being able to pick out the type of wood used, like rosewood or maple fingerboards. It's much more basic than that.
 
#111
Aspidites said:
The point is that we as Homo sapiens are an easily influenced bunch that rely more on conjecture than actual evidence.
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That's what I'm lookin for. Evidence.

You'd think it would be out there and available.

Why do Carvin and Warmoth write long discussions on tonewoods. Why don't they just "show" you by providing clips?

Or anyone else, for that matter? This is an ongoing debate. You'd think there'd be more than heresay.

I want to see evidence so we can put this to bed. :D
 
#112
bigbottomline said:
That's what I'm lookin for. Evidence.

You'd think it would be out there and available.

Why do Carvin and Warmoth write long discussions on tonewoods. Why don't they just "show" you by providing clips?

Or anyone else, for that matter? This is an ongoing debate. You'd think there'd be more than heresay.

I want to see evidence so we can put this to bed. :D
Click to expand...


In my modding, building and swapping of bodies and necks over 40 years I've gathered more than enough evidence to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that wood effects the tone.

If others choose not to believe it, that's their loss.
 
#116
johnk_10 said:
+100

try making a bass with a rubber neck and body and then tell me that all of its tone comes from the strings and pickups.
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If they sound different, that might prove that wood sounds different than rubber.

To me, we're talking about the sonic difference between one wood type vs. another wood type.

I don't suspect that there's NO difference. I think wood type is one of many factors. But I suspect it's very minimal.

I'm wondering if the difference is so slight, it's not noticable to the human ear. Hence, the request for clips. So we all can hear the difference.
 
#119
bigbottomline said:
If they sound different, that might prove that wood sounds different than rubber.

To me, we're talking about the sonic difference between one wood type vs. another wood type.

I don't suspect that there's NO difference. I think wood type is one of many factors. But I suspect it's very minimal.

I'm wondering if the difference is so slight, it's not noticable to the human ear. Hence, the request for clips. So we all can hear the difference.
Click to expand...

Again, go ahead and make some clips. In fact, I triple dog dare ya to post some.

Then watch the fun.
 

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