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Why Basswood Hate?

#41
I have a 1986 MIJ(FujiGen) Jazz bass, I'm fairly certain it's Basswod, it plays and sounds great and is very light. My 1977 Jazz on the other hand is like 13lbs, and simply to heavy to gig with. They both sound great, different for sure...noticeably different....but both are great JB's. The 77 may have a bit more focused low end, but only a tad...amplification, eq, pickups, etc more than compensates. Due to the weight difference alone..the 77 stays home and used more for recording, etc. But the 86 basswood Jazz lacks nothing....
 
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#42
cataract said:
None of the instruments I’ve been interested in over the years have been made of basswood, simply, so there’s that.
I’m wary of the durability of basswood bodies, personally- I have a friend who once owned an electric guitar made of the stuff (an Ibanez something or other) and it was a ding magnet!
Not that I’m one for keeping my basses in pristine condition, just OK with sticking with the standard ash/alder/mahogany tonewoods I’m accustomed to.
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Re: Soft Wood

You ought to see my Son’s MIM JB I bought him back in the mid 90s that was made out of poplar..
 
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#43
cataract said:
None of the instruments I’ve been interested in over the years have been made of basswood, simply, so there’s that.
I’m wary of the durability of basswood bodies, personally- I have a friend who once owned an electric guitar made of the stuff (an Ibanez something or other) and it was a ding magnet!
Not that I’m one for keeping my basses in pristine condition, just OK with sticking with the standard ash/alder/mahogany tonewoods I’m accustomed to.
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look at what you just said .. its not physically possible for a piece of wood to be a ding magnet. sounds like the guy was very careless with the gear.. basswoods in my mind are just as well as any other wood.. depending on what amp and cab you use how you set up your eq all that will affect the sound as well... ive had several basswood basses and they all was nice basses.
 
#45
My Squier MF Precision body is basswood. I dig the tone and playability of it. No dings (yet) , but I'm careful with all my instruments. My opinion? I wish it were alder but I'm fine with basswood.
IMG_0052 (1).JPG
 
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#47
If you think finished basswood is soft, you should see it in its lumber form! I wanted to experiment with different body woods in future builds. And since I'm a fan of some basswood basses (Heartfields, for example), I decided to give it a shot. I built a body blank out of it and it is very light, resonant, and easy to shape. But I rested a tool on it and that left a dent immediately.
The key with the stuff is to be careful with it, obviously. But having a very durable finish on it doesn't hurt either. And if you intend to build with it and make things able to be screwed in and out of it frequently (battery or control covers, pickups, etc), you should consider installing brass threaded inserts or tool-free covers of some sort.

It's in some really nice sounding basses of all levels of price. And while it may not be for the spiked bracelet, huge belt buckle crowd, it has its place in resonant instruments, for sure.
 
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#48
I recently picked up an old ibanez made of basswood. I was actually impressed at the resonance when played unplugged. It sounds decent stock but I decided to do an electronics overhaul on it. So I'm excited to see what new pickups and a new preamp will do.

I agree basswood has a bad rep, and I think it may not really be justified. Lots of times Basswood is paired with less than awesome electronics which may not always give a great representation of the sound.

Given where cites is heading, I think we are going to see basswood being used more not less.
 
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#52
My main bass is basswood. Loaded with Duncan Hot for Pbass pickups & it sings like no other. Lots of punch. With basswood since it`s kinda neutral. Not overly bright like maple, not dark like mahogany. Basswood is meant to have high output pickups installed. That's what Ibanez does for most of their guitars/basses. Its basswood loaded with duncans or dimarzios depending xD
 
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#54
GMC said:
Personally, I think that bassists suspicions over basswood are related to the simple fact that Leo Fender didn't use it and that it was used fairly late in the evolution of basses. It was also introduced as a cheap and light substitute wood in the cheaper end of the market so it's earned a stigma which is probably unfair and unjustified. If fender had adopted it as a 3rd tone wood option...we would all have lots of basses with it.
Click to expand...

I think this answers the OP perfectly.

I`ll add that bassist concerned with the weight of their bass should consider basswood (since it`s very light).
 
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#58
NOVAX said:
View attachment 2966914
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Yeah, well...if only that worked. Only solution I’ve found that actually works is hardwood dowels. And, it’s a somewhat tedious repair. I stripped out several of those Schaller Strap Locks back in the day. On the Peavey, the problem was the bridge screws. A little bit of glue doesn’t fix that. Would be great if it did. Anyhow, carry on...
 
#60
FWIW, there's a lot of woods cheaper than basswood that people charge a premium for. Cost of wood doesn't guarantee a quality bass. Quality wood doesn't even guarantee a quality bass!
What I can say is, just because a wood is inexpensive doesn't make it bad, just because it IS expensive doesn't make it good.
 
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