Why basswood???

[BurningSkies]

What Kind of Pine did Leo Use?

Yep. I know the early protos of the Telecaster were pine. I've seen the black one and one other, but that didn't translate into pine being a sought after tone wood.

 

[trothwell]

My company buys the cheapest paper that WB Mason offers. The more expensive paper doesn’t rip as easily but works just as well in a printer and holds toner just as well. Our customers have no complaints. Why shouldn’t we use more expensive paper?

I have no idea what your company prints, but for printed materials that I expect to have and use for a long time (e.g., books), I for one do appreciate a nicer paper over a cheaper paper.

 

[123Nil]

I've never gigged or jammed with paper, but I'll give it a try.

Lmfaorotfflll

 

[ToneMonkey]

Indeed. Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

I've never gigged or jammed with paper, but I'll give it a try.

 

[wmhill]

It's such a soft, easy to dent wood!

With Ash, maple, poplar, mahogany and other good sounding, though often heavier (but not always) woods with which to build bass bodies.

Obviously, you don't want an answer to your question- you just want to go on about your distaste for the wood...

 

[Dominic D]

Don’t like it? Don’t use it. A bass you’re “interested in” except it’s made of basswood is not a bass you’re interested in.

 

[Marine57]

It's such a soft, easy to dent wood!

With Ash, maple, poplar, mahogany and other good sounding, though often heavier (but not always) woods with which to build bass bodies.

I can understand wanting to keep your bass pretty but I’m not aware of dents, dings and scratches effecting the sound of a bass. I had an 80s MIJ basswood P I wish I would have kept. Got it for under $300 and it was worth every penny. I got in my mind US Ps were better just cause they were made in the US and alder. It took me a few years to learn where it’s made and paying more doesn’t mean it will sound better. Like someone else said, if it’s good enough for a Bongo...

 

[Acoop]

I have a spare J-bass with a red Fender 90's(?) basswood body and I quite like it. ... I think these came out of Korea? ... Upgrade the pickups and it's good to go.

 

[CatchaCuda]

Could you build a bass out of guitar wood?

Guitarwood/composite. Fire up the wood chipper, Tucker!

 

[P. Aaron]

We’re using mostly wooden tools and sometimes we’re careful and other times not so much BUT, 100% of the time, we’re human.

 

[rogerbmiller]

Softer and less dense woods tend to make for good tone woods for bass. Also they are lighter than harder woods.

The janka hardness on basswood is 410. The Sandberg ultralight basses use a wood called paulownia which has a janka hardness of 300. Swamp ash is about 1320 for comparison purposes. Ebony is 3260, which is why it is so heavy.

Hardness/softness is not the only thing that affects tone but it does matter and basswood has been proven over time to be a very good tone wood. It is not particularly attractive so it is usually painted and clear coated which also helps protect it from dings, etc.

 

[NOVAX]

I favor basswood. So did EVH.
Albeit with a nice maple cap. He could use any wood on the planet. Worked for him. My examples are warm, clear, deep, punchy, resonant, light, oh did I mention punchy?

 

[Silky Johnson]

I kind of agree in that basswood is so soft the screws for covers and pickguard
strip super easy. Plus bridge not that that comes off real often

 

[lowphatbass]

Yep. I know the early protos of the Telecaster were pine. I've seen the black one and one other, but that didn't translate into pine being a sought after tone wood.

Let’s not forget that pine turned out to be a fantastic tone wood for amps

 

[PsyDocHill]

Before the interwebs were a thing, I gigged for years with an Ibanez Roadstar II. It seemed to play itself, so well-crafted was it. I loved it. My band loved it. We even played large venues.

Question: Was I distraught upon discovering many years later that it was made from basswood? Answer: I was happy, and I was amused at the thought of how much fun I would've missed if I cared about how susceptible to dings it could be.

I do not fear the basswood, even with my TMI courtesy of TB echo chambers. And I don't care about dinging my swamp ash, alder, or whatever instruments. They are meant to be played.

If you want to be a collector of impeccable specimens, that's different.

 

[avi]

I have to agree with the OP. Heaven forbid you have to work on one. The screws strip out so eaay. I cant believe the old Fender Bullet basses (basswood 80's) cost as much as they do now. We literally threw out the bodies and kept the necks. They sounded ok but...
You could buy them for under $50 used.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Some top tire players, mainly guitar players though, who believe in tonewood, has basswood as their preferred body wood for their instruments, as far as I recall something about exquisitely balanced tone and sweet mids.

I don't really see the problem, it's not like it will get dented out of the ordinary if you just take take reasonably care, and it is definitely not like it will not like a bass with basswood body won't easily outlive you, despite of it taking less for it to get dinged.

Also I am of the school that says, so what if it gets a few dings, it's a tool that is meant to create music on, not fine visual art or design meant to be exhibited, as long as it can fulfill it's main functionality all if good as far as I am concerned, and one have to either do a serious effort or be unreasonably unlucky to ding it to such a degree than it can't anymore, and to that extend basses made of harder wood species probably would have been ruined too anyway.

Finally light guitars and basses seems to have gotten extremely popular in recent years, a lot of people, for some odd reason that is beyond me, even seems to favor light weight over about just about any other aspect of an instrument, so in with that in mind it's perfectly natural market mechanics that the manufactures try to accommodate that trend and exploit it as much as they can by using lighter building materials.

I personally wouldn't hesitate a second to buy a bass that I liked just because it was made out of basswood.

Yes, basswood a relatively soft wood compared to mist other wood species traditionally used for bass and guitar crafting, and it is also a cheaper wood, but by no means is it a lesser wood.

 

[StayLow]

I never been able to ding a maple headstock or any kind of headstock at all.

High up the list of the most amazing things I've ever read anywhere online.

Takes me maybe 15 minutes.

ROCK!

 

[Snakeman1066]

It's such a soft, easy to dent wood!

With Ash, maple, poplar, mahogany and other good sounding, though often heavier (but not always) woods with which to build bass bodies.

Just a thought...but I think...

a lot of it has to do with the CITES treaty....makers are turning to woods that nobody seems to have issues with and that can be shipped internationally without issues....or having to show a but ton of paperwork

in the future we are going to see all manner of woods used in combinations we are not accustomed to seeing...

A LOT of Asian companies are turning to Royal Paul Paulownia as it is considered an invasive species in most of the world...so nobody cares if it is cut down and used for anything and everything...plus it grows like weeds...