Wood choice (tones again)

[treebranch13]

then, in your experience, what do you use or what woods are those?
It is hard for me to find woods around here, so unless i get a name I can't do much.

 

[Triad]

Well... you could use (just a list):

Wengé
Padauk
Rosewood
Ovangkol
Bubinga
Zebrawood
Maple
Cocobolo
Olive
Jatoba (brazilian cherry)
Purpleheart

And many more.
I've used Wengé for my first bass (a fretless), Zebrawood for the second one and Padauk for the third one. I have a neck with Ebony fingerboard that I must still work on and another one with a Bubinga board.
In my experience on basses built from other guys, Ebony is my first choice for its distinctive snappy slap response. Bubinga and Wengé are very nice too but you always have to find the right piece.

 

[Son of Magni]

I've never used Zebrawood for a fingerboard. But having worked with it, here's what I'd be concerned about. First it's hard and splintery, so I'm guessing setting frets will be a bit of a pita compared to Maple or Rosewood. Or if it's a fretless (did you say?), it won't be as smooth as you might like because it's a bit open grained. So maybe some pore filling would be in order.

Either way, if someone wanted me to do a build with it I'd certainly give it a shot.

 

[treebranch13]

it is going to be an acrylized fretless. does that change the problems?

 

[Nelson Guitars]

what would be another wood(not ebony) that would be good?

Bloodwood, Maple (hard), Goncalo Alves, Cocobolo,Eucalyptus...

Greg N

 

[bassnug47]

persimmon (what they use in really expensive golf glubs) is great, it is in the same genus as ebony(its nice and hard), but it is a nice light brown color with a really uniquely awesome tone. i have it on a freless i made and it is awesome

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Alright since this thread has appeared to right itself.
I really like Ziricote but it has gotten pricey lately.
Wenge
Purpleheart
Ovankol
And my latest one is what was sold to me as Brown Mesquite.

Good luck and a good sense of humor, as you can see is a great asset here. Obviously you have a good handle on that. We really do try to be helpful here but when it comes to sounds of wood, I would just prefer to talk about wood in other terms.

And if you are using an acrylized Zebra board I'd love to see it, was it done by Larry?
Dirk

 

[treebranch13]

See the thing is I have not finalized everything. I am trying to make it all perfect. So right now I am at the gathering info part, I have finalized almost everything except neck core and fingerboard. Although i know the FB will be lined fretless acrylized
for the FB i am trying to avoid wenge, bubinga, ebony,satine, and rosewood.
Zebrawood looks good except for that supposed 'country twang'
I don't like cocobolo. and i would like input on other woods that people have used and what were the likes/ dislikes, and tones.

 

[Nelson Guitars]

Please ignore the "country twang" remark. It is at best subjective and I suspect totally baseless. (Can you use a word like that on this forum?)

Wenge? I know people use this, but I have always found it far too porous. Sure, you can fill it with epoxy and such but I have always enjoyed a nice natural wood fret board over plastic infused wood. Just an old timer I guess.

Greg N

 

[treebranch13]

I love the natural wood feel on the neck and fretboard, not to mention the look. Although, that is part of the reason i want a core/ single laminate, is for a better feel across the neck

 

[Nelson Guitars]

OK, Just re-read through the thread. We are not just talking about finger boards but necks as well. Wenge is a fantastic neck if you can stand the weight. Stiff and telegraphs well to the body. My previous post was regarding finger boards. I have seen this done and don't quite understand why, given the natural texture of the wood.

Greg N

 

[pilotjones]

As far as fingerboard, if you are going to use an acrylized board, I daresay that it matters little what species you use. It will be strong, dense, non-splintery, completely non-porous, and smooth as glass, regardless. People have even done acrylized spalted maple, which would have been the worst choice possible if not acrylized.

 

[treebranch13]

It doesn't take away the character of the wood though, nor does it take away the look. Acrylization adds highs, and so I am choosing a wood that doesn't naturally add highs, such as zebrano, ziricote would probably be good as well.

 

[pilotjones]

I don't know if anyone has done enough different acrylized boards to comment on the tones produced by different acrylized species. I don't know whether there's still a difference, or whether differences between species are negated.

Considering that it's still an open question whether you can actually tell the difference between a normal rosewood and a normal maple board in a blind test (people will swear both ways), there's a lot of "maybe" involved.

 

[treebranch13]

very true. At the ripe old age of 17 I swear i can hear the difference between maple and rosewood, having done blind tests before on basses and guitars.

As for acrylization, you are right, it is largely undetermined but i emailed the guys at Bee Basses and the response seemed to deal with differences in tone.

 

[Jonsbasses]

I've got 4 basses with 4 different fingerboards, I couldn't tell you which one sounds like what because of the many different variables that comes into play. Round wound / flat wound strings, Active / passive, 34" / 35" scale, different material used for bridges and nut (wood, aluminum, brass), different kinds of pickups. The list goes on and on, the woods are not my biggest concern. Craftsmanship and good electronics will make your build.

 

[treebranch13]

That is very true. I think the main reason it is hard to say is because of the other factors. However, I think it does make a difference right after pickups and electronics.