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Wood Matters Club!!!

#321
If it's the density of the wood that matters will different species that are within a similar density tolerance sound the same? In the same light, will synthetics with similar density to woods sound the same as the woods? Can lower density woods be pressed or chemically stabilized (CA glue or otherwise) to change density and mimc "tone"?
 
#322
stepswork4me said:
If it's the density of the wood that matters will different species that are within a similar density tolerance sound the same? In the same light, will synthetics with similar density to woods sound the same as the woods? Can lower density woods be pressed or chemically stabilized (CA glue or otherwise) to change density and mimc "tone"?
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Whoa there... I just stated that different species of woods have different densitys, which correlate with the tone.

With that said, one piece of ash can sound completely different than another, I'm not sure what goes into affecting the tone of wood besides density (and moisture), and you may want to ask someone that knows more about woods than I do about the rest of that.

One piece of walnut may be softer or harder than another... but any piece of walnut will be harder than alder.
 
#323
JimiLL said:
Whoa there... I just stated that different species of woods have different densitys, which correlate with the tone.

With that said, one piece of ash can sound completely different than another, I'm not sure what goes into affecting the tone of wood besides density (and moisture), and you may want to ask someone that knows more about woods than I do about the rest of that.

One piece of walnut may be softer or harder than another... but any piece of walnut will be harder than alder.
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Exactly.

Even within one piece of wood, say a board of swamp ash (we have 8'-10' long x 12"-15" wide boards in the shop), you can get a tremendous variation in the density and weight of a body-sized billet. So, what you can say is "all swamp ash will impart a tone that is xxxxx", what you CAN'T say is "every single piece of swamp ash will sound like "y", when "x" is a set of highly specific variables and "y" is a generalized statement of tone.

The "tone circle" I mentioned in an earlier post is exactly what I was talking about: Ash has a tendency to have a quick, punchy response, but be reactive to your playing style (i.e. not compressed) when compared to mahogany, which will tend to be smoother/rounder sounding with a bit of natural compression - if all other variables are equal (top woods, fingerboards, neck woods, electronics, strings, amp, etc.). However, you can't say ash bodied basses will all sound like a 1977 Jazz bass and mahogany bodied basses will all sound like a 1969 EBO-L. Too many other variables!
 
#324
stepswork4me said:
If it's the density of the wood that matters will different species that are within a similar density tolerance sound the same? In the same light, will synthetics with similar density to woods sound the same as the woods? Can lower density woods be pressed or chemically stabilized (CA glue or otherwise) to change density and mimc "tone"?
Click to expand...

+1 I love my ebony fingerboard, no matter how heavy it is; the tone is splendid....compared to the tone of "ebonol" (a type of plastic, which I had on a Cort Curbow), well there is no comparison.
 
#328
In all reality this argument is nothing but a tempest in a teacup. Suffice to say, that I hear a big difference between 60's and 70's jazz basses and it can't all be the windings and bridge pickup placement. Also, any luthier that is obnoxiously argumentitive about wood not being all that important will never see my business. Finally, we have Mike Pope on our side, so there.
 
#330
bassbenj said:
.....But the bottom line to me is a lot like the old hot rod question: Do loud mufflers really make your car go faster?
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Neat, now we get to jump into my second favorite hobby - cars!
So to answer the muffler question - yes, loud mufflers can make your car go faster if by loud mufflers you mean little to no horsepower robbing exhaust restriction devices vs quiet mufflers that can create lots of exhaust restriction as they muffle the roar of the engine and kill off valuable horse power.
Been to plenty of drag strips and car races and generally speaking, if you can throw the mufflers away you do so to realize the full potential of the engine. Likewise you throw scrap lumber away vs building a bass out of it, and instead focus on quality tonewoods so the player can realize their full potential.
Yep, wood matters. How much, depends on the situation but regardless, what always remains constant is "wood matters".
 
#331
GBassNorth said:
So to answer the muffler question - yes, loud mufflers can make your car go faster if by loud mufflers you mean little to no horsepower robbing exhaust restriction devices vs quiet mufflers that can create lots of exhaust restriction as they muffle the roar of the engine and kill off valuable horse power
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DynoMax Super Turbo mufflers have among the highest flow ratings (= horsepower) and less noise than most so-called high performance mufflers. There are plenty of louder glasspacks which don't perform nearly as well.

You must be a Ford guy...:D
 
#332
GlennW said:
DynoMax Super Turbo mufflers have among the highest flow ratings (= horsepower) and less noise than most so-called high performance mufflers. There are plenty of louder glasspacks which don't perform nearly as well.

You must be a Ford guy...:D
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GlennW - DynoMax Turbo mufflers are fantastic high flow mufflers and under full acceleration are significantly louder than standard OEM mufflers. They really do open up quite nicely under full throttle with very little restriction and also do fall in the classification of loud mufflers by anyone's standard. They do beat the snot out of glasspacks which I agree are louder in a harsh (roar, crackel, pop pop pop) kind of way.
By the way, I was a Ford guy way back in high school 30 years ago (when I was running turbo mufflers on my 65 mustang). Now days I'm a Porsche guy and lovin every minute of it.:smug:
 
#335
thepontif said:
Ford guy? What's wrong with going really fast and hoping to God you don't have to stop or turn?
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that statement reminds me of my first car, a 1960 ford falcon. my father and i yanked out the stock straight 6 and dropped a 289 in it with 10.5 compression pistons. it couldn't stop or corner very well, but it sure was fast in a straight line. up to 100 mph i could eat Z28's and Boss 302's for lunch. in the early 70's about the only thing i couldn't beat was an AMX (390) or a hemi, but fortunately not that many people owned them back then. my buddy had a '62 Nova with a 327 in it and it was super fast too.
 
#336
thepontif said:
Ford guy? What's wrong with going really fast and hoping to God you don't have to stop or turn?
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How right you are! That stoppin and turnin thingy is what eventually led me to Porsche cars for performance, haven't looked back since. Well except at that Ford GT racecar reissue they came out with a few years back. Like to have one of those in my garage next to my other cars. Like a fine Fodera bass (hats off to you if you're involved in that fantastic brand) that Ford GT is timeless.
 
#337
I'm a BMW guy myself. It's funny, even with my '00 740i sport, because it handles amazingly, and I know how to drive I can waste a lot of "faster" cars. 215000 miles and it still touches 140 with no trouble. Love it. I hit 155 once. I don't get that opportunity often. Those last 15 MPH start to feel like a lot in a 5000 pound car :)
 
#338
johnk_10 said:
that statement reminds me of my first car, a 1960 ford falcon. my father and i yanked out the stock straight 6 and dropped a 289 in it with 10.5 compression pistons. it couldn't stop or corner very well, but it sure was fast in a straight line. up to 100 mph i could eat Z28's and Boss 302's for lunch. in the early 70's about the only thing i couldn't beat was an AMX (390) or a hemi, but fortunately not that many people owned them back then. my buddy had a '62 Nova with a 327 in it and it was super fast too.
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John, I know exactly what you mean. I had a 65 mustang with a stock 289 HiPo engine in it (271 HP if I recall correctly) and the stock C4 tranny and stock rearend. About the only mods were 60 series tires and turbo mufflers. I had no problems eating Camero 327s and 350s in stoplight races. Of course I gave way to the 440 Chargers and 350 Vettes. There were very few 350 cubic inch or less cars on the road that could beat it in a straight line light to light. However it did get scary floaty at speeds over 100mph, which is where my Porsche just starts to wake up.
 

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