wood tone reference library

[Hambone]

There are two ways to parse Tribal's sentence. He probably could have said "real hard wood" instead of "real hardwood" but I got what he meant.

This is my real favorite:
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Criminey Matt, all I want to do is build basses - not fly one of the damned things to the moon!

I should have paid more attention in math class:scowl:

 

[pilotjones]

Noyce's experiment is pretty cool, and shows that the fundamental produced should be strong enough to trigger a tuner. Getting a reading from a shaped body, is a different matter - you'll have to just try it and see.

Rodent, where and how you hold the body for your tests could make a big difference. Holding it at a node for a particular resonance reinforces that frequency, and dampens the response of resonances with an antinode at that point. Hence the importance of getting the right spot on a xylophone key. (Next time you're in a lumberyard wrapping on boards looking for "tonewood", try holding the board at its end and you'll get a thud. Now hold it about a quarter of the way down from one end (22% per Noyce), and you'll get a tone.)

And don't forget that different bodies cut from the same wood will also sound different due to natural variation between trees, different parts of the same tree, etc.

 

[FBB Custom]

Criminey Matt, all I want to do is build basses - not fly one of the damned things to the moon!

You know what, it's all I really want to do myself.

It's just that all the anecdotal stuff on wood tone out there muddies the waters. People fret over something because they believe that they run the risk of picking woods that will make them hate the sound of their bass. It can bring the process of specing a custom bass to a grinding halt when it doesn't need to.

Noyce's page, although not terribly easy to comprehend, is very responsibly written. What would be great is for someone to (a) extend that work on more common species and with multiple samples and (b) translate that into plausible, easy-to-digest information.

 

[erikbojerik]

where and how you hold the body for your tests could make a big difference.......don't forget that different bodies cut from the same wood will also sound different due to natural variation between trees, different parts of the same tree, etc.

+1 and +1

Just look at Noyce's results for 2 different planks of the same wood...almost 80Hz differences in some cases.

 

[Larry Davis]

And don't forget that different bodies cut from the same wood will also sound different due to natural variation between trees, different parts of the same tree, etc.

So true...US Forrest Service research has established a median of 20% variance plus or minus in any given species. For example American Mahogany has an average board foot weight (dry) of about 3.33 pounds, but adding 20% plus side makes it 4.0 pounds per board foot and subtracting 20% on the down side the same species is about 2.66 pounds per board foot. If one handles enough wood of any given species these variences are known to be very real in fact. This is one (and only ONE) reason that a statement made that "this wood" or "that wood" "sounds like" can never be truely factual.

Alan Caruuth has done signifiant research on resonant frequencies for acoustic guitars, but these findings should not be construed as applicable to solid body instruments. You might find them interesting or useful.

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[Larry Davis]

MIke definately has a thing for
maple, myrtle , redwood and wenge necks!

he very rarely if ever uses real (dense) hard-woods ( for the exception of wenge) for his basses though.
wonder why that is.
with the woods stated above you really have no need for the real (dense) hard-woods though redwood, myrtle and maple are incedible tonewoods and wenge is superb for necks.

Your edited post clears up most of the confusion. Thanks.

Tobias has used ebony for tops. Myrtle Specific Gravity is almost identical to wenge .85 to .88 on species averages.