My four basses are all 5 string tuned BEADG, 34.5" scale, 19mm spacing, sort of shallow neck, slight radius in fingerboard. They're all bolt-on, but that's more based on builder preference than a preference of mine. For my next bass, I might want a 6 string that is medium scale and tuned EADGBE.
My wood preferences are based on aesthetics and how I want the bass to feel or sound (I know not everyone agrees with the sound part, and I put woods below electronics, pickup placement, and strings). Each of my basses has different woods, intentionally. I don't like the look of ash as much as many on TalkBass do, so my one bass with ash has an opaque finish. My more "special" sounding basses are walnut and chambered mahogany, my killer worker basses are ash and poplar.
One thing that I've consistently found is that I prefer one piece necks, or no lamiminates on the part that I touch when playing. I just don't like the feel of laminates, and I almost always feel them even on higher end basses. I also steer clear of maple fretboards unless I know it's going to be finished, just because I previously had a maple board get really dirty and I didn't like the look. I prefer no dots or inlays on the fretboard, but I do like side dots. This is probably silly, but I don't prefer seeing the bolt-on neck wood go past the fingerboard and show on the body. I also prefer full-face tops, or no tops, compared to split faces. My fingerboards are katalox, ebony, pau ferro, and rosewood; I like each for different reasons and applications.
My wood preferences are based on aesthetics and how I want the bass to feel or sound (I know not everyone agrees with the sound part, and I put woods below electronics, pickup placement, and strings). Each of my basses has different woods, intentionally. I don't like the look of ash as much as many on TalkBass do, so my one bass with ash has an opaque finish. My more "special" sounding basses are walnut and chambered mahogany, my killer worker basses are ash and poplar.
One thing that I've consistently found is that I prefer one piece necks, or no lamiminates on the part that I touch when playing. I just don't like the feel of laminates, and I almost always feel them even on higher end basses. I also steer clear of maple fretboards unless I know it's going to be finished, just because I previously had a maple board get really dirty and I didn't like the look. I prefer no dots or inlays on the fretboard, but I do like side dots. This is probably silly, but I don't prefer seeing the bolt-on neck wood go past the fingerboard and show on the body. I also prefer full-face tops, or no tops, compared to split faces. My fingerboards are katalox, ebony, pau ferro, and rosewood; I like each for different reasons and applications.
