Any Basswood fans?

[DinoMike]

There is a reason that Basswood doesn't have what your preferred Mahogany guitars don't have and that's because it's Basswood. The links above explain that. These are two guitars I have that are basswood. They can be really chunky sounding for metal and also have fantastic chime when you EQ it. Plus they have stock pickups that are fantastic. A lot of guitarist, and I use to be one of them, are to lazy to EQ their amp and pedals to find what it is they want from the guitar. You will not get mahogany sound from a basswood guitar. You won't get alder or swamp ash sounds from a basswood guitar. You can however get killer tones from basswood guitars.

 

 

 

 

[DinoMike]

This is not specifically about basswood guitars. It about getting what you can from what you have. Look up Jack's name if you're not familiar with him.

 

[KuruPrionz]

A lot of guitarist, and I use to be one of them, are to lazy to EQ their amp and pedals to find what it is they want from the guitar.

 

This times a bajillion.

This is the primary reason opinions on guitar forums are for the most part, worthless.

As an example, look up "Boss Katana forum" and you will see all sorts of opinions on the different forums.

 

Did all those who chimed in live with the amp, try it at home and on stage and experiment with it?

 

I did, I have the Katana 100 combo, completely stock. I found that putting it in the 1/2 watt (that's .5 of a watt) mode and turning the master volume up changed it from being a very versatile solid state amp to something very, very tubelike. It's too loud at 50 or 100 watts to get that same sound, it is an excellent emulation of the output section of a tube amp. The same thing is true of the Peavey Transtube amps, you want one that has the T-Dynamics or whatever the equivalent is called now. Turn the power all the way down, the master volume up and then dial your tones to work with the guitar you are using and speaker in the amp. I've also found with the Peaveys that using the low gain input if they have one made a big difference for the good.

 

If you just set it like you've always set your Marshall/Fender/whatever, it won't speak to you.

Not sure if this is habit, laziness or ignorance. I'm not here to change the world, just my little corner. Cheers, Kuru

 

[Winston Psmith]

I'm not out to attack anyone's favorite tone wood, just looking for other's experience, and it seems that Basswood has some supporters here in the Forum. By contrast, I will say that at least one article regarding Basswood as a tone wood ended with the word "garbage". I hardly think that's fair, as I've seen and heard plywood Guitars that were playable, if not pro quality.

 

It may be that the sound, even of a high-priced Basswood Guitar, isn't the sound I'm looking for. There are many reasons why we all gravitate to different Guitar models, and the woods are certainly part of that. FWIW, Alder and Ash have never appealed to me, either, and Alder is often compared with Basswood, in terms of tone and hardness.

 

Thanks for all the responses.

[KuruPrionz]

I'm not out to attack anyone's favorite tone wood, just looking for other's experience, and it seems that Basswood has some supporters here in the Forum. By contrast, I will say that at least one article regarding Basswood as a tone wood ended with the word "garbage". I hardly think that's fair, as I've seen and heard plywood Guitars that were playable, if not pro quality.

 

It may be that the sound, even of a high-priced Basswood Guitar, isn't the sound I'm looking for. There are many reasons why we all gravitate to different Guitar models, and the woods are certainly part of that. FWIW, Alder and Ash have never appealed to me, either, and Alder is often compared with Basswood, in terms of tone and hardness.

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I've been a guitar tech for a LONG time and have had excellent players with great tone bring me guitars that I did not like at all.

Some of them were amazingly terrible. That is my problem, not theirs!!!

If somebody likes something, I am happy for them - truly.

 

I know that it is important to stay true to one's self and one's music but I am also open to trying something that is way out of my wheelhouse. Guitars won't change but minds do change.

If you have something in mind, patience will reward you! Cheers, Kuru

 

[DinoMike]

I have solid body guitars made of mahogany, swamp ash, alder, basswood, poplar, agathis, and ply. They all sound good and all sound different. I honestly don't have a favorite tone wood. I've repaired instruments for 25 years and I've found forums have myths about many things. More than you would think is by a product manufacture themselves under a sir name. They do this so you'll bypass their competition. It's done by guitar, pedal, and assorted gear makers. Below are photos of a Squier II ply guitar I got for $13 in a box of guitar parts. I took it down to the wood, refinished it and threw it back together. It weighs just over 4 pounds as you look at it in the photos. It sustains great and is a monster metal guitar because of the way I wired it. You wouldn't use it on songs by the Beatles or Rolling Stones. You could but, it would sound out of place because it doesn't want to do that.

 

 

[KuruPrionz]

I have solid body guitars made of mahogany, swamp ash, alder, basswood, poplar, agathis, and ply. They all sound good and all sound different. I honestly don't have a favorite tone wood. I've repaired instruments for 25 years and I've found forums have myths about many things. More than you would think is by a product manufacture themselves under a sir name. They do this so you'll bypass their competition. It's done by guitar, pedal, and assorted gear makers. Below are photos of a Squier II ply guitar I got for $13 in a box of guitar parts. I took it down to the wood, refinished it and threw it back together. It weighs just over 4 pounds as you look at it in the photos. It sustains great and is a monster metal guitar because of the way I wired it. You wouldn't use it on songs by the Beatles or Rolling Stones. You could but, it would sound out of place because it doesn't want to do that.

 

 

 

 

I completely agree with this!!!

Blindfold tests would reveal a whole lot of "Tone Gurus" who are pretty much full of sh!t.

I'd be willing to place bets on guessing which tonewood a guitar was made from being lucky guesses at best.

The same goes for the whole "Tube vs Solid State vs Digital" thing, strings, pickups etc.

Too often, stuff that should sound great does not and stuff that should suck sounds amazing.

[Mark Schmieder]

Every chunk of wood is different. Dry years vs. wet years, latitude, climate in general -- all affect the density and the consistency of the grain. Swamp Ash probably has one of the widest variances of any wood. I think I read that Basswood is favoured for cheaper guitars partly because it is more consistent from block to block and thus less expensive to work with in getting a useful instrument out of it and one that doesn't require a lot of custom luthier work? It isn't so bad in the density department as some say, if you look at the Jenka scale. And often a "lesser" wood just isn't as well known to luthiers and thus its use hasn't been refined as much yet.

[DinoMike]

https://www.vai.com/all-about-flo-history/