azucar4u Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Hi guys I have a question. that no one has ask befor.I'm looking to buy a Fender JAZZ bass. okay...... this question is only about the WOOD ON THE BODY. I see that some bodies are made of THREE pices of wood and others are made of TWO pices of wood.. ???? WHAT IS BETTER AND WHAT DOSE THIS DO TO THE SOUND OF THE INSTRUMENT ???????? Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 A single piece of wood would probably give you better sustain than several pieces. Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azucar4u Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 wow you guys are fast. thaks guys I have to say that I personatly don't like the 3 pice body because some time the wood grain look very diferent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I really don't think it matters much. Every Fender bass is different. If you find one that you like, it could be made of bubblegum and balsa wood for all I care. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABGBrian Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 2 or 3 piece bodies? I thought nearly all fender bodies were one piece? Official Website BandcampFacebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I've had two piece and three piece ones. I think that one piece ones would be the exception. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABGBrian Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Guess I just never noticed... Anyways, azucar4u, I highly doubt, you would be able to notice any sonic differences between 2, 3 or 1 piece instruments. Some players may like 1 or 2 piecers simply based on the fact they require more craftsmanship than those with more pieces. Other than that I really don't think it would be an issue. Official Website BandcampFacebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo-London Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Also on a custom bass you might choose different woods for sonic reasons. A lot of through-neck designs have 2 wings with the neck extended through the middle of the body. I cannot see that there is likely to be a difference between a 2 or 3 piece body as long as all the wood is of an even quality. Davo "We will make you bob your head whether you want to or not". - David Sisk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Guess I just never noticed... Some players may like 1 or 2 piecers simply based on the fact they require more craftsmanship than those with more pieces. Other than that I really don't think it would be an issue. Yeah, I've never noticed much difference, but I'm pretty sure the main reason for using fewer pieces (aesthetics aside) is that the glue joints are supposed to trap sonic vibrations and eat up the sustain. Mind you, like I said, I haven't ever noticed much diff. My 70s Ibanez ripoff looked like a patchwork quilt when I took the paint off and it's got sustain till tomorrow morning. And yeah, lots of high end basses have two "wings" stuck on the side of the neck, so maybe it's not that important after all. Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMPires Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 ??? Why would you chose a name called, "one sugar for you" ??? Anyway, I have a two piece bass and the other is only one piece, also being a neck thru, has more sustain. apart from that I don't really know much www.myspace.com/davidbassportugal "And then the magical unicorn will come prancing down the rainbow and we'll all join hands for a rousing chorus of Kumbaya." - by davio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Daddy from Motown Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Not a bit of difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yourlord Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 My Smith is neck thru, so it has wings on each side of the neck, and each wing is 5 layers. You can pluck a note, go get something to drink and come back to it still ringing.. So I'm gonna say number of pieces doesn't lessen your sustain. Feel free to visit my band's site Delusional Mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 It's got to be something with the way the wood is placed to build the body. Perhaps parallel to the neck is OK, perpendicular is not. And perhaps it's not so much of an issue for basses because the thicker strings vibrate for a lot longer than guitar strings, by dint of inertia, I'm guessing. I'd also guess that the number of layers on the wings wouldn't change much, because if energy is to be lost anywhere, it'd be in the joint between the wings and the centre piece. Any further layers in the wings themselves wouldn't change much. And thinking it over, I'm also guessing that a layer is not a problem, (since it vibrates as a single piece) but a joint IS. I'm thinking it's got to be like traffic. If you have several overpasses (ie layers), that's fine: traffic can still go through undisturbed, but when you start putting in traffic lights (ie joins) that's when you lose energy. Still, I'm no luthier. Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruuve Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 In theory, the more joints there are, the more glue that has to be used, and glue doesn't have particularly good sonic qualities, so the fewer joints the better. However, in practice, I really think craftsmanship has more to do with noticeable tone differences...I think a very well made 3-piece body would sound better than a poorly made 2-piece body. I think neck-through basses are an exception to the theoretical however...the sonic properties you gain from the one piece neck more than offset 2 joints for the body parts. But again, I think the differences you hear really come down to craftsmanship more than anything else. Dave Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs. - Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzo9247 Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 <--------------Neck-through, 9 pieces of wood, 10 if you count the fretboard, YES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 it could be made of bubblegum and balsa wood for all I care. Don't tempt me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Glue is stronger than wood. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yourlord Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 <--------------Neck-through, 9 pieces of wood, 10 if you count the fretboard, YES! My Smith is 21 pieces of wood, 5 layers per wing, a laminate on each side between the wings and neck, a back cap on the neck thru and a laminate under that, then the neck itself is 5 pieces, the ebony fingerboard, then the headstock has a book matched top which is 2 pieces. Feel free to visit my band's site Delusional Mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruuve Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 <--------------Neck-through, 9 pieces of wood, 10 if you count the fretboard, YES! My Smith is 21 pieces of wood, 5 layers per wing, a laminate on each side between the wings and neck, a back cap on the neck thru and a laminate under that, then the neck itself is 5 pieces, the ebony fingerboard, then the headstock has a book matched top which is 2 pieces. Indeed! Craftsmanship is the most important part... Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs. - Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruuve Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Glue is stronger than wood. Stainless steel is stronger than either, but nobody's making basses out of it. (Actually, don't let rdepelteau see this comment! ) Dave Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs. - Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfxj Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 it could be made of bubblegum and balsa wood for all I care. Don't tempt me. You can do it! . Push the button Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Well, stainless steel would probably vibrate too much, and this would kill your sustain because the energy from the vibrating strings would pass on to the body and be lost quicker than with wood. The idea, AFAIK is for the string, and only the string to vibrate, so the body needs to be dense and preferably in few pieces so that no vibrations will be lost to the body. Ever hit a steel girder with something? It rings. When you hit a tree, the sound is a lot more muffled. HAVING SAID THAT, there *have* been metal guitars built. Dobros are one example, and eLLwood in the GP forum has an aluminium bodied strat. To be honest, I'm not sure where dobros fit in with all this. The Epiphone MD100 is actually made of stainless steel. Perhaps it's ok for a dobro because it has that specific tone and the ringing would probably add to the volume, which was the Dobro's original raison d'etre. And the weight wouldn't be as much of an issue as with (say) a stainless steel Jazz Bass body. God, you'd need a decent strap for THAT! :grin: Aluminium is a pretty light metal, so maybe it's not too cumbersome to strap on. And it probably has different tonal qualities to stainless steel. Weirdest experiment I've heard of was some guy in the 70s that built a concrete guitar body (pure roadie scuttlebutt, I have no idea who the guy was). By all accounts, the sustain was wonderful, but who the hell is going to strap on a guitar built of concrete? Concrete, which is a pretty dead material, acoustically, DID play a part in some top-end Hi-Fi speaker enclosures though. Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wraub Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 AFAIK, the main reason that Fender used (uses) multi-piece bodies is that smaller pieces of wood are cheaper than larger pieces of the same wood. Cheaper to use several pieces and paint than larger pieces. Amazing how many things Leo decided for economic reasons. As to glue strength, a good glue joint is stronger than the wood around it, and will generally fail after the wood itself. Glue also does not resonate in the same way as wood when the glue is a liquid (obviously), but when dry would tend to sympathetically resonate at around the same frequency as the wood around it. There's more wood than glue to drive the vibration. Multi-lam bodies tend to be stiffer than 1 or 2 piece bodies due to the laminations (and glue) adding mass. My Jazz has a 3 piece body and sounds just fine. I don't think it'll really matter much sonically. In years of research and playing, I have seen only a couple of one-piece bodied Fenders. Peace, wraub I'm a lot more like I am now than I was when I got here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlrush Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I think the total construction plays a big role in sustain as well as tone. My 63 P was 3 piece and had average sustain. Don't know the wood type. My P/J is 2 piece ash and sustains a good deal more. Both are 4 string passive, and both had Quan BAII bridges. My Mex Jazz 5 has a slab body. I've looked it over many times, and if there's a joint it's well concealed. (Maybe Mexican wood was used.) It's passive w/ stock bridge and sustains more than the 4's. My Yamaha 5 is 2 piece ash, active w/ preamp and has more sustain than the all the others. Gotta be construction. Visit my band's new web site. www.themojoroots.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCriley Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Didn't someone (Travis Bean?) make basses with aluminum necks? The aluminum was supposed to increase sustain and stay straight forever. Obviously, it never caught on...maybe because it felt so cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Didn't someone (Travis Bean?) make basses with aluminum necks? The aluminum was supposed to increase sustain and stay straight forever. Obviously, it never caught on...maybe because it felt so cold. I believe the increased weight was a problem. It'd be neck heavy as hell. Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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