UTS-D Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Hey guys, now that I have your attention, what kinda wood is your bass made from? Is Alder a good wood? Mahogany? Maple? Ash? Balsa? Basically, I'm just researching opinions and find the general concensus. Thanks. UTS-D UNDER THE STONE Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bear Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 You'll find a few folks here have more than one bass. So they should be able to shed some light on various woods. Here's my 2 bits. Padduk body- dark, but not boomy. The Ebony fingerboard makes a bit faster sounding Zebra top/koa bottom. Very dark sounding. My experience koa has always been warm sounding. The neck is wenge and the notes are very fast sounding. Alder body- I get a nice all around tone from this bass, it's full sounding. Not completely focused. Maple Body - More color in the upper mid I would actually like to get a nice bass of Ash, a very nice growly sound. I'm sure your going to hear many different thoughts. Take them in, and then form your own ideals. There's other basses, but those are the ones I normally use. The neck and fretboard materials are going to have a lot to do with it. Not to mention the electronics. Best of luck Mike Bear Artisan-Vocals/Bass Instructor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_god_offspring Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 ....i didn't think we could talk about our wood on this forum.... ..sorry, couldn't resist and i have no idea what wood a Fender Highway-1 jazz, Ibanez ATK 300, and AXL deluxe player use. -BGO 5 words you should live by... Music is its own reward --------------- My Band: www.Myspace.com/audreyisanarcissist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 *Cough* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 I've got (body/fingerboard): Alder/maple Rock maple/rosewood Alder/rosewood Ash/pau ferro Silver leaf maple/rosewood It's all good. I used to be fussed about wood, but I think it's really a matter of how an instrument plays as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Brazilian Mahogany core with English Olive Ash faces; Indian Ebony fingerboard with Maple faces. (According to a piece of paper I found in the battery compartment) See here and scroll down. It's all in the wood! and the fingers and the soul! http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mro Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 My Stingray is ash and is bight and growly. My p bass has a Koa body and is deep in tone a little to deep for my liking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Daddy from Motown Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Current P basses (50th anniversary Precision bass) are ash with maple finger boards. Over the years i've had alder p's with rosewood boards and liked them a lot. The ash body seems to be a little clearer to me. I'm not sure that I can hear the difference between fingerboards woods. I've never tried two different necks on the same body. I just like the look of Maple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenstrum Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Alder/Ash Maple/Rosewood Tenstrum "Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face." Harry Dresden, Storm Front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMan99 Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 I think you also need to look at the grade of wood. For example, I've got a mahogany Ibanez. Mahogany can sound quite nice if it is a good hard variety. Mine is quite soft, though, and the bass lacks definition as a result. Unless you're ordering online (Carvin comes to mind), you may want to actually listen to the bass first - "play before you pay". A well-made bass with high-grade alder/ash/poplar may well sound better than a poorly made bass from walnut, koa or mahogany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimmegroove Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Hi I'm using: Mahogany body/ Wenge FB Alder body/ Rosewood FB and one with some very strange wood.. dunno what it's called in english.. Current set-up: Ibanez SR3005 into a Mesa WalkAbout head with a Mesa 2x10 Powerhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 My main squeeze, an Ibanez BTB400, has a quilted mapel body, 5-piece mapel/walnut neck, and rosewood fingerboard. When I started reading into this stuff, I was reffered to these pages: The Warmoth body wood page. The Warmoth neck wood page for necks and fingerboards. As well as the Michael Tobias article that was once published in Bass Player mag. Good hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxofunk Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 http://photobucket.com/albums/y82/waldmat/Music/th_Toby3.jpg Maple. - Matt W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Fretted: Wenge thru-neck/board; cherry body wings. Fretless: Maple neck; rosewood board; ash body. I don't think the species of wood really matters (as long as it's stiff enough to handle the string tension). What's more important is the quality of the individual piece and how it responds to tap tones. Most Fenders are made of the same wood species as they've always been. Some sound great, some not so great. Buy a Sadowsky and it will sound great, without question. Why? Because they have someone that really understands wood (i.e. Roger Sadowsky himself) testing all the pieces and selecting which should be used and where they should be used. Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lug Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Maple body - very bright (Rickenbacker) Ash - bright with good articulate bottom (G&L/ T-40/homemade) Basswood - bright with somewhat decent bottom (Ibanes SRX505) Alder - medium round sound (Pbass) Koa - warm (Carvin fretless) Mahogony - warm, little highs (gibson EB0) Spruce Acoustic - sounds all acousticy (Johnson) Cardboard - shite (older Epiphone Accubass) You can stop now -jeremyc STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecoldbass Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Hey, my bass is American swamp ash body with a layer of purplheart then a spaulted beech top (which looks amazing!) a maple neck and a wenge finger board. All in all it has a very growly tight sound not far away from a musicman/jazz hybrid. My ideal bass! Let us know how you get on. Ciao Craig Once is an error, twice is jazz.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTS-D Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 Thanks for all the input guys. This will come in really handy. Hey Mike Bear, I met you through Vic from Daemos a handful of years ago. I play bass for his friend Chris Knowles in Under The Stone. Small world, eh? sorta.... Anyway, thanks for the input guys! Don UNDER THE STONE Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 All maple with the exception of the fingerboard (Ric 4003). Status S1 EBS HD350 Aguilar GS212 Lots 'o effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Oh, I thought this was a golf question... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred TBP Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 It goes both ways. I own cheap pieces of wood and synthetics that sound great for what they do, and I own some prize pieces that sound crappy. To me it's more than just the wood, it the drying (kiln) process, the assembly, the glues, the hand carving... basically the way the thing's put together. And at times the right pickups, or the right amp setup, can make a $50 bass sound like a grand or more. How does one explain the sound you get out of an Ashbory bass? wood/composite neck/body? piezo pickup? preamp? nylon strings? The ingredients don't make a lot of sense, but when you follow the recipie, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. About 2/3rds of my toys are built with pretty basic woods: maple/rosewood necks, alder/maple bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Luthite(bleah)/Rosewood Maple/Maple/Ebonite FB (eh) Bubinga/Ovankol/Ebony (dude!) "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred TBP Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 zeronyne, you reminded me of a question I've always wanted to ask. Years ago some one told me one of the African woods was poisonous and should never be used without a complete finish. I can't remember which one that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lug Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Originally posted by Fred the bass player: zeronyne, you reminded me of a question I've always wanted to ask. Years ago some one told me one of the African woods was poisonous and should never be used without a complete finish. I can't remember which one that was. Dust from Bubinga is poisonous. You can stop now -jeremyc STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric VB Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Here\'s the wood that was talked about back in the day ('01). Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 I think Cocobolo is also dangerous to work with. "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Wenge is also a difficult one to work with both in terms of hardness and toxicity. But it makes fantastic necks and can be left raw and unfinished Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DONUT Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Alder/maple Ash/maple/rosewood Masonite/maple/rosewood I'm finding that I like the ol' classic construction because of the full spectrum of overtones. I like a bass that gives me everything. Then its up to me to sort it all out with my amp and hands. Basses with heavy, exotic, multilam construction are not my thing. To focused. To compressed and dead sounding. I have never played a Ken Smith or Fodera or any of those "superbasses". Maybe they would prove me wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATM Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Jeeze, just because a guy is single... ATM http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/atmofmn/Bass/DeepThoughtsBS.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wraub Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 2 basses, fretted and fretless. Both are basswood bodies (2 piece, I believe) with 3 piece maple neck/ebony board. Bright and midrangey, (it barks ) with a clear solid bottom, varying with string type. 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...
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