[quote name='4 Strings' post='801409' date='Apr 9 2010, 11:02 PM']Mahogany is a very hard wood compared to the usual woods used for bodes[/quote]
The qualities of any species of wood can vary significantly even within the same tree. A piece taken near the root will be a lot denser and harsher than a piece taken near the crotch. Having said that, ash is typically a wood that is known for being brittle sounding. Maple is bright but too bright to be harsh, its clean sounding...almost glassy if super dense. If you have a look at any discussions on tonewood using Google, mahogany isn't generally selected by luthiers for brightness, its selected for warmth and midrange. In my experience its tended to be fairly soft. My Smith BSR5GN had a mahogany core and I could mark that with a fingernail. No way I could do that with any maple I've handled.
The recordings could potentially vary but the differences between the attack in the instruments are pretty significant to my ears at least, and fairly authentic to my ears. I deliberately chose a fairly harsh sounding Jaydee in the clip I posted too. By comparison there are loads of Level 42 clips where Mark Kings bass is softer sounding even when chorus isn't used.