Cuzzie

Furniture wood, ship building wood, some woods are better for chopping boards due to lack of porosity. Very porous wood is terrible for it,unless filled and properly treated as it will lead to bacteria ingress and proliferation. Cedar, some people Minoan about its softer nature and marks on their precious basses, but ships are built with it, so its pretty hardy

I neither coined the term or grouped them - it covers a vast array of woods.If it can make a table and a bass it’s a very useful wood indeed 

Just now, Maude said:

I don't consider any tonewood. It's either wood suitable for building a bass, or it isn't. 

A post of mine further back in this thread explains that. 

I've been trying to get someone to tell me a wood that is structurally suitable for bass building but isn't used due to its poor tone. If there isn't one then surely it's just wood suitable for a bass or not. 

Which makes it a tonewood then does it not?

17 minutes ago, Maude said:

Very, very little is my opinion, hence why I've said the tonewood debate is nonsense. 

I'll happily believe that the body wood can have a  slight affect on string vibration as it's the wood that holds either end of the string apart. If the wood is denser I reckon it will have less damping effect on the string vibrations. But I don't believe that any wood used for guitar construction would have a detrimental effect on how it sounds. The changes are so minimal as to be negated by many other factors. 

If 'tonewood' was a thing, as opposed to just plain old wood for guitar building, then would a bass built from the best tonewood available with a poor pickup sound better than a plywood bass with a very good pickup? I'd say no chance. 

In theory air temperature and density will have an affect on string vibration, just as wood type will, but it's so negligible as to not be worth mentioning, much like what wood the body is made from. 

Tonewood covers a vast spectrum - of interest what do you consider tonewood and what do you consider plain old wood?

And Bobby if you can get past Scott!

14 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Ran thru first half of our set with a pick and the song in particular i wanted to use it for was mainly the Sweet Ballroom Blitz. Guitarist in our band now wants to do the live version with more attack.

Good news is that i found the pick not too difficult after all. Still needs a lot of work to get my confidence in using a pick. The bit in middle where bass is prominent is the bit i struggle with. Not fast and not technical its all about the rhythmic feel of it. Comes so naturally with my fingers.

Good first stab tho. The DAVA picks have certainly made a big difference.

Dave 

God man - glad to hear - I love pick playing exercises - things like jumping between E and D or E and G string, not playing notes of any worth, but getting used to moving around, also doing octaves whist fretting.

Cody Wright has a nice video somewhere on practicing.....

found it

Wahey-pick and choose......🤣

Yeah I tried them but they weren’t for me, I preferred the thinner ones, gave the big ones to a mate who plays gypsy jazz and he loves em 

41 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Thanks for confirmation.

So basswood is a good tonewood as is mahogany and Ash. If I was a luthier and was tasked to make a solid colour light weight bass I would pick basswood. If I were building a heavy dark wood instrument then mahogany if I wanted stain and oil to highlight the grain then Ash.

All tonewoods, all different instruments and I am pretty sure they would all sound slightly  different as well.

Plenty Stingrays, Bongo’s are basswood as are plenty other good basses, and yes other more grained wood is used and looks and sounds great

33 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Isn’t tonewood just a generic catch-all term for a raft of different woods used to make musical instruments? 
If you are interested in grain then yes the choice matters. 
I would think that a luthier’s choice of tonewood would be less to do with the tone of the wood and more to do with the type and appearance of the instrument they are making.

In terms of my own mucking about at home the different necks on different instruments make a subtle change in tone. Would this be noticeable in a live venue? I doubt it. Would it sound different played on the toilet?

All changes to an instrument IMO may influence the sound it makes, how significant that change is will be open to debate.

Edit: The use of luthier implies small, bespoke builds. Large manufacturers will be more concerned with supply, costs and consistency amongst other things when selecting tonewood.

Indeed tonewood is a generic term

There does seem to be an obsession with what is the ‘major’ influence, and thus discounting various other bits

Its like one gentleman said about it being a recipe, it’s a combination, that little tweak of lime juice at the end of a dish, or the fact you caramelised the onions as opposed to normal frying them could be the thing to give it a lift

Re drying - most manufacturers worth their salt will have stored it to some degree so it’s not green - granted the ‘better’ ones will start with better wood and allow seasoning for longer - this as people say will make the fit better, remove moisture content.

Re Vibration and Thermal treatment - the molecular structure of wood does change over the years and it’s all to do with the porous structure, these micro holes are present to transport water and nutrients when living but also will denote the resonance as well as the solid bits.

The optimum conditions and process of this has been evaluated and researched Sandberg and the University of Brunswick or Braunschweig have done it (I think it’s that university) and also there is a gentleman in Finland Juha Ruokangas who makes fine guitars who also studied this and there are published articles. He does a nice presentation on it.

It does make a difference to the sound and feel of the wood and therefore to the instrument as a whole, that may be something you like or it may not. If you don’t like or can’t hear it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Do it

Do it now!!!

Just now, uncle psychosis said:

So... 

... Had ten minutes to play the new P. I like it a lot. That's just the sound really, isn't it? 

I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't prefer 32" but I'm pretty convinced that I'll cope just fine with this as is. 

Also, let's give Fender their due. This might be the first new instrument I've bought that I can't find a single flaw on! 

A few bumps and scrapes it will be even more perfect

congrats

Nearly welcome to the world of straight up P - it’s great.

If it doesn’t quite sit right with you and you still want a P, I fully endorse what someone else said earlier about the G&L LB100 - it’s probably the best bass they do in their range.

I may be wrong but recently they seem to be more G&L’s with the #12 neck as standard - PJ size - earlier in their offerings they had a huge range of dimensions and there are some very very good options to suit preferences - couple of the best necks I ever played were G&L

Hope it works out

Bass boomers are good strings, singy to start but they die pretty quickly, Flea uses them, but he has a fresh set every gig.

You can use the bottom 4 of a 5 set but you may have to file your nut where the E now C string sits.

Specifically made for drop timing the DR DDT (drop down tuning) strings are very good.

Personally I just stick to my regular DR Hi Beams standard 4 string set and they handle any tuning - one bass is currently in Drop B with them and it’s all gravy

P.S. a majority only has to be 50.1% or 51 if you want to deal in whole people

6 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I would certainly agree that Garage Band is DAW software (and a very good one from its rep). And yes I agree it's "free" - you just need to pay for entry ticket of having an Apple Device.

But I would still politely suggest that a minority of bass players / band members are using a DAW whether it be Reaper, Ableton or Garage Band etc.

If you go onto the recording forum and review threads on "which DAW," there are zero references I've seen to anyone referring to mobile phones and loopers as being DAWs. Your comment earlier was the first I heard anyone make that statement up.

The entry ticket is any mobile device/tablet - if you are Android N-track has a free version, band Lab, FL studio, Songmaker amongst others all completely free. Maybe if i went to the forum an asked about DAW they wouldn’t say mobile phone, but they may well talk about all of the above that are software on a mobile device - that is obvious. It’s just hardware and software.

You suggested visual EQ is not part of these freebies, i give an example, but of course you will come up with something else to make not so that is actually so.

The point you are trying to make about a DAW being some form of massively complex thing only the minority use is simply perpetuating the myth. Break it down into what it simply is and in some way or form there is the realisation the majority of people are doing it, or can do it easily and successfully.

The example i gave of your set up is because you have the components to record sound and share it - that is the basic premise. The majority of people have the ability in their bags and  pockets, do it in a simple way and could do more.

It’s the classic when you are educating people - putting educational materials into the prison you had to circumvent what they were hardwired to think. You got them making cabinets, cupboards etc. Ask them before they will swear blind they cannot do maths, ask them after they have made a jointed cupboard, they will say - i made a cupboard. Yes you did, but you also measured, added, subtracted, used angles, multiplication etc - they have done maths

Thats all i am saying

I wonder if the timing of a limited edition master built could be an issue.

I know Warwick have a master built service, but as has been said, limited editions are brought out periodically, but i would think normally after the brand has been established for some time. Individually each brand has, but not collectively.

If they had done this in say 5 years, i think it may be differently received, i dunno

19 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

But can you see the EQ waveforms you were referring to when recording with your mobile phone and just using the "standard" recording software that comes with your phones as opposed to paying for something specialist such n-Track which seems to be an alternative to Reaper / Ableton / Mixcraft etc? 

Obviously pretty much everyone has a mobile phone, but my point is that they are not using specialist DAW software that would allow to delve into EQ waveforms etc. That's the angle that I think @Jack and certainly I am coming from here - it's really about common parlance. I don't think most folk would describe a mobile phone as a DAW; for me it's a bit like someone referring to their "set of wheels" meaning a car and then someone jumping in with: 

Just keeping this "on topic", I probably wouldn't consider the above an adequate Plan B for a gig if the car broke down. Just sayin' 😁

What, do you mean something like GarageBand which is free and on your smart device...............

3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I can't find anything useful on the Spector website on this, so maybe you guys can help me out...

a) What the heck is the difference in the Spector range in terms of, NS2, NS4, NS5 and NS5-XL? and

b) How does the Euro LX vary from the above models - is it essentially Tone Pump vs Hazlab preamp?

Apologies if this is a noddy / basic question I should already know the answer to! 

Fair amount of hits if you pop the search question into google, or break it down not comparing all at the same time

1 minute ago, mcnach said:

 

Yup. You can run n-track on your mobile phone, in fact. That's how I started using it, as I wanted something to catch ideas anywhere fast. I only moved to a tablet because the screen was too small and kept hitting the wrong keys  but the functionality is there.

Sausage fingers like me as well then

6 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

Can I order a Wal please 👍 I prefer UK built boutique 😂

 

I can do Me level best, but it’ll be like me cooking - it’ll play nice, taste nice give you a good time and do the job - but f you are after fine dining - i am not your man!

Great work Doc

Be good to hear how y’all get on - I tried the rock control and they weren’t for me as it’s not a rubber grip, jazz tips also good but a lot smaller.

I like the fact that there is very little contact area of plastic/Delrin tip - it means you can get different expression with rubber and plastic hitting strings or even your fingers and pick if you grip down low

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

It would be rude to disagree with any of that...

...but the moment you start making basses as well as Ken Smith, we will all be making a bee-line to your door.

😁

I am not as nice as Roger and let anyone in, I am selective with my customers 😉