garry warrington Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Going to put together a p bass with the help of a friend got my head around the wiring i want to go for a retro fat bass sound what would be the the best tonewood for the body and neck i have got some axes r us pickups which are decent along with a wilkinson bridge and cts pots should i go for alder.ash or something else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Undead Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Welcome! But, wrong section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 (edited) Hi Garry! Your retro fat bass sound will largely be a result of which strings/pickup/electrics you go for. There are many threads on here about body wood, and how it makes very little difference to 'tone'. And, oh yes... Edited May 6, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1336308820' post='1643748'] Hi Garry! Your retro fat bass sound will largely be a result of which strings/pickup/electrics you go for. There are many threads on here about body wood, and how it makes very little difference to 'tone'. And, oh yes... [/quote] what he says. But you will want to go for maple neck and alder body for the trad fender tone (or just look) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Normal Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 (edited) Hi Garry, I'm one of those much maligned basschat deviants who knows damn well that he can tell the difference between an ash and an alder P-bass tone with stock pickups, still anyone is entitled to their own opinon, so i suggest you take your own council on this matter. Mind you, it's true that you can get whatever style pickups you want nowadays, and that will have a stronger influence on your sound..... For what it's worth, my opinion is: I have 2 ash P-basses (one Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub, one that I put together) and 3 alder ones, (two Fenders (one MIJ, one MIA) and one Warmoth) with one maple fretboard, one macassar ebony fretboard and three rosewood fretboards between them. I can't tell any difference in sound between the fretboards, but traditionally rosewood is supposed to sound softer. The ash bodies definately have a little more attack and sustain and more mid-range 'honk', while the alder ones have a softer more balanced sound. I like them both, but I'd personally go for alder if you wanted the "classic" P-bass sound. I put simple tone circuits in most of my P-basses, and I use 0.47 uf Orange Drop capacitors, and they work fine (close to stock fender 0.5 uf). Edited May 15, 2012 by Max Normal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Hi Garry Done a couple of projects like this and can't say i really noticed any diffference with the wood. Got some vintage pickups and an old wiring kit - now that made a difference. Welcome to Basschat B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbass1 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Swamp ash/Maple 'board or Alder/Rosewood 'board are the traditional choices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Alder body rosewood board and Fender 'original' P-Bass pup rather than the axesrus pup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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