Deadwood

[40hz]

I'm definitely of the opinion that the wood has little to do with it really. My old Modulus Flea sounded crap acoustically but plug that sucker in and it was absolutely stunning. Granted that's a carbon fibre neck but the fact remains it wasn't a particulary resonant body or neck. Imo it's all in the electrics. I'd be looking at the electric components of this bass or at least what you are expecting tone wise to be happening.

Edited January 4, 2016 by 40hz

[RhysP]

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1451933926' post='2944782']
I'm definitely of the opinion that the wood has little to do with it really.
[/quote]

This, especially in the case of a solidbody electric instrument.
There's a lot of bollocks talked about 'tonewoods' - even acoustic guitar builders have proved you can build superb instruments out of any old wood. Check out the Fylde models made from old whisky barrels & the Taylors made from old pallets if you're in any doubt.

[Behlmene]

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1451933926' post='2944782']
I'm definitely of the opinion that the wood has little to do with it really.[/quote]

Seems the top manufacturers may be wrong. They insist on using what they suppose is quality wood for their guitars. Maybe it's a marketing thing?

[40hz]

[quote name='Behlmene' timestamp='1451970417' post='2945065']


Seems the top manufacturers may be wrong. They insist on using what they suppose is quality wood for their guitars. Maybe it's a marketing thing?
[/quote]

This will go round and round. And yes to a degree I think it is.

[ubit]

I very sceptical about this, as I believe the wood on an electric guitar makes bugger all difference to the sound once it's plugged in. Acoustic instruments, yip, the wood is very important, but I've seen guitars with hardly any wood, or perhaps aluminium, sounding great purely because it's all about the strings, pickups, and bridge!

[cheddatom]

how do they compare acoustically? My basses all sound different unplugged - not necessarily due to the woods, but still

[Twincam]

My simple theory is that string energy decays through varies pathways (this is a fact) one of them is the transmission of energy through whatever it's attached too, strings vibrating the body(also true). This can be felt on any stringed instrument. So clearly the various properties of the medium (wood normally) are going to effect energy decay of the strings, how long they vibrate for and maybe other changes too.
So in my view wood type and shape will impart a subtle change in tone.
Some may here it some won't that's the nature of ears and brain, a computer would be able to show it on a graph though.

Electrics effected much less than acoustic instruments of course. Either way it's a subtle change. I bet polystyrene, wood and concrete will all sound different to a human ear so why not different woods just in a smaller way.

But these little effects soon all add up to big changes in tone. So every little does help.

As for the op's problem. You could try using ultra sound on the body or playing certain frequencies from a normal speaker at it for a long duration and at very loud volume, with the speaker on the body or maybe even hitting the wood in a hidden cavity like the bottom of the pickup cavity with a wooden dowl and mallet anywhere that won't cause damage. To somehow structurally change the properties lol. This is of course semi serious answer lol..

[cheddatom]

People go on about neck-through basses having more sustain. I have one neck through and two bolt on. When played acoustically, one bolt on bass sounds rubbish, the neck through is better but lacks sustain, and the other bolt on sounds great! I would have thought the manner of construction would have more to do with it than the actual wood. How many pieces the neck is made from, how many holes are in the body etc. It'd be interesting to see a proper scientific study on this

[PaulWarning]

the only story I've got about the body effecting sound is the case of J J Burnels famous green P with which he got the early Stranglers bass sound, it split when he was banging it to get feedback at a gig, he had it repaired and it was never the same again, he's since tried hundreds of P's and never found another one that got that 'sound', so presumable it was a fault in the wood that made it sound like that.

[mcnach]

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1451932059' post='2944747']
Have you seen the audio test where a guy literally sticks some PuPs/electrics to a block of scrap wood and then attaches a bass neck? He then records some open strings. He then records a well known brand of bass. Listening side by side Its almost impossible to tell the difference. My point is that this video showed that the wood made feck all difference to the sound in this scenario.

On the flipside there are loads of players who like flats and sponge under the strings by the bridge to achieve the sound you say you are getting from your bass.
[/quote]


That's what I wanted to say after I read the "mystical" post, but... I couldn't bring myself to participate in yet another 'wood matters, oh no it doesn't' diatribe But I'm glad somebody did.
My own experience with "crap wood" guitars that sounded great is enough for me. No molecular realignment needed for me

[mcnach]

[quote name='Behlmene' timestamp='1451970417' post='2945065']
Seems the top manufacturers may be wrong. They insist on using what they suppose is quality wood for their guitars. Maybe it's a marketing thing?
[/quote]


Quality wood ends up being what traditionally started being used for solid body instruments (not based on 'tone' but on availability & price mostly). Tradition takes care of the rest. Other quality woods are supposed to be 'quality' for aesthetic reasons... and little else. Then... add marketing

Not saying that the wood will not have an effect in the sound of solid body instruments, but when you consider the huge variation between individual bits of wood of the same species, it seems a bit too much to give the wood the importance that some want to give it. To me, it seems that other factors play a much larger role, and in the case of bolt-on instruments particularly the neck pocket fit.

[deepbass5]

Give me Swamp Ash over basewood any day

Silk purse Sows ear etc etc

Edited January 5, 2016 by deepbass5

[40hz]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1451995886' post='2945268']



Quality wood ends up being what traditionally started being used for solid body instruments (not based on 'tone' but on availability & price mostly). Tradition takes care of the rest. Other quality woods are supposed to be 'quality' for aesthetic reasons... and little else. Then... add marketing

Not saying that the wood will not have an effect in the sound of solid body instruments, but when you consider the huge variation between individual bits of wood of the same species, it seems a bit too much to give the wood the importance that some want to give it. To me, it seems that other factors play a much larger role, and in the case of bolt-on instruments particularly the neck pocket fit.
[/quote]

Exactly my thoughts, well said.

[Jazzneck]

Read chapter 1 of The Tone Manual by Dave Hunter - the bit about the actual guitar, not pedals, strings, plecs, amps etc.

Too much info to quote here

He discusses an awful lot about the whole subject - materials, components, fit, electrics, the whole lot.

After reading and digesting this chapter for a while, I tweaked one of my Squier bolt-on bass neck fits and its nut to see what happened.

It brightened the sound considerably, both acoustically and electrified.

I then noticed that these tweaks were already incorporated on my Bill Nash "1965" Strat. which is a very bright machine.

Interesting stuff which stopped me spending loads of money on a la di da bass.

[Behlmene]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1451995886' post='2945268'] Not saying that the wood will not have an effect in the sound of solid body instruments, but when you consider the huge variation between individual bits of wood of the same species, it seems a bit too much to give the wood the importance that some want to give it.[/quote]

You make a good point. I have gone into guitar shops and compared identical guitars (recently MIM Teles of the same year, same wood, same electronics, same set up) and found that they sound noticeably different. Some sounded dull, others lively, some in between. I'm not convinced a given type of wood has a tonal advantage (Ash vs. Alder, etc) over another, but I do think the wood makes a major impact on the sound of a guitar.

My opinion, If the wood is resonant it seems to contribute to sustain and makes the guitar more pleasing to play. If the wood it not resonant I notice a dampening effect and the guitar can become a chore in short order.

[deepbass5]

Trawling internet there are loads of entries on the topic of tone woods - here is one that asks that question.
But more interestingly check out the comments

[url="http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2012/08/01/how-and-why-woods-affect-your-bass-sound/"]http://www.notreble....our-bass-sound/[/url]

Also worth a listen https://youtu.be/UjHpVGMaleM

Edited January 6, 2016 by deepbass5

[deepbass5]

God there are an awful lot of videos on the tube on this subject,
So I'm gonna bow out of this debate for my sanity, attached is a clip explaining the science behind the anti tone wood campaign, https://youtu.be/svmOQuNC1Uw
But what he did not explain or go into was the harmonic content of the wave he referred to as timbre, This[b] is[/b] the tone signature of the component parts Neck, body, bridge nut etc. Harmonics give us a reference signature from which we learn and recognise different sounds. So basically my point is -
If you can tell the difference of a note - e.g "C" played on a piano and that same note (frequency/pitch) played on a trumpet and clarinet, Bass guitar. We can all Identify all those instruments blind, So it is not just wavelength and frequency, It is the harmonic information that is telling the brain this is a clarinet, it may be harder to identify a note played on an Alder bass with maple neck made in the 50's,60's,70's,80's,90's, etc but we could differentiate the difference, good bad and indifferent.
Could a cheap £200 P bass copy ever bark and burp like a neck through Warwick thumb made of Wenge and bubinga ???

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1452107423' post='2946541']

... Could a cheap £200 P bass copy ever bark and burp like a neck through Warwick thumb made of Wenge and bubinga ???

[/quote]

I very very much doubt a cheap £200 P bass copy could ever bark and burp like a neck through Warwick thumb made of Wenge and bubinga without the Warwick active J/J pickups.

[deepbass5]

[tauzero]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1452107423' post='2946541']
So basically my point is -
If you can tell the difference of a note - e.g "C" played on a piano and that same note (frequency/pitch) played on a trumpet and clarinet, Bass guitar. We can all Identify all those instruments blind, So it is not just wavelength and frequency, It is the harmonic information that is telling the brain this is a clarinet, it may be harder to identify a note played on an Alder bass with maple neck made in the 50's,60's,70's,80's,90's, etc but we could differentiate the difference, good bad and indifferent.
[/quote]

A lot of the information about what instrument it is, let alone which variant of that instrument, is gleaned from the ADSR envelope of the sound - attack, decay, sustain, release. If you just hear a sustained note without the initial part of the sound, you'd find it a lot more difficult to distinguish between, say, a bowed string instrument and a blown woodwind instrument playing the same note.