Guest MoJo Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I've just been reading another thread about the weight of bass guitars. Many contributors preferred a lighter bass because of the burden of having it hanging on your shoulder for 2 hours. Being an old b**tard I was always led to believe that the body of a bass guitar [i]had[/i] to be dense in order to provide the rich, deep resonance one expects from the instrument. I have recently read an interview with Tim Commerford who is quoted as saying that the wood in the body isn't as important as the pick-ups in producing the tone of the instrument. About a week and a half ago I bought a yellow Westfield B1000 for a ridiculously low sum and after playing it at a recent recording session, fell in love with it. So much so that I decided to get another. Won a natural B1000 on the 'Bay and went to collect it on Sunday. I was surprised to find that it was lighter than the yellow one. I would have thought that all Westfield bodies would be made of the same wood. I haven't had a chance to A/B them yet but I get the feeling, playing them acoustically that there's going to be very little between them. What importance does body wood/weight have on tone? Your opinions please. Mark (PS: I have de-branded both Westfields and swapped necks. The neck with the rosewood board is now on the yellow bass and is sporting a 'Fecker Pretender Bass' decal. The neck with the maple board is on the natural bass. I've set them both up and they play like a dream and even with the standard pick-up in, sound great. Just waiting for my Wizard Thumper to arrive. I'm going to slip that into one of them. Not sure which one yet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Ah, the old confusion between [i]different[/i] and [i]better[/i]. Despite what many would have us believe, these two words are NOT synonymous. My heaviest bass is an early 70's Ibanez P-copy, which appears to be made mainly of lead, or possibly enriched uranium. My lightest solid-body bass is a Bass Collection which weighs roughly half as much. They both sound great, but in different ways. Given my age, I take things like backache seriously so I tend to play the Bass Collection more than the Ibanez, and I play my hollow-body & semi-acoustic Hofners even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Very intersting stuff on this old thread..... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=341&hl=bubinga"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=341&hl=bubinga[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MoJo Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Do any owners of these [i]lite[/i] basses notice any loss in low end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Some do - some dont. It is not so much that you lose the bottom as sometimes gain more top - which of course sounds like losing bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 ^^^ Excellent Post Id just like to say though, even with that in mind i PERSONALLY prefer heavier basses due to it FEELING sturdier and more like quality. Just my point of view on these things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='162974' date='Mar 25 2008, 08:40 AM']Ah, the old confusion between [i]different[/i] and [i]better[/i]. Despite what many would have us believe, these two words are NOT synonymous.[/quote] I agree totally. I've had a multitude of basses over the years and there is a correlation between density (body size would dictate the weight) and tone but better... no, just different. I can still recall an Alder bodied Jass that I had that had such lovely mellow tones and it was beautifully light, however my tastes changed and I wanted less mellow and more punch so I flogged it and bought an Ash bodied Jazz. Same bass technically (a Jazz) but the body woods gave me 'different' tones. Interestingly you can debate what influence wood type and/or pups have but consider this... if you construct a bass using a blank body template of a Jazz and install a P pup, does it sound like a P bass or a Jazz bass? if you construct a bass using a blank body template of a Precision and install a pair of J pups, does it sound like a J bass or a P bass? The body mass isn't 'that' much different and the shape on something that is so similar shouldn't have any bearing; given that the necks would be the same what would you expect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 [quote name='bassman2790' post='162992' date='Mar 25 2008, 09:25 AM']Do any owners of these [i]lite[/i] basses notice any loss in low end?[/quote] far from it, i usually have to turn the bass [i]down[/i] on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 [quote name='bassman2790' post='162992' date='Mar 25 2008, 09:25 AM']Do any owners of these [i]lite[/i] basses notice any loss in low end?[/quote] It's not really a low/high thing. My SB320 (one of the original SGC Nanyo types) has a superbly clear sound and a ringing tone. My much heavier Ibanez has a wonderful dirty tone that isn't particularly [i]clear[/i] but certainly grabs your attention. Like I say, this isn't about [i]better[/i] but about [i]different[/i]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I thought perhaps the variation in tonal quality in the same make and model of instruments were due to the natural differences in every piece of wood (assuming little room for human error on electronics). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassy Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I used to play Wals and i always thought that most of the tone was coming from the heavy weight bodies. But Pete at Wal always said that the pickups and preamp were producing most of the sound! Now i play Status basses and they are much lighter than the Wals but still have the same depth of sound and attack? Rob Green at Status says that the tone comes from the graphite through neck, pickups/preamp and that the wood wings and laminate tops are really just for the look and don't affect the sound. Recently i've also been playing a 70's precision, which is very light weight, but again has a very good bassy tone? So i would go along with the idea that the pickups and preamp are possibly the most important character on any guitar? The woods -type and weight- are adding minor tonal differences. Just to complicate things though, i have noticed that 5/ 6 string basses have deeper tones to their EADG strings than a conventional 4 string, which i put down to the increased mass in the necks? as the bodies are similar if not the same size/weight to their 4 string cousins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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