What wood for a bass body?

[Geek99]

On 06/07/2020 at 16:51, Woodinblack said:

Will dent if you breath heavily on it

 

Oh yeah - see my build thread. Some dust landed on it and left a crater like lake baikal 

[Bonny Wood Guitars]

On 06/07/2020 at 07:26, kodiakblair said:

@Cuzzie

Asking for basswood might get you funny looks. Closest we have is lime which is heavier and harder 🙂

 

Pine is great but depends on the variety. Fella up the road from me, Bonnywood Guitars, just uses white pine from the builder's merchants.

I got a bit of Longleaf for the slab P-bass. Weighs a ton and bloody hard 🙂

Actually, i use a lot of different types of wood, not just white pine. Never made a bass from white pine but i have used old growth american heart pine. Its solid as oak and doesnt dent easily 🙂

[Waddo Soqable]

What about a neck from pine? I may be imagining it but didn't Fender make some early necks from pine..? 

[kodiakblair]

50 minutes ago, Bonny Wood Guitars said:

Actually, i use a lot of different types of wood,

And a damn fine job you do with them  🙂

 

The Cal caster was braw but the Super Yobs .... You've that corner of the market neatly sewn up 👍

[kodiakblair]

36 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I may be imagining it but didn't Fender make some early necks from pine..? 

They did early bodies from pine, never heard them use it for necks.

[Waddo Soqable]

3 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

They did early bodies from pine, never heard them use it for necks.

That's probably what made me think of it, pine's an unlikely candidate reallly other than perhaps for prototype work outs. 

[nilorius]

Alder

[TheLowDown]

Anything lightweight but which provides enough balance with whatever is used for the neck to help prevent neck dive.

Edited February 19, 2023 by TheLowDown

[TheGreek]

I love these discussions.

 

People using science to argue their point when in the real world very few people,  even musicians, can tell any difference. Pretty sure Joe Average can't. 

 

Anybody who has attended a Bass Bash and participated in any of the various tests will know that most people can't even identify their own basses, never mind fretboard material, active/ passive,  cheap or expensive. 

If the OP is looking for a lightweight timber, can I suggest that you keep your advice to that topic.

[JoeEvans]

Pine can move more with changes in humidity, so paint crazing might be more likely in the long run. Ash is lovely to work with but weighs a ton.

Beech would be nice, still on the heavy side but you can get a lovely finish.

Robbins Timber in Bristol stocks a lot of interesting species, would be worth a look for some ideas.

[Jonesy]

22 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

That's probably what made me think of it, pine's an unlikely candidate reallly other than perhaps for prototype work outs. 

 

There's an Am Pro 2 Jazz in roasted pine too, looks pretty sweet.

 

[Ralf1e]

I kind of suspect that bass was finished long ago by now. Maybe even before all the scientific discussions took place. Just a thought.

[Hellzero]

Try concrete instead of wood as most of the deaf people around won't hear any difference between the sh*ttiest bass ever built and the most beautifully sounding one built with classical grade woods and true luthier skills with attention to every detail...

 

And don't forget to put 25 pedals in the signal chain and, of course, these 25 pedals must include 12 distortion pedals turned to the max ... in cascade.

 

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[ezbass]

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Try concrete instead of wood as most of the deaf people around won't hear any difference between the sh*ttiest bass ever built and the most beautifully sounding one built with classical grade woods and true luthier skills with attention to every detail...

 

And don't forget to put 25 pedals in the signal chain and, of course, these 25 pedals must include 12 distortion pedals turned to the max ... in cascade.

 

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[kodiakblair]

5 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Try concrete instead of wood

Why stop at concrete ?

 

I've owned basses with bodies made from acrylic, Luthite and plywood topped with hardboard, all sounded great. Other materials I recall being used include CF, aluminium and one year a marble body guitar appeared at Musik Messe; it weighed a ton and was mounted on a stand 🙂

 

Companies build bodies from wood for 2 reasons, it's relatively cheap and tradition; creative types are generally very conservative when it comes to instruments 😄

[Dan Dare]

9 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Why stop at concrete ?

 

I've owned basses with bodies made from acrylic, Luthite and plywood topped with hardboard, all sounded great. Other materials I recall being used include CF, aluminium and one year a marble body guitar appeared at Musik Messe; it weighed a ton and was mounted on a stand 🙂

 

Companies build bodies from wood for 2 reasons, it's relatively cheap and tradition; creative types are generally very conservative when it comes to instruments 😄

 

Danelectro guitars are made of hardboard (Masonite in the US). I owned a Danelectro bass and it worked very well. Needs to be painted, which rules out a clear finish over a nice looking grain, but does the job more than adequately, being rigid, inert and easily worked.

 

Humans seem to find wood grain beautiful. I don't think it's due to the fact that we are conservative, necessarily. It probably appeals to some instinct within us. It may not make for a better instrument, but if it pleases us and gives us pride of ownership, there's nowt wrong with that.

 

[Waddo Soqable]

I'm very tempted to have a go at making a Trussart type metal body tbh  

[BigRedX]

I've also owned basses and guitars made out of all sorts of materials. All of them were perfectly playable and sounded fine. The cheap acrylic-bodied bass I owned out-preformed the more traditional and more expensive wood-made instrument that was supposed to replace it, in every aspect.

 

Wood is also much easier to work that most other materials while still have the necessary structural integrity to withstand string tension. Anyone with a set of decently sharp hand tools can make a usable guitar or bass.

[Reggaebass]

23 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I'm very tempted to have a go at making a Trussart type metal body tbh  

Vernon Dinnall who is the bass player for Alpha blondy plays an Alusonic Bass which Is aluminium , it looks pretty cool, I’d like to try one 

 

[ezbass]

13 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Anyone with a set of decently sharp hand tools can make a usable guitar or bass.

You have clearly not seen me work with wood 🤕🩸🪵🪓

[TheGreek]

Members of our local dog walkers WhatsApp group are making their own liver cake for the dogs.

 

I wonder how that would sound??

 

Tasty??

[BigRedX]

11 minutes ago, ezbass said:

You have clearly not seen me work with wood 🤕🩸🪵🪓

 

Joking aside, if I can do it, then anyone can. I made two instruments while I was still at school in the 70s, when information on how to make an electric guitar was far harder to come by then it is now. It was all done entirely with hand tools, except the roughing out of the body shapes which was done by the woodwork teacher on the bandsaw. I probably spent more time sharpening chisel and plane blades then I did actually shaping the wood, but the end results were a perfectly playable solid electric guitar and a balalaika.

[ezbass]

22 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Joking aside, if I can do it, then anyone can. I made two instruments while I was still at school in the 70s, when information on how to make an electric guitar was far harder to come by then it is now. It was all done entirely with hand tools, except the roughing out of the body shapes which was done by the woodwork teacher on the bandsaw. I probably spent more time sharpening chisel and plane blades then I did actually shaping the wood, but the end results were a perfectly playable solid electric guitar and a balalaika.

I exaggerate a bit, I do plenty of mods. However, I’m not in the same league as the more talented builders on BC (league? Not even the same game, TBH) and I’d not be satisfied with any efforts I might make. I’d like to have the right tools, inc drill presses, routers, etc and the room to store them though.

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Danelectro guitars are made of hardboard (Masonite in the US).

Danelectro was one of those basses.

 

Only the back and top are hardboard, about 4 mm thick. They sandwich a frame, on the early models frames were just plywood stapled together, think today it's glued poplar.

 

Core of Danos is like this.

 

[Dan Dare]

10 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Danelectro was one of those basses.

 

Only the back and top are hardboard, about 4 mm thick. They sandwich a frame, on the early models frames were just plywood stapled together, think today it's glued poplar.

 

Core of Danos is like this.

 

Interesting and reinforces the point that type of material a body is made from really doesn't matter.