how is this possible?

[neepheid]

I ignore any part of a review which refers to setup out of the box - it's utterly irrelevant.  If you go through life expecting every bass you receive to be set up to your exact liking, especially at the price points being discussed here, you're going to be disappointed - a lot.  Either learn how to set up your instruments, or stop being a cheapskate and operate within the price points where you would expect this kind of service/attention to detail.

 

I suspect it's used in reviews as a cheap shot just so they can have something negative to say about otherwise perfectly serviceable instruments.

[NickA]

On 18/02/2025 at 20:53, kodiakblair said:

Folk often cite set up issues with budget basses

To be fair they winge about fancy basses too.  The warwick I bought from here a few years ago came beautifully setup, with an action so low I couldn't play it 😂.  Job 1, jack all the strings up.

 

Does anyone pull a bass out it's box and expect it to be perfect for them straight away?

 

Whatever your bass, it's always worth going over the setup now and then.  I reset the string heights, pickup heights and neck relief on my much used fretless Wal this week.   New bass!  Not sure why, as I doubt things drift much, maybe my playing style changed or the wood changed shape in the winter damp.....well worth it tho.

 

Still setup isn't everything and a pine body and poplar board are never going to feel or sound like mahogany and ebony.

[ezbass]

29 minutes ago, neepheid said:

If you go through life expecting every bass you receive to be set up to your exact liking, especially at the price points being discussed here, you're going to be disappointed - a lot.

I've yet to have a bass that I don't have to adjust a bit/lot. I've had actions that are too high, and too low for me, they might suit someone, but we're all individuals and have our own foibles. That's not to say that were unplayable, far from it, in fact I've only ever handled one almost unplayable bass ever, a Rickenbacker, at a show, where there was so much neck relief, you could slide your fingers underneath. I think reviewers should use the phrase,  playable out of the box, which is a fair assessment.

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, NickA said:

Still setup isn't everything and a pine body and poplar board are never going to feel or sound like mahogany and ebony.

I'd be surprised if they did.

 

The pine used for bodies doesn't come from B&Q. They go for Mexican or Indonesian/Cambodian varieties, a damn sight harder, heavier and denser than most mahogany earmarked for guitar building.

 

Poplar is an interesting timber. More expensive than Ash, shares many similar properties with Alder. It's great for bodies and burl veneers but like Alder too soft for fretboards. Perhaps you were getting confused with the treated Monterey Pine which has been used for fretboards on recent years ? Sadly much Poplar goes the same way as Alder; making pallets. Good thing it doesn't burn so great; plenty Alder goes out as wood pellets or matchsticks.

 

Pine body.

 

 

Poplar body.

 

 

Mahogany with walnut drop top.

 

[NickA]

23 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Perhaps you were getting confused with the treated Monterey Pine

Just reading the spec sheet on gear4music, where islt says the fingerboard is "laminated poplar" which I guess means plywood.

 

The pine in these basses is reportedly quite soft as ( similar thread on Facebook ) they're said to dent rather easily ..

But yes, at school I made a chopping board from "piranha pine" that was tough as £_&&.

 

You'd need a chisel to dent the Brazillian mahogany core of my old Wal and the Shedua Warwick is pretty tough too.  My solid padauk bass has marked a bit though.

 

The issue with soft woods isn't so much dentability as the lack of sustain and high frequency transmission.  May not be linearly related.

[BigRedX]

On 21/02/2025 at 15:29, NickA said:

Still setup isn't everything and a pine body and poplar board are never going to feel or sound like mahogany and ebony.

 

You can't say that, because every piece of wood if different and to try and make sweeping generalisations about a particular species is at best nonsense.

 

Remember also that descriptors like "pine" "poplar" "mahogany" etc. are very broad. There are over 40 species of tree that can produce wood called ash. Swamp ash is simply one of those species grown in swampy contains which goes to show that the climate/environment in which a particular species is gown might be more important than the species itself.

 

Also there's nothing wrong with plywood. Even Jens Ritter uses it to make bases.

[BassBiscuit]

On 21/02/2025 at 18:16, kodiakblair said:

I'd be surprised if they did.

 

The pine used for bodies doesn't come from B&Q. They go for Mexican or Indonesian/Cambodian varieties, a damn sight harder, heavier and denser than most mahogany earmarked for guitar building.

 

Poplar is an interesting timber. More expensive than Ash, shares many similar properties with Alder. It's great for bodies and burl veneers but like Alder too soft for fretboards. Perhaps you were getting confused with the treated Monterey Pine which has been used for fretboards on recent years ? Sadly much Poplar goes the same way as Alder; making pallets. Good thing it doesn't burn so great; plenty Alder goes out as wood pellets or matchsticks.

 

Pine body.

 

 

Poplar body.

 

 

Mahogany with walnut drop top.

 

 

 

 

 My word that last pic on the bench looks fabulous...!!

 

[NickA]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Also there's nothing wrong with plywood. Even Jens Ritter uses it to make bases.

Wals and alembics are basically plywood.   Just very carefully made plywood, with a fat bit of tonewood in the middle.😂

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, NickA said:

The pine in these basses is reportedly quite soft as ( similar thread on Facebook ) they're said to dent rather easily ..

Facebook at it's finest.

 

The 'Pine' Gear 4 Music use for their Chicago basses is Paulownia, completely unrelated to any variety of Pine 🤣

 

Having built a bass with Paulownia for the body I can attest to it's softness, a step above Balsa as far as Janka is concerned.

 

Despite it's softness G&L were quite happy using it though they went with it's Sunday name Empress Wood 🙂 Not to be outdone, Fender released a limited (1000 units) run of 'Empress wood' Telecasters.

 

6 hours ago, BassBiscuit said:

 

 

 

 My word that last pic on the bench looks fabulous...!!

 

Thank you 🙂

 

My good pal Mark Provan (Bonnywood Guitars) handled that one, he did me proud.

[neepheid]

On 21/02/2025 at 15:29, NickA said:

To be fair they winge about fancy basses too.  The warwick I bought from here a few years ago came beautifully setup, with an action so low I couldn't play it 😂.  Job 1, jack all the strings up.

 

Does anyone pull a bass out it's box and expect it to be perfect for them straight away?

 

Whatever your bass, it's always worth going over the setup now and then.  I reset the string heights, pickup heights and neck relief on my much used fretless Wal this week.   New bass!  Not sure why, as I doubt things drift much, maybe my playing style changed or the wood changed shape in the winter damp.....well worth it tho.

 

Still setup isn't everything and a pine body and poplar board are never going to feel or sound like mahogany and ebony.

 

You were doing so well, right up until then end!

 

[NickA]

My bad about pawlonia.  Don't know from where I got it being a species of pine!

 

Much worse in fact. 

 

"Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, and warp-resistant. It is the fastest-growing hardwood. It is used for chests, boxes, and clogs"

 

But it does have pretty flowers.

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, NickA said:

Much worse in fact. 

Aye, this hole just keeps getting deeper 🤣

 

Paulownia has a long history with stringed instruments. The Chinese have been making Guzheng from Paulownia for about 2000 years now, it's 1300 - 1500 for the Japanese Koto. Feurich use it in some of their grand pianos. John Suhr charges $3.5k for his Paulownia Strats.

[80Hz]

On 21/02/2025 at 18:16, kodiakblair said:

Mahogany with walnut drop top.

 

 

Yes what a handsome body.. is that a mahogany neck too? It might just be the light.

[kodiakblair]

9 hours ago, 80Hz said:

 

Yes what a handsome body.. is that a mahogany neck too? It might just be the light.

 

Thanks.

 

It's just the light, both neck and fretboard are Panga Panga.

 

[80Hz]

3 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

both neck and fretboard are Panga Panga

 

Lovely, and now I found your build thread.. and the need for photos is satisfied!

 

I think it's Ibanez that use Panga Panga often, so interesting to see it in the guise of a more traditional instrument.

[NickA]

https://www.kauffmannsguitarstore.com/how-does-it-sounds/the-beauty-of-paulownia/?v=7885444af42e

 

fair nuff.  Some kind of wonder stuff according to these guys.

 

Still won't get me trading in my Wal for a G4M     🙂  (or 40 of them at todays prices  😮 ) 

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, NickA said:

Still won't get me trading in my Wal for a G4M     🙂  (or 40 of them at todays prices  😮 ) 

 

Something tells me that you're not the target market...

[PaulThePlug]

My P and J Bitsas have custom bodies made from Paulownia (or Tulipwood?) ...

Moderate weight, but soft for dinks when oil finished.

Edited February 24 by PaulThePlug