Hit&Run Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 According to the squier website the standard series have agathis bodies, and the (cheaper) affinity series have alder bodies. I had thought that alder was considered 'tonally superior' to agathis, or is this just an old wives tale? Thanks, H&R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Not all woods are equal, not even within a species. A friend of mine had an Agathis-bodied Korean Burns, and it was wonderful. Basswood bodies don't seem to hold Bongos back- although some may argue that the aesthetics do! As with all woods, there are good quality cuts and less good quality cuts. The only way you'll ever "see" how good a piece of tree your bass is made from is if you own a natural or translucent finished instrument. Even then, there may be no direct correlation between the appearance of a piece of wood and its impact on the tone of the bass. Perhaps Squier are using relatively cheap cuts of Alder, such that the Affinities are cheaper than the Agathis-bodied ones? Are the instruments otherwise identical? Other factors may influence the cost, especially the country of manufacture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hit&Run Posted March 11, 2010 Author Share Posted March 11, 2010 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='771441' date='Mar 11 2010, 11:53 AM']Are the instruments otherwise identical? Other factors may influence the cost, especially the country of manufacture![/quote] They seem to be pretty similar. I had thought that the cheapest squiers may have alder off-cuts used as a 13 piece body. Maybe squier thought that an alder body on their entry level jazz bass may sway a few more people away from other 'budget' brands? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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