ShortScale.org

but u also hate humbuckers..... to each there own....

They usually use basswood on superstrats because the wood will thicken up the sound of the Floyd Rose bridge..... also they are usually 25.5 scale and are lead instuments.... with lead instruments the flabby bottom does not matter as much as it would with chording.... Basswood is known for making a guitar sound mid-rangey....which is what u want for lead

but add loose mid-rangey wood with mid-rangey pick ups and that sounds like a bad idea....IMO

I have a hard time believing that they type of wood is going to matter that much . . .


I mean the guitar is probably going to be coated in plastic anyways.

portugalwillie wrote:I have a hard time believing that they type of wood is going to matter that much . . .

I would be with you but I have struggled to figure out why my Bronco Bass has such a slick mellow sound where the Musicmaster and Mustang Basses have a very bright sound, and if it's not the tonewood, I don't know what else it is because it certainly ain't the fretboard.

portugalwillie wrote:I have a hard time believing that they type of wood is going to matter that much . . .


I mean the guitar is probably going to be coated in plastic anyways.

it does make a difference, it may not be super extreme but there is a difference... I have even heard differences in mahogany on two of the exact same guitars..... its wood, its not perfect and all peices are different like people are

if two peices of the same wood can have differences in sound than 2 different kinds of wood will definately sound different

u have played acoustics with different wood right? I had a rosewood/ spruce acoustic that was dark as hell.... now I got a mahogany/ spruce and it is way brighter sounding... I know the diference is more extreme on acoustics but it is an example

but covered in plastic...yes...lol

I just don't buy it . . .

I've played teles made out of alder; it sounded like a tele.
I've played teles made out of pine; it sounded like a tele.
I've played teles made out of ply wood; it sounded like a tele.
I've played teles made out of basswood; it sounded like a tele.

I think the size of the strings have more of an effect on tone than the wood. Maybe if you're playing a thin skin guitar or a guitar with almost no paint (like my Mustang) it will be more resonant but seriously. these guitars will be covered in so much paint to make them shinny that the wood underneath won't mean dick.

Well, I have two bass guitars, a Bronco and a Musicmaster, which both have the same bridges and pickups and pretty much the same body, but one is basswood and the other's alder (maybe poplar, I'm actually not sure).

If you want me to do a demo of the two bass bodies with the same neck and strings, I'd be happy to do it. Not right now, but in a couple of weeks.

That said, I do think that tonewood and all these factors play a bigger factor in bass than guitar. I have never really obsessed over tone on a guitar, I find everything sounds good. On bass, though, I'm pretty particular.

I'm with portugal willie. I think construction has more to do with differences in sound between models of guitars rather than the type of wood. I've owned a few basswood guitars and they have all sounded fine. other than the fact that basswood is extremely delicate and dents and dings very easily, I think it is great for guitars. Every CIJ mustang or jag-stang, or vista sereies squier that I've ever played has been basswood and they sound and feel fine.

Basswood is a great tone wood that gets a bad rap. Besides it being very soft and easily dented. It has a warm tone and is very light weight. Lots of great guitars are made from basswood including Jag-stangs and J Mascis Jazzmaster.

im sorry but on a bass to me everything sound like :


booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllarerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg


no matter what the thing is made of

Yeah. My problem with basswood has always been that it is very soft. It certainly sounds good, somewhat like mahogany I suppose. Excellent weight wise as well.

You can't unscrew something five times in a basswood body before the threads go. In general I don't like it for tremolo equipped guitars. Being that poplar is cheap, I generally support the use of poplar over basswood, though.

Paying any more than $400 for a basswood body seems wrong though. I just don't think basswood bodies are built for the long haul.

pine is softer than basswood and it was used for the first telecasters . . .


may not be ideal but it can work.

honeyiscool wrote:

Lucamo wrote:The duo re-issue is basswood and they fine.

I actually really like basswood as a tonewood. As long as it's a hardtail I don't see any problems with it.

It also lets you use very bright pickups. I prefer the combination of bright pickups + dark tonewood vs. bright tonewood + dark pickups.

portugalwillie wrote:I have a hard time believing that they type of wood is going to matter that much . . .

Yeah, my basswood Aerodyne Jazz Bass and Telecaster sound great and both sustain for days. I used to be big on tonewoods and all that, but, honestly, it almost never matters Only real problem with basswood is that it dings easily.

SGJarrod wrote:u have played acoustics with different wood right? I had a rosewood/ spruce acoustic that was dark as hell.... now I got a mahogany/ spruce and it is way brighter sounding... I know the diference is more extreme on acoustics but it is an example

The difference is the wood is what resonates the sound in an acoustic. The wood is a major factor in the sound, as it's what's doing the bulk of the vibrating to produce the overall timbre. It's not as big a factor in electrics, where the pickups and other hardware are the major factor.

The wood DOES have an effect on the overall character of an electric instrument, but it is minor. I don't think any of us could listen to a new recording of something, ignorant of the player and their normal gear choices, and have any real idea what wood their guitar is made of.

honeyiscool wrote:Well, I have two bass guitars, a Bronco and a Musicmaster, which both have the same bridges and pickups and pretty much the same body, but one is basswood and the other's alder (maybe poplar, I'm actually not sure).

If you want me to do a demo of the two bass bodies with the same neck and strings, I'd be happy to do it. Not right now, but in a couple of weeks.

That said, I do think that tonewood and all these factors play a bigger factor in bass than guitar. I have never really obsessed over tone on a guitar, I find everything sounds good. On bass, though, I'm pretty particular.

Speaking as a fellow bassist, I think you're right that it matters more for bass than guitar, but it's still minor.

Personally, I think it'd be more informative to demo the two with the same neck and electronics. That's a lot of work, but, I think the major difference is the individual pickups more than the body wood. I would love to be shown right or wrong on this though


ON TOPIC
Someone tell us how the Jazzmasters sound compared to a real Jazzy

Ankhanu wrote:ON TOPIC
Someone tell us how the Jazzmasters sound compared to a real Jazzy

Like this:

[youtube][/youtube]

jag too

[youtube][/youtube]

Based on them demo's neither sound like the models they are based on. the Jazzy is way closer but i think taking away the tremolo changes the traditional sound on these models anyway.
The Jag sounds like a MIM Toronado deluxe, looks like a bit like one as well.

Yeah, the Jazzy's not too bad, but not exactly right either... to be expected
Certainly not a bad base from which to work, though.

Ankhanu wrote:Personally, I think it'd be more informative to demo the two with the same neck and electronics. That's a lot of work, but, I think the major difference is the individual pickups more than the body wood. I would love to be shown right or wrong on this though

ON TOPIC
Someone tell us how the Jazzmasters sound compared to a real Jazzy

That was the idea. I have the same pickup in both basses now. The caps are not the same but the pots are the same values. It would be no problem to just do a neck swap to do a shootout.

And yeah, I think that when it comes to basses, the most important contributers to tone are, in this order, strings, pickups, fretboard/neck, body wood, and then bridge.

When it comes to guitar, I can't tell anything apart. I think the most important contribution to your tone is your amp, and then your pickups matter some. With that in mind, these Squier Jazzes probably sound like a Jazzmaster, if properly wired with good Jazz pickups and 1 meg pots, but with more sustain.

in no way do the strings matter more than the pickups on a bass.

maybe if you're using flatwounds vs normal than maybe they're is a bigger audible difference but you can definitely when someone is rocking a P-bass pickup opposed to Jazz.

even then, the difference in style of jazz pickup will effect the tone much more than the strings.

But that's exactly the point. Between nickel roundwounds and dead flatwounds there's a tonal range that provides a lot more than a simple pickup change IMO.

honeyiscool wrote:

Ankhanu wrote:Personally, I think it'd be more informative to demo the two with the same neck and electronics. That's a lot of work, but, I think the major difference is the individual pickups more than the body wood. I would love to be shown right or wrong on this though

ON TOPIC
Someone tell us how the Jazzmasters sound compared to a real Jazzy

That was the idea. I have the same pickup in both basses now. The caps are not the same but the pots are the same values. It would be no problem to just do a neck swap to do a shootout.

And yeah, I think that when it comes to basses, the most important contributers to tone are, in this order, strings, pickups, fretboard/neck, body wood, and then bridge.

When it comes to guitar, I can't tell anything apart. I think the most important contribution to your tone is your amp, and then your pickups matter some. With that in mind, these Squier Jazzes probably sound like a Jazzmaster, if properly wired with good Jazz pickups and 1 meg pots, but with more sustain.

If the caps aren't the same then that is why they sound different. Not because of the wood.

And again, agreed with portugalwillie, pickups make more of a difference than strings on a bass. Yes there is a huge tonal difference between rounds and flats, but you can still tell the difference between a p with rounds or flats and a jazz with rounds or flats. Types of pickups and the what position they are in make more of a difference on a bass.

billy nailed it.

even though you can tell the difference between flats and rounds, pickup still has a more noticeable effect. that said, switching strings does effect the sound more than wood type.