Alder or ash?

[Lake Placid Blues]

Still thinking about building a bass. Just thinking about it for now. Should I plan for an ash or alder body? Or mahogany? Or something else? Does it matter with a bass as far as tone and sustain?

Probably would go for a trans red finish and I would want a wenge neck.

What about body weight? Would lite ash balance out a wenge neck okay..probably P bass shape.

[Snake Aces]

Re: Alder or ash?

I currently own a one piece swamp ash Warmoth J bass with a quilted maple top and I used to own another Warmoth chambered swamp ash J bass with a quilted maple top. Both have (had) bubinga necks with ziricote fretboards. The bubinga is heavy, I currently own a wenge neck/ziricote fretboard on a black korina chambered les paul as well. The wenge does not seem as dense and as heavy as the bubinga at all but of course we are talking a guitar neck versus a bass neck so it's almost apples to oranges. On top of that I have seen swamp ash bass bodies ranging from under 4 pounds to over 6 pounds in weight. Wood just varies like that so the balance really depends on the weight of the body versus the weight of the neck.

Let's talk sustain and tone, I am of the opinion the body and neck woods definitely impact tone. I have also owned two alder fender P basses in my day and a Music Man bass as well. Each had it's own attitude and it's own tone. I will tell you what I like about the swamp ash/bubinga combo for now:

1. Sustain for days and days. Long after most other people I jam with have run out of sustain I can be sipping on water, holding the note and yawning without losing much at all. I find myself having to fade the bass out a lot when recording at the end of tracks because the sustain goes on and on.

2. Attitude. On my alder Fender basses, I could dig in with a little extra and get something that resembled a fart. With the swamp ash/bubinga combo when I dig in the bass growls like an angry dog... almost like a little natural gain sound. These are all passive basses I am comparing as well. The only active bass I had was the Music Man, which was great too, but I am talking passive at the moment. Anyway, I have played quite a few swamp ash bodied guitars and noticed similar characteristics when digging into a swamp ash guitar. Swamp ash seems to be an expressive and responsive body wood. Alder is great and a classic but my preference is with swamp ash... plus ash looks so sweet with trans finishes!

3. The bubinga is a bit brighter than wenge but I love both woods equally. I always say if I ever piece together another bass it just might have a wenge neck. Bubinga is great, smooth and can seemingly handle lower frequencies better than maple can without losing articulation.

Let's talk about the one thing that I do not like so much but will gladly deal with considering how nice the bass sounds/feels/plays: it is nose heavy! It's like driving a front wheel drive car loaded with a v6 or v8. The headstock always wants to take a dive. Overall my bass weighs almost 13 pounds! The body alone is 5 lbs 10 ounces. So, even though the body weighs in at almost 6 pounds the neck is so heavy that balance is impossible. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I have so much sustain with it though. I once had a Gibson Les Paul studio that weighed 12 pounds that also had crazy amounts of sustain.

So, I would suggest to go with swamp ash for the body. The wenge neck will help balance out the brightness of the ash and you should end up with a beautiful looking and playing bass.

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Alder or ash?

Ash is my favorite. Like a good swamp ash grain more than any flame, burl, or quilt. Nice and light, not very expensive. Ups to everything Snakeaces just said too.

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Alder or ash?

Thanks. Ash it will be then.