Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

[darkshadow54321]

I'm thinking of buying a bass guitar body off a Brazilian salesman. He makes one piece bodies out of Brazilian wood. They look good, and one piece is always a plus, but the problem is that I don't know what the different woods sound like!

Here are the different woods:

Black Sucupira

Cedrinho (I'm assuming that this is similar or the same as Cedro)

Angelim

And Brazilian Rosewood........the only one I know!

I have no idea what the rest are like as tonewoods... Anyone know? Also, I imagine that rosewood wouldn't be that great for a music man bass body, as well as it being extremely heavy...

Any help is appreciated.

[Jeff_H]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

I'd say if you could get a brazilian rosewood body from that guy for a decent price you should jump on it! Let me know if he has strat bodies or similar, I'd love to try one if the price is right. See if he can get you blanks for necks as well, or necks already made.

I'll do some research on the other woods and let you know what I come up with.

[Blue Calx]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

Holy Shyte! A solid, one piece Brazilian Rosewood body!??!?!!?

"Hot" and "Damn" are probably the only two appropriate words for that.

[Jeff_H]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

Yeah....I almost wet myself when I saw that!

[beandip]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

The only books I have that have those woods in there dont list their tonal qualities, sorry. And you're right though, Cedrinho is very close to Cedro. and an all RW body wouldnt be much heavier than say the walnut strats Fender put out in the 70s. But, it would be heavier since it's a bass. I'm guessing about 10-12 pounds w/o hardware. If it's an all maple neck, it should even it out some.

[Jeff_H]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

I found this link....best so far. I'll keep going.

http://www.floorboards.co.uk/frame.cgi?http%3A//www.floorboards.co.uk/flooring_explained/species_dark/sucupira.htm

[darkshadow54321]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

Yeah, I thought a one piece brazilian body sounded pretty cool too, but thought the weight would make it a bad option. I guess I could always try it though.

Then again, 12 pounds is a heck of a lot!!!!!!! I'll have to ask the guy what weight they end up at. Don't want a bass I can't use...

The guy also makes strat bodies from the stuff. So Jeff or anyone else, PM me if you're interested and I'll send further details.

[Mincer]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

ack! all endangered woods!

[darkshadow54321]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

ack! all endangered woods!

Endangered....but sound good?

[Curly]

Re: Exotic Brazilian Woods.... Help With Tonal Properties?

I'm no expert in this area, but I feel that the properties that make rosewood an ideal wood for backs and sides on acoustics, or for fretboards, don't necessarily make it an ideal candidate for a solid body.

here's a little info on cedrinho:

Cedrinho

personally, I love rosewood, but I don't believe in straying too far from the wood formulas that are "tried and true".
that said, I would like to try a mahogany strat or tele - there are players who've commented here that they sound great, and the recent book, "The Stratocaster Chronicles", said the same thing.

I don't recall seeing a mahogany bass, but I'm sure it's been tried. I would think it would sound great, and some mahogany is pretty light in weight.