Rosewood Body for a Bass?

[darkshadow54321]

I've got a sneaky idea....

How would a brazilian rosewood body sound paired with a maple or wenge neckthrough with an ebony fingerboard? Musicman pickup...

I know it would be extremely heavy, but couldn't you make some weight holes to make it lighter? how would that affect the sound?

Thankees.

[aleclee]

Re: Rosewood Body for a Bass?

At least in the US, finding BRW pieces big enough for even a 3-piece body would be very expensive and challenging. Piecing together a body from a bunch of smaller pieces IMO would at least partially defeat the purpose of using an uber-resonant wood like BRW. Though chambering/weight relief can be cool in guitars, I'd be concerned about losing punch which IMO is more important in a bass than in a guitar.

I dunno about the tonal properties of wenge but the brightness of a maple neck and ebony board may or may not compliment the tonal roundness of a rosewood body. Same can be said of the neck-thru design.

Interesting question...

[darkshadow54321]

Re: Rosewood Body for a Bass?

I've already got a source for the body, so all I need to know is if it's a good idea tonally, and especially if weight holes would affect the sound...

[Norman_T]

Re: Rosewood Body for a Bass?

I think it's going to be quite difficult to explan the tonality of the different things that you are putting together. Wenge neck is a great idea and exceedingly good for basses but you may need to consider a rosewood board unless you want a maple board for extra snap. Have a check (if you have not already) and see what Warwick get up to with their basses - link below as they have quite a number of diffferent specs for their basses and you might get an idea from their descriptions.

http://www.warwickbass.com/

[aleclee]

Re: Rosewood Body for a Bass?

I've already got a source for the body, so all I need to know is if it's a good idea tonally, and especially if weight holes would affect the sound...

Weight holes will almost certainly affect the tone--the bigger question is would you like the way it changes the tone?

PS, don't think I just bash everything with weight relief. I do own (and enjoy) a guitar that has chambers to lighten the load.