Basswood - Underrated?

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

I would agree that it matters very little live, yes, but when you are recording in a hi-fi studio, you will find that the wood matters. Whether it's the type or the grain or whatever specific part of it is another matter, though.

In the studio the wood is even less important with all these outboard processors and over-the-top tweaking, reamping, EQ-ing, etc, etc.

Human ear is very unreliable. There are numbers of tests done on the impact of wood on tone but still...people choose to rebuke it cause they love tinkering with gear. It is even more fund than playing the guitar itself.

The fact that basswood is soft is only relevant to wood working. I have a Charvel CX291 from 1993 and the wood is as tough as the rock of Gibraltar. No warping, bending, loose studs, whatever.

 

[Archer250]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

In the studio the wood is even less important with all these outboard processors and over-the-top tweaking, reamping, EQ-ing, etc, etc.

Because everybody does all that -.-


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[devastone]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

^^ Those root-beer Jems are definitely in the 'ugly cool' category .

Hey, don't talk about my family like that mg:

j/k it's all ice cream, the rootbeer and the PBK (black with white pyramid inlays) are my favorites of the JEMs, I did put black pups in my RB though, it's the one in my avatar.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

If I could finance it, I would make a guitar out of balsa wood with a cast carbon fiber shell that held the mounting posts for the bridge and neck.

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[greekdude]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

In the studio the wood is even less important with all these outboard processors and over-the-top tweaking, reamping, EQ-ing, etc, etc.

Human ear is very unreliable. There are numbers of tests done on the impact of wood on tone but still...people choose to rebuke it cause they love tinkering with gear. It is even more fund than playing the guitar itself.

The fact that basswood is soft is only relevant to wood working. I have a Charvel CX291 from 1993 and the wood is as tough as the rock of Gibraltar. No warping, bending, loose studs, whatever.

Here's a test you can do unplugged. Try to play the 3th fret harmonic on your G (sounds like D). Does it sound loud? How long does this sustain? If the tone is loud on this one, you got a guitar with strong midrange. Now try to play the 14th fret harmonic on G (sound like A). If this performs you got an strong upper mids midrange. Now try to play the pick harmonic on your 15th fret high E. If this sounds loud then you got strong highrange. Repeat with high gain, and you would hear consistent results. My Kramer 210 (heavy plywood body, nice 3-pc maple neck, rw board -> the best sustaining guitar I have), in 1st test excels, average performance with 2nd test, lousy performance with 3rd test. My Ibanez uv70p (basswood body, 5pc walnut/maple neck, titanium rods), it plays good with 1st test. It performs very well with 2nd test, and also it performs good with 3rd test. Now my all-maple neck-through carvin plays average on the 1st test, it performs well with the 2nd test, and absolutely screams with the 3rd test. This is no pups-related since the tests can be verified unplugged as well.
Moral of the story -> wood matters. Nothing you can't fix with a little (or not so little) compression/gain/EQ but it still matters.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

Here's a test you can do unplugged. Try to play the 3th fret harmonic on your G (sounds like D). Does it sound loud? How long does this sustain? If the tone is loud on this one, you got a guitar with strong midrange. Now try to play the 14th fret harmonic on G (sound like A). If this performs you got an strong upper mids midrange. Now try to play the pick harmonic on your 15th fret high E. If this sounds loud then you got strong highrange. Repeat with high gain, and you would hear consistent results. My Kramer 210 (heavy plywood body, nice 3-pc maple neck, rw board -> the best sustaining guitar I have), in 1st test excels, average performance with 2nd test, lousy performance with 3rd test. My Ibanez uv70p (basswood body, 5pc walnut/maple neck, titanium rods), it plays good with 1st test. It performs very well with 2nd test, and also it performs good with 3rd test. Now my all-maple neck-through carvin plays average on the 1st test, it performs well with the 2nd test, and absolutely screams with the 3rd test. This is no pups-related since the tests can be verified unplugged as well.
Moral of the story -> wood matters. Nothing you can't fix with a little (or not so little) compression/gain/EQ but it still matters.

I am not that possessed. And I think performing an unplugged test on an electric guitar is absurd and idiotic cause in reality you play it with distortion, pickups, amps, etc. etc. Especially if you play heavy stuff with 7 detuned strings.

And here's another thing: Sustain is NOT a big deal. Do people play one note in every bar? No. Why does the duration of a note ringing out matter if you play fast? (eyes rolling).

Meanwhile the guys playing piano can't care less about how many plies used in their Steinways...lol.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

Well, when you go for that last drawn out feedback laden note in your epic solo, and it dies prematurely or worse dissolves into non musical feedback, then, you will realize exactly why it matters.

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[AlexR]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

It bears repeating, the way some play wood effects get drowned.

The way others play, it is quite important.
But whether you smother your tone with processing or not, wood does have an effect.

 

[Archer250]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

And here's another thing: Sustain is NOT a big deal. Do people play one note in every bar? No. Why does the duration of a note ringing out matter if you play fast? (eyes rolling).

Because I don't play any faster than 90s Yngwie, and even then it's only the passing notes.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

I certainly play with only 1 note in a bar fairly often. But then I'm about feel over speed.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

I like Basswood or (Linde træ) as it is called in Danish.
Juicy and fat, really come alive at higher volume levels...not earsplitting loud, but just normal levels.

There is always cheaper versions...but like all other wood...if dried proper and all that...it works very well.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

I am not that possessed. And I think performing an unplugged test on an electric guitar is absurd and idiotic cause in reality you play it with distortion, pickups, amps, etc. etc.

Here's the catch. What you hear acoustically, those frequencies, are exactly the ones that the string creates by its periodic oscillation (and here is where woods come into the equation), is what gets sensed by the magnetic field of the pups and what finally transformed into the electric signal. And that is the reason why the acoustic test is 100% verified by the high gain test (smth you chose to ... conveniently ignore). Some people can grasp that. Others (like you) argue (till they turn blue) that since this an "electric" guitar, woods do not matter.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

And here's another thing: Sustain is NOT a big deal. Do people play one note in every bar? No. Why does the duration of a note ringing out matter if you play fast? (eyes rolling).

Santana? Pink Floyd? Is there any law that dictates the speed we should play? What if I want to shred and then play some slow music for a change? If sustain was irrelevant, then the sustainer / compressor makers would have gone out of business. Apparently ppl like to have sustain.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

Santana? Pink Floyd? Is there any law that dictates the speed we should play? What if I want to shred and then play some slow music for a change? If sustain was irrelevant, then the sustainer / compressor makers would have gone out of business. Apparently ppl like to have sustain.

Yeah maybe for some. But my style is jazz/ fusion, Greg Howe style so sustain is not important.

And FYI, the 'Sustain' feature in a compressor doesn't make the note sustain longer, but makes the 'compression' lasts longer. It's probably one of the most frequently understood feature.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

Well, when you go for that last drawn out feedback laden note in your epic solo, and it dies prematurely or worse dissolves into non musical feedback, then, you will realize exactly why it matters.

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Simple. Use Fernandes Sustainer. There is a video of Suicidal Tendencies demonstrating Fernandes Sustainer. Hit a note, go the kitchen and make a cup of coffee, come back and the note is still singing.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

^ Straws just out of reach.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

Here's a test you can do unplugged. Try to play the 3th fret harmonic on your G (sounds like D). Does it sound loud? How long does this sustain? If the tone is loud on this one, you got a guitar with strong midrange. Now try to play the 14th fret harmonic on G (sound like A). If this performs you got an strong upper mids midrange. Now try to play the pick harmonic on your 15th fret high E. If this sounds loud then you got strong highrange. Repeat with high gain, and you would hear consistent results. My Kramer 210 (heavy plywood body, nice 3-pc maple neck, rw board -> the best sustaining guitar I have), in 1st test excels, average performance with 2nd test, lousy performance with 3rd test. My Ibanez uv70p (basswood body, 5pc walnut/maple neck, titanium rods), it plays good with 1st test. It performs very well with 2nd test, and also it performs good with 3rd test. Now my all-maple neck-through carvin plays average on the 1st test, it performs well with the 2nd test, and absolutely screams with the 3rd test. This is no pups-related since the tests can be verified unplugged as well.
Moral of the story -> wood matters. Nothing you can't fix with a little (or not so little) compression/gain/EQ but it still matters.

I prefer lively guitars and I do agree with you in principle about gauging tonal response.

But 3rd fret, 14th fret, 15th fret- these aren't locations with a strong harmonic. Are you sure you have your numbers right?

 

[greekdude]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

I prefer lively guitars and I do agree with you in principle about gauging tonal response.

But 3rd fret, 14th fret, 15th fret- these aren't locations with a strong harmonic. Are you sure you have your numbers right?

Hmm I am afraid I meant all those!! A double locking guitar with hot pups should scream on 3rd, 14th and 17th frets (G string natural harmonics). IMHO the harmonic at the 14th fret is the highest I can get, (always on G string) and with the trem pulled up one tone, I can do this harmonic that Diamond Darrell does in cemetery gates in the ending of the song. If a guitar manages to sustain on that note (like Darrell's dean on this note), for me this is a keeper!

The squealie at high E string 15th fret, is a test meant to be done for terble sounding guitars. All-maple guitars (maple neckthrough + maple wings) should be able to produce this note.

 

[Hank-]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

I couldn't get any loud natural harmonics happening unplugged on any of my stuff for the 3rd & 14th frets, pinch harmonic also didn't happen effectively. But was able to get something plugged in I dont have any flyod bridges in my arsenal though.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Basswood - Underrated?

Hey, don't talk about my family like that mg:

j/k it's all ice cream, the rootbeer and the PBK (black with white pyramid inlays) are my favorites of the JEMs, I did put black pups in my RB though, it's the one in my avatar.

Hehe. Well, if I had one and liked it, I probably wouldn't do anything to it (except bobbin toppers, maybe).

The PBK is a nice one indeed.