Why no love for Basswood?

Re: Why no love for Basswood?

I'm loving my basswood Jazzmaster!! I've never played a humbucker equipped basswood guitar but I think it goes perfect with my SD Antiquity 2s!!! It mellows/rounds out the potential harshness that can be found in single coil pups. And I'm still floored at the sustain I'm getting from such a light guitar!! I'm friggin' siked at the 1-2 punch in tone I can deliver when switching between my Paul and the Jazzmaster!!

Just be careful with the nicks... way too easy!
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Bob Zombie said:
Yeah thats the only real problem with Basswood. They don't age they just fall apart lol. But as long as you are the kind of person that babies their guitars it should be ok.
Click to expand...

(Sorry for posting the same pic twice....)

16 year old basswood Strat....played in high school....played in punk band....not babied.
hm_strat_002.jpg
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Suhr hit the nail on the head! Basswood with a maple cap or veneer is a formula for KILLER tone! I've always hated basswood guitars because they always sounded a little mushy and cheap sounding.

More recently, I'd noticed that Suhr, Anderson, and G&L ASAT and Legacy Deluxes were very often being made of maple capped basswood. They use 'tilia' as a disguise, since it sounds better than saying 'basswood.'

So, I ended up buying my G&L Legacy Deluxe with flamed maple top, basswood body, and birdseye maple/rosewood neck. SUPREME TONE! It's the only superstrat I've owned that can equal a Les Paul in fat tone, often even fatter! I use a Custom 5 in my Les Paul and also the G&L. Since the pickups are equal, I can tell that basswood/maple sounds about equal to mahogany/maple. Surprising!
G&L-Legacy.jpg
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Gearjoneser said:
It's the only superstrat I've owned that can equal a Les Paul in fat tone, often even fatter!
Click to expand...

uh oh...your making me rethink my next project guitar. i'm looking for a fat sounding strat with a maple neck (odd i know)...i was going to go with an all mahogany body with the maple neck...do you think i'd get more low end out of the baswood/maple or all mahogany?

-Mike
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

All mahogany will give you a very midrangey sound with duller highs, unless it's got a maple cap on it. The concept is the same for basswood, which is probably kinda similar to mahogany, but lighter and more resonant. Les Pauls use mahogany with a thick maple cap to offset the midrangey low mids. Suhr and Anderson tend to put a thinner maple cap on basswood for the same reason. Thicker maple might add TOO much brightness. My G&L has a solid thin veneer, but it adds just the right amount of highend cut. These builders know what they're doing, because mixing woods is almost like a bartender mixing drinks!
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

I love all body woods! Popular, Basswood, Alder, Mahogany, maple and so on... I have 3 guitars made out of Basswood, 2 are Jacksons and one is a custom made strat. The Jacksons sound great and i have no complaints. The Custom Strat sounds amazing!!!!! It was a bunch of poorly made parts.... Factory 2nd's that i bought off the wall of local repair shops in the 80's... It feels like dung! Plays like Crap! Never stays in tune but sounds so great!!!! It has a birdseye maple neck that was messed up a bit.... the Body's trem rout was done a little off. I added a Godo Vintage 6 screw trem, Godo tuners and a single Dimarzio F spaced humbucker... Can't stand to play the dam thing but it sounds so good!

At a jam with some fellow Who fans last month i got carried away and started to throw it around and smashed it on the floor a few times.... I broke my guitar cords jack in half but the basswood strat didn't even have a mark on it... which was strange! That stuff is soft...

Permium Basswood is a good Tone wood and i'd use it in the future on custom guitars no problem...

WhoFan
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Rid said:
Trash a body??
How??
Do you use a damm chisel when you play??
:D
There is alot of silly stuff going on here, I have a 18 year old guitar that has seen plenty of action, and I am giving it a hard time too, it is far from flying apart.
Click to expand...

I saw a guy play a guitar with a hammer once, no idea if it was Basswood or not.
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Nothing but Love for Basswood here.

It is inexpensive so people probably associate it with cheap guitars.
It is a very soft wood, but a good hard poly finish should protect it. I have a '94 MIJ 50s RI Strat. It's in great shape and it hasn't been sitting in it's case under my bed. It's been my main blues axe since I bought it (new). It's a real screamer. (A quality I like in women as well). And solid as a rock.

One thing most people over look about "the wood they call Bass," is weight. How many times have you heard someone complain about the weight of their Les Paul? Mahogany and Maple are both very heavy woods. Basswood is light as a feather. You don't have to sacrifice your shoulders for the sake of tone.

Going back to the price thing, I have a billet out in the shop big enough for two one-piece Basswood bodies. It cost me $20. Can you image what a piece of Mahogany 2"x20"x48" would cost? I have a nice figured piece of Maple I plan on splitting and book-matching for the top. I also have a nice piece of burl Walnut I could use for the same thing.

So as soon as I figure out what I'm going to build, I'll have another Basswood guitar and possible a Basswood bass.
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

A friend of mine recently got a G&L bass and he used it for jazz concert as well as shows with his band. He got a lot of compliments about his tone the first time he used it at each. And you guessed it, basswood with a maple top.
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Well don't flame me but...I like the overall tone of Japanese Basswood Ibanez better than my USA Jackson....as far as playabiliy the Jackson blows the Ibby out of the water but the Ibanez seems to be more versatile, a little smoother overall. If I could combine these two guitars it would be absolutely perfect!
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Here's my guess...

Lots of guitars are made of basswood because there's an abundance of it. People often equate large numbers of something with it being cheap. Check out Warmoth... Basswood bodies are more expensive than alder.
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

I used to have a guitar made of basswood, and got to where i didn't like it. No slaming just why i don't like it. As one of the other posts said it has very few overtones and that to me is not the recipe for awesome tone. Also i have found the highend to be too subdued for my taste. presonally I like mahogany for a warm wood. I just think basswood is harmoically dead. If you like basswood, cool. We all have different tastes and just because I don't like it dos not mean its fact. In the end its not so much about hte wood that yous guitar is made of as it is the music you make. GOD BLESS!!!
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

I have a Schecter supposedly made of basswood, but I really don't think it is...

It's uber heavy, and it sounds... uhh... wel, it sounded better when I got duncan's in it:D Really, it has no meat to the tone. Honestly I don't think it's basswood... it's way too heavy, and does NOT dent.

I have a Jag that may or may not be made of basswood (they came in either basswood or alder) but I hedge my bets on basswood... jags are generally pretty heavy guitars anyway (cause of all the metal) but this one isn't too heavy.

It sounds great and is resonant. And the previous owner put plenty of dents in it.

Any way to tell for sure what I got?

slade
 
Re: Why no love for Basswood?

Rid said:
One of my Alder strats is in a way worse condition than my basswood guitars;)
Must be the soft alder:D
Click to expand...

I baby the crap out of my guitars & I'd flip if my Hamer got a blemish, but I wonder if Rory or SRV worried about dinging their #1s ??? :laugh2:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Basswood as a Stratwood
2 3
Replies
57
Views
3K
Mincer
Mincer
G
A couple recent builds.
Replies
14
Views
612
GuitarDoc
G
Z
Help me create an unusual guitar
Replies
9
Views
257
GuitarDoc
G
idsnowdog
Mustang Coming Soon
Replies
3
Views
499
Artie
Artie
Jermo3178
Similarities and Variations?
Replies
5
Views
355
uOpt
uOpt
Back
Top