Bssswood is not good wood?

[pianistturnedguitarist]

ive heard various things about basswood it is not a good sounding wood and it dents easy, is this true you guys because i want to buy an ibanez RG2570E vital silver and i don't want it to dent because i accidentally let the input cable ends hit my guitar XD.

2. Which one is better RG 2570E or the RGA 121 violin flat?

3.and it i got the natural flat can i refinish it and change the color for a good price?
4.which one has better durability?

[pianistturnedguitarist]

anybody got decent pics of the violin flat RGA 121 plase post them XD

[fettouhi]

Basswood sounds fine. I have two guitars that are basswood. I comes down to the pickups in the end.

Regards

André

[Ayrton]

The sound of basswood is really a preference thing, but it is soft wood and will dent easily. The best thing I can offer you is to play both guitars and buy the one that sounds best to you.

[horstausmforst]

Denting is a non-issue under those thick industry finishes most major companies use nowadays. You got to ruin tons of paint to even reach something to dent easily. Seriously, I got 20-year-old basswood guitars and the wood is as stable as ever.
Sound-wise, it's not better or worse than mahogany, it's just different. I got basswood, mahogany and ash guitars and I like them all.

[Paul Secondino]

Any guitar can dent unless it is made out of aluminum or steel. Basswood simply is a soft wood with properties similar to poplar.

It sounds very neutral. that is neither good nor bad. But it doesn't have the depth and warmth of mahogony and it lacks the punch of alder and it lacks the extended treble of ash.

And lastly, Ibanez doesn't have professionals picking out the best basswood. Ibanez will use pretty much anything and in the 80's had a reputation for using lots of wood that wasn't even true basswood.

Anyway, buy whatever sounds best to your ears. But don't worry about denting the guitar because it's finished in super hard urethane

[pianistturnedguitarist]

thanks guy this is why i love this site LOL

[C.Thep]

I like mahogany better, but the basswood is just as good. In my opinion, it is a neutral wood, so your tone really comes from the pickups and rig.

[eviltwin]

Originally Posted by Paul Secondino

Any guitar can dent unless it is made out of aluminum or steel. Basswood simply is a soft wood with properties similar to poplar.

well you could dent aluminium if you used something hard enough, but i see your point...

It sounds very neutral. that is neither good nor bad. But it doesn't have the depth and warmth of mahogony and it lacks the punch of alder and it lacks the extended treble of ash.

on the plus side, it's got better treble than mahogany, less honk than alder making low notes more pronounced, and better bottom end than ash.

And lastly, Ibanez doesn't have professionals picking out the best basswood. Ibanez will use pretty much anything and in the 80's had a reputation for using lots of wood that wasn't even true basswood.

yes and no, they use American Tilia for the Jems for example;

There are pictures floating around (even on this site IIRC) of the wood grading and selection at the Fujigen factory; This may have been for the maple, but I doubt that they would just buy any wood. They also carefully inspect properties, such as moisture content.

I have never heard of them not using basswood. But they did pass off a Japanese Ash ('Sen') as Korina, but that was in the 70s! Using fake basswood kinda defeats the purpose, it's already a cheap wood, with good sound properties, that's easy to work with, what more do you want? (much like Alder btw)

And what could you pass off as basswood? - Poplar? too heavy, but populair with Jackson and others. - Swamp Ash? Same density, but more expensive! - Alder? That just doesn't make any sense.

There is, however, a very simple way to cut cost: use multiple smaller pieces to build a body. Like Str@ts, Jems and RGs can be 2, 3 even 5 or 6 pieces of smaller basswood glued together. That is much more efficient. The opaque finish, necessary as basswood looks rather bland, with nasty mineral streaks (green & blue) covers up the joints. Basswood by itself is also very smooth, and remains so. This is why the -Alder- Jem7VWH uses basswood veneer, to prevent the paint from setting in the alder, which would give a figured appearance.

Anyway, buy whatever sounds best to your ears. But don't worry about denting the guitar because it's finished in super hard urethane

This is what makes dents so unfortunate, the PolyUrethane finish is a hard shell, relatively brittle, when you dent the guitar the finish cracks. On a harder wood this woudn't happen.

I still feel the most important factor is weight: a Jem or RG is relatively large and thick, so you need a low density wood to make it work as a gigging guitar.

[Ayrton]

I am not sure what "thick" finish you guys are referring to on Ibanez guitars. The finish on my RGs is paper thin compared to my Fenders.

[Jaden]

pretty good reference here !
just cos basswood is common, dont mean it aint no good !

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/option..._bodywoods.cfm

[pianistturnedguitarist]

yeah ibanez guitar finishes seem thin do they dent easily the basswood body ones?

[damo7v]

if you think ibanez finishes are thin, try sanding one down...

[Rodney James]

I have found basswood to be a preference over mahogany, maple & alder for certain types of playing and sounds.

Something about hot/high output pickups in a basswood body that sounds great!

[Dee]

Like Damo, I wouldn't say the finish is particularly thin. I've sanded RG bodies by hand and I can assure anyone who doesn't know, it's a TASK. Basswood is so soft, though, that it gets dented way easier than I'm comfortable with. I've given my RG3120 a few accidental knocks and it laughed them off, being mahogany and maple, but the basswood RG's would have been scarred for life. That's my biggest gripe with basswood, but otherwise it's very good in terms of tone and weight. I like it, just gotta be bloody careful!