Why is Basswood considered low end wood when it is on great ibanez guitars???

[waylay00]

The only problem I've had with basswood is that the tremolo stud anchor holes have widened on some of my guitars. I'll to repair them by filling in the gaps with superglue.

[Dee]

Originally Posted by choubix

benn told that basswood what not very "good looking" so you dont see the veins of the wood. you wont find a basswood guitar with a sunburst finish.

Basswood can be good looking. See pic, although that's not your typical piece of basswood, I admit.



When it comes to amplified and especially distorted electric guitar, the wood isn't all that important. Us guitarists have been sold a myth for many years that the wood has a drastic effect on tone. It doesn't. With denser wood, the more of the fundamental of a note you'll hear. Also, sustain should be superior. With wood that's less dense, you'll hear more overtones to the note and sustain may not be as impressive. What has a far greater effect on tone is the pickups and the amplifier. And in my opinion, the neck and fretboard affect tone more than the body.

With acoustic instruments it's a different story. Wood types make a huge difference here.

[D.Vial]

I actually prefer mahogany, but Basswood rulz

[choubix]

The good thing with basswod: it's a lightweight...
you can play for hours and dont feel much discomfort...

really happy with my basswood guitars

[BigShred]

Anyone ever play Fender's Iron Mainden/Dave Murray Strat? It was the only strat they made out of Basswood. I always wondered how it played and sounded. No one at Fender even talks about it anymore lol. Must've not been that popular.

[Holy Katana]

Originally Posted by Dee

Basswood can be good looking. See pic, although that's not your typical piece of basswood, I admit.



When it comes to amplified and especially distorted electric guitar, the wood isn't all that important. Us guitarists have been sold a myth for many years that the wood has a drastic effect on tone. It doesn't. With denser wood, the more of the fundamental of a note you'll hear. Also, sustain should be superior. With wood that's less dense, you'll hear more overtones to the note and sustain may not be as impressive. What has a far greater effect on tone is the pickups and the amplifier. And in my opinion, the neck and fretboard affect tone more than the body.

With acoustic instruments it's a different story. Wood types make a huge difference here.

That's a sweet EBMM Bongo!

[David McCarroll]

Basswood is NOT considered a low end wood! It is simply cheaper to source than timber like Mahogany, or Spruce, or Figured Maple.

Alder, which Fender have been using since 1959 or so, is not markedly more expensive than Basswood. Alder is not much harder than Basswood, and in most cases actually doesn't have a lot more visible grain either.

Don't confuse timber cost with tone quality - they are not the same, or for that matter even related to each other!

[evolvedmb]

^^^^
IMO Alder creates the best tone for sustain, where Basswood seems rather dull in some instances. EVH, Vai, Nuno are tones I prefer, and all use Alder

[Salamander In The Sun]

Originally Posted by evolvedmb

^^^^
IMO Alder creates the best tone for sustain, where Basswood seems rather dull in some instances. EVH, Vai, Nuno are tones I prefer, and all use Alder

You can't forget that Basswood was used to make a couple of Eddie Van Halen's signature guitars (Wolfgang, etc.), and that Vai used Basswood guitars almost exclusively for years.

Some of steve's Basswood guitars include;

- Every JEM ever made before the 7VWH
- The Charvel Green Meanie
- The Universe series
- The Tom Anderson V.A.I (Visual Assault Instrument)
- Both of the triple necked Heart JEMs
- Most, if not all of the Performance guitars

BTW, EVH's "Frankenstrat" had a body made from Ash, not Alder.

Don't totally disregard Basswood.

[dipstick]

People that spout all the differences in wood types need to get a grip.One is not better than an other just different.As long as they sound good thats all I care about.Hell I have an import Kramer (86) striker with an rsguitarworks electronics upgrade kit and it has tons of tone and its a plywood body.

[C.Thep]

2nd to Mahogany, ya basswood is great

[bancika]

Try simple test: knock on basswood body (like you would knock on a door) and non-basswood body (let's say ash). Basswood sounds like a cardboard, no resonance at all, dull. Another test: pick a spot on guitar that is not visible (like below pickguard, trem cavity and try to stick a nail in the wood. Basswood won't resist too much.
Alder is not too stronger that basswood, I agree, but is stronger and sounds better.
Anyway, basswood is probably not *that* bad (after all, I ordered RG2550 last week), but I can't think of worst body wood used nowadays...wait, I can: poplar....\
Cheers

[rastachild]

Originally Posted by bancika

Try simple test: knock on basswood body (like you would knock on a door) and non-basswood body (let's say ash). Basswood sounds like a cardboard, no resonance at all, dull. Another test: pick a spot on guitar that is not visible (like below pickguard, trem cavity and try to stick a nail in the wood. Basswood won't resist too much.
Alder is not too stronger that basswood, I agree, but is stronger and sounds better.
Anyway, basswood is probably not *that* bad (after all, I ordered RG2550 last week), but I can't think of worst body wood used nowadays...wait, I can: poplar....\
Cheers

lol. how about plugging the guitar in and playing it? i don't get these 'tests' people come up with to try to prove so called wood superiority/inferiority. sounds kind of ridiculous to me.

the best way to judge a guitar is as a whole. as stated before, body wood is a only a small part of what ultimately contributes to a guitars tone. unless you have 2 identical guitars made of different body woods, you really have no way of differentiating the difference in tone between the wood, electronics, neck construction and general build quality between 2 guitars. the 'dull' or 'lifeless' qualities you attribute to the wood could actually be because of the bridge material, nut material, quality of the neck wood, pickups, superior/inferior electronics, etc.

i can't believe people still slag basswood when it is preferred by high profile players like satriani, gilbert and evh and is in many high end model guitars that sound amazingly good.

i guess some will never learn...

[bancika]

Originally Posted by rastachild

the best way to judge a guitar is as a whole. as stated before, body wood is a only a small part of what ultimately contributes to a guitars tone. unless you have 2 identical guitars made of different body woods, you really have no way of differentiating the difference in tone between the wood, electronics, neck construction and general build quality between 2 guitars.

I totally agree about that, for me the most sound comes from good pickups. But we're talking about wood only here. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I like my instrument to be rock solid, and I like materials that are proven to be good. Don't wanna make enemies out of this

[Rich]

Yea, 20 years of high profile players playing basswood sure hasn't proven anything to me!