basswood vs. poplar

Best tone wood for budget basses

  • Basswood

  • Poplar

  • Plywood

  • Particle board

  • Carrots

  • Broccoli

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#41
fretter said:
I didn't include ash and alder on purpose because these seem to be used less in the lower price range of basses. They would probably win any poll, and their tonal qualities have been discussed in detail on TB.
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Ah, OK. That makes sense.
Another tonewood you left off is Alder; very common in sub-$1000 basses, and my personal favorite, if ash is off the table.
 
#42
someguyfromNC said:
Thing is... Warmoth is in the selling guitar body/exotic wood business so they would obviously be a bit biased.
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Toward exotics?
Warmoth says: "Alder is our most popular wood and it grows all around us here in Washington State".
"The tone is reputed to be most balanced with equal doses of lows, mids and highs".
They seem equally complimentary to Poplar.
They seem complimentary to Basswood also.
 
#43
58kites said:
Toward exotics?
Warmoth says: "Alder is our most popular wood and it grows all around us here in Washington State".
"The tone is reputed to be most balanced with equal doses of lows, mids and highs".
They seem equally complimentary to Poplar.
They seem complimentary to Basswood also.
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So what you are saying is they equally like all the wood they sell all. Biased. They only go by folklore 'reputation'

People really should play for themselves than being told what to believe. Even 2 pieces of alder can sound very different
 
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#44
bassman10096 said:
There's no sonic magic to alder or any of these woods. None of the "budget" choices seem to find their way into acoustic instruments (where "tone wood" is the real issue). As I understand it, Leo's choice of alder had nothing to do with sound - rather milling qualities and cost. Alder was regarded as nothing special and had never been used in instrument building. But it was easy to work and took paint easily. Most important it was available in the 50s in huge quantities for next to nothing. The rest is urban legend. If anyone can correct the foregoing information with verified facts, please feel free. The story had been repeated to me by several, unrelated instrument marketing old timers who were in the business in th 60s and 70s.
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Your alder understanding matches mine. I will say, however, if it wasn't chosen for tone, it did come to define people's expectations for electric instruments since it was so widely used. And I've got a few alder instruments, and they sound nice.
 
#46
My first bass was a Fernandes Jazz bass that had a basswood body. It produced a good vintage tone. It wasn't great for slapping, which is why I sold it, but it was great for fingerstyle playing. Kinda wish I kept that bass. Things you learn after the fact.

I have no experience with Poplar. I can't tell you if it produces a good tone or not.

My experience with bass guitars is if the instrument sounds good acoustically, it will probably sound good when plugged in regardless of who built the instrument, how much it costs, or what materials were use in the construction.
 
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#47
someguyfromNC said:
So what you are saying is they equally like all the wood they sell all. Biased. They only go by folklore 'reputation'

People really should play for themselves than being told what to believe. Even 2 pieces of alder can sound very different
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I am not saying anything about how they really feel, I read and understood what Warmoth wrote and provided here some information they posted on their website.
If you read my posts on this thread, it would be obvious to you that I am not a big proponent of body wood being a big factor in the sound of a bass.
I believe it factors in somewhere but it might (or might not) be further down the list after pick ups, strings, neck material, fretboard material, frets or fretless, scale length, maybe nut material, maybe bridge type, active or passive EQ circuits, amplifier particulars, pedals, pick or fingers or slap technique.
I'm not really sure where body wood falls in the list of things that effect sound.
Why do so many people post without reading?
 
#49
MobileHolmes said:
Your alder understanding matches mine. I will say, however, if it wasn't chosen for tone, it did come to define people's expectations for electric instruments since it was so widely used. And I've got a few alder instruments, and they sound nice.
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I'm glad to hear I've been listening to smart folks. To be clear, alder is a very good wood for electrics - but for practical reasons less than sonic magic. That said I like my alder and mahogany bosses best...
 
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#50
Lo-E said:
I believe basswood comes from linden trees, and I'm not sure why it's not just called linden.

Personally, I can't discern the difference in tone between poplar and alder, but I can hear the difference between those woods and basswood. I don't care much for the tone of basswood, myself, but that;s just one man's opinion.
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Which is interesting because even in tree form I call it basswood. But not bass as in bass guitar, bass as in bass the fish. So it's fish wood.
 
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#51
JRA said:
don't want to divert/derail: but could you show us with some pics. the OP might also consider your experience: if we can take a peek! thanks!:thumbsup:
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These are all Tele-style basses built from pin bodies. The first two are finished in thin nitro. There third is still a work-in-progress waiting for Ultralite tuners to arrive. It's sugar pine capped with walnut. All are well under 8 lbs with the second two being in the low 7lb range.

2.JPG
1.JPG
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#53
mojomike001 said:
These are all Tele-style basses built from pin bodies. The first two are finished in thin nitro. There third is still a work-in-progress waiting for Ultralite tuners to arrive. It's sugar pine capped with walnut. All are well under 8 lbs with the second two being in the low 7lb range.
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nice job! i love the idea of pine bodies: gotta be really lightweight (a pref of mine! i'm really old!). thanks for sharing. gives me some ideas if i ever decide to go custom built again. my last two bass purchases were advertised as "basswood," and they are really lightweight. but the pine idea is great!
 
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#56
JRA said:
nice job! i love the idea of pine bodies: gotta be really lightweight (a pref of mine! i'm really old!). thanks for sharing. gives me some ideas if i ever decide to go custom built again. my last two bass purchases were advertised as "basswood," and they are really lightweight. but the pine idea is great!
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Here's another view of the walnut-capped pine body.

walnut 1.jpg
 
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#59
Basswood or Linden. Commonly used by Norse warriors for their shields. Guys who fight for a living would have a handle on what to use.

I got plenty ash,alder,poplar and maghogany basses here,all dinged to heck,basswood ones are in good shape. I always think you drop a cheap
bass you blame the wood but blame yourself if it's an expensive one.
 
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