I also happen to think they could find harder basswood in the past what we find now can be mighty punky. This has given me a somewhat snotty attitude towards it as a tonewood. First up is the suhr guthrie govan signature modern with mahogany body, maple top, mahogany neck and pau ferro fingerboard. Furniture, furniture parts drawer sides, millwork, paneling and moulding, flooring, kitchenware, butcher blocks, toys, and fruit crates. Roasted swamp ash is now available on warmoth guitar and bass bodies. It cuts cleanly, nails, screws, and glues well, though sanding leaves the surface woolly. In this video i make a tv stand for my living room 1500mm x 800mm x 400mm. Sure, its relatively inexpensive, but so is alder and ash too for that matter. But there is a large swirling grain pattern to it with harder rings and sections. Alder vs swamp ash vs mahogany guitar body wood tone test. Sonic differences in basswood vs alder vs ash bodies. Mahogany is a wood that became popular primarily being used on 24 34.
Desirable as a landscape tree for its large stature, shade and aromatic flowers. But japanese guitar factories have used a lot of basswood for years. See what the world is watching from the hottest music videos to whats trending in gaming, entertainment, news, and more. Give me every difference you can think of between guitar bodies made of basswood and alder. No one used basswood until the mid 80s, after showster used it. Again, it has very similar tonal characteristics to the solid alder body which is a. All of the fender custom colors have basswood specified as their body wood. Can be painted, stained, and finished without difficulty. This is due both to its tonal response, once again, very similar to alder as well as the fact that basswood is much more readily available to the manufacturers in asia.
For a strat traditionalist not me i think alder body and maple board is best. The sapwood of basswood is usually quite large and creamy white in color, merging into the heartwood which is pale to reddish brown, sometimes with darker streaks. Pine shows up in many forms on the janka hardness scale, with eastern white pine ranking 380, making it softer than basswood, while white pine ranks 420 on. Discussion in basses bg started by dadodetres, feb 17, 2007. My second guess would be poplar, and my third would be agathis. Basswood will dent more easily and, usually, will produce a lighter instrument.
So with normal passive single coil or humbuckers i prefer basswood, which has been ibanez preferred combo on their super strats for years. Fender used alder for all their painted bodies, and most sunbursts. Made of a solid swamp ash in a completely natural finish, raw ash guitars are stunningly refreshing in style and contain the excellent yosemite. Basswood is also slightly more difficult to sand than balsa. If you compare the weight of cheaper guitars made of basswood to boutique instruments with basswood, youll find that the boutique guitars weigh less and usually sound a lot better. Basswood has gotten kind of a bad rep as a cheap wood mostly because of speculators and bullcraptalkers. That adds to the stiffness, and the complexity of the tones. Get the official youtube app for android phones and tablets. This is something that holds true for most tonewoods, but especially basswood. But, i hve seen for sale many recent custom color basses that are said to have alder bodies and that fender japan is using alder for all of their bodies now. This is relatively cheap stuff, which i got from the local sawmill.
Basswood with bass pronounced like the fish is a lightweight tonewood that is relatively soft compared to other hard woods listed here, but it is abundant and therefore relatively cheap. I wouldnt hesitate to use basswood on even the most expensive bass one bit. Is there a way of telling what wood is used with a certain mij bass. Alder vs swamp ash vs mahogany guitar body wood tone test duration. Sycamore is classified as moderate in weight, hardness, stiffness, and shock resistance. As a result of casper being too friendly when playing with a boy named jimmy, kibosh. Some of the drawbacks are it is harder to work with than say poplar or basswood. I dont care much for the tone of basswood, myself, but that. With active pups that do a better job eliminating the high end i go with alder. I personally prefer alder, but there is nothing wrong with a good piece of basswood either. I know that balsa has a long tradition in aircraft modeling but for static work it is not practical for a number of reasons. Find a great playlist made by a friend or music expert.
I am wondering if the middle was lost on the alder because the strings are too near the pickups. Reviewing basswood today, a good wood for electric bodies. Many companies who used alder have switched to poplar or basswood for economic reasons. Hardwoods vs bamboo american hardwood information center.
I believe basswood comes from linden trees, and im not sure why its not just called linden. Alder, swamp ash, mahogany fender stratocaster guitar forum. Many guitar manufacturers as a substitute for alder are using this wood, as it is quite similar in tone. Subscribe to channels you love, share with friends, and watch on any device. The cheaper far eastern guitar bodies are often made of basswood. The king of the underworld has casper enrolled into a scare school headed by the twoheaded headmaster alder.
To my ears, alder has a bit more sparkle in the highs, more bite. As with ash, its impossible to discuss alder without making reference to fender, which first used alder prominently in the late 50s and early 60s. Basswood is lighter generally, but is also softer and not as durable, but with proper care it should be fine. Id like to hear thoughts on how basswood compares to poplar tonally. I have often wondered why aircraft modelers stick with balsa wood for static display models. Does body wood have an effect on the tone of an electric guitar. Heres a very quick comparison between three great guitars. Listen to music with your friends, and chat with them, no matter where they are. Basswood is softer than alder and ash, a bit less expensive, and its not one of the traditional american fender body woods.
I have enjoyed carving poplar a lot, but dont know if that would be available in italy. I thought the purpose of the post was to identify wood based on appearance alone. The wood has an indistinct grain that is straight and has a fine, uniform texture. Here is a video and sound sample of my basswood precision bass body. The sunburst and solid colors have alder specified as their body wood. It is lightweight, and usually white in colour so it is rarely used without an opaque finish hiding its relatively plain appearance. With a new design, you can have fun exploring videos you love more easily and.
Alder is light in weight with soft tight pores like basswood. If weight is a key concern for a project for instance, in a building contest involving model rockets, boats or bridges basswood is heavier than balsa, so a smaller size piece. They used hard white ash for natural bodies in the 70s. According to the usda forest service, there were 119% more hardwood trees in 2007 than in 1953, and the growthtoremovals ratio is 2.
Spooking a brogue greedy giants full episode youtube. In my experience, basswood basses have had less sustain than alder, but there was nothing at all scientific about my observation. You will find it in our instock showcase, and as an available wood. Basswood is an incredibly good wood to use as a body name calling aside. Alder is what leo fender used on his first bolt on guitars and so did prs before he decided to go mass production. Lindenwood southern basswood, by comparison, is a lot harder than the northern and is also darker, in my limited experience. Basswood is about 20% softer than alder and its less dense, as well. This light weight wood works very easily with both hand and power tools. Lightweight cuts of basswood tend to sound much better than the heavier ones. Way less important than pickups, string type, frets vs fretless, pick vs fingers. Well im still learning and dont have much experiance with guitars. Alder is a great tone wood and it costs very little. Hi, is there anyone here who can identify a wood grain please tell me this strat. Basswood is the wood of choice for many wood carvers.
So, im looking at buying a cheap strat copy then modding it with new pickups, new electrics, tuners etc and i was wondering which wood is better. Affordable and abundant, basswood is particularly associated with mid. Fruit with attached palegreen bract, gives tree a twotone appearance in late summer. I know many japanese fenders are made with alder and many with basswood. Basswood is bright, and doesnt color the sound much at all. What are the tonal differences on solid body guitars. So imagine a basswood type texture but with harder rings peppered throughout. This is a cheap legend guitar which a guy sale in thailand. American linden or basswood tilia americana general description a medium to large tree native east of the missouri river in north dakota. Ive assembled lots of custom guitars and found i also like mahogany and ash.
I have also recorded similar examples with a standard alder body. Northern ash is harder, heavier and brighter than its softer, lighter, and more resonant relative, swamp ash. Poplar, ash and mahoganyyoutube alder vs swamp ash vs mahogany guitar body wood. I took my 1980 strat and swapped out the old and very heavy ash body for. It turns well on a lathe and has good bending qualities. Personally, i cant discern the difference in tone between poplar and alder, but i can hear the difference between those woods and basswood. I heard someone once mention that basswood guitars are cheap and suck but all the g. However i feel like you get more of a progressive shred sound with basswood. Basswood machines well and is easy to work with hand tools, making it a premier carving wood. As far as the negative basswood comments, my bass is made from basswood and my band virtually kicked me out when i informed them i might be looking at other basses.