Basswood sucks

  • Thread starter Thread starter raakaribul
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raakaribul

raakaribul

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I mean seriously, a "tone"wood that not only dents easily but also sounds like hogshit. Once again one of the "great" innovations of the guitar world to start using a wood that's faster/easier to work with and is also cheaper especially when bought in large quantities, Whoop-de-doo.

John Suhr and other "boutique" builders that use this P.O.S wood are just having a piss laughing at all the mouth breather of artists that decide to use this fucking specimen in their guitars.

My day gets always ruined when I see an guitar with a basswood body and some zoomer playing it with a grin on his face, fuck outta here.

A more fitting name to it would be if you'd just remove the B from the name.

It's a nice weather outside, I think I'll go for a walk to get this shit out of my head.
 
Blame evh. He was the one who started the basswood body wood trend. I think 🤔… hell I don’t know…
 
I have to agree. I own 2 partscasters built with Musikraft Northern Hard Ash Franky bodies and they are hands down, no comparison the BEST 'sounding' guitars in my stable. I also own several Alder partscasters that all fall in the range of 'good' to 'very good' sounding guitars. The Alder bodied guitars lack that huge punch that Northern Ash delivers - but they do offer very balanced lows /mids / highs. No ice-picky strident highs, no tubby bottom, no boxy mids. The Alder bodied guitars really let the differences in pickups come through.

Basswood. Hmmm. I own 2 partscasters that I built with EVH Stripe Series Bodies - then used Musikraft necks, German Floyds, and Jalen Pickups to finish them out. They turned out fine - but I so wish EVH would have built the Stripe series with Alder - even 'paint-grade' 2-piece Alder bodies would have sounded better and been more consistent than Basswood. I do think lots of grain filler and lots of heavy, glossy paint and clearcoat on Basswood does help to firm up the bottom end. And Ceramic Mag pickups also help. I swapped the A2 magnets out of the Jalen Franky pickups in both Basswood EVH builds for Ceramic magnets and that helped.
 
I'm not a fan either. Ibanez uses it heavily, and it really lacks clarity and is a dark and woofy wood.
 
Basswood sucks? Interesting. Some of my favorite guitars currently are basswood. Has a great midrange that sits in the band mix nicely. Records well too.
 
raakaribul said:
I mean seriously, a "tone"wood that not only dents easily but also sounds like hogshit. Once again one of the "great" innovations of the guitar world to start using a wood that's faster/easier to work with and is also cheaper especially when bought in large quantities, Whoop-de-doo.

John Suhr and other "boutique" builders that use this P.O.S wood are just having a piss laughing at all the mouth breather of artists that decide to use this fucking specimen in their guitars.

My day gets always ruined when I see an guitar with a basswood body and some zoomer playing it with a grin on his face, fuck outta here.

A more fitting name to it would be if you'd just remove the B from the name.

It's a nice weather outside, I think I'll go for a walk to get this shit out of my head.
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In Suhr's defense, I believe that John's personal preference is basswood with a maple top (and maple neck). The maple top may bring out some different frequencies than just a solid basswood guitar body would.

* Edit - this combo was EVH's choice too, but the fingerboards had to be maple or ebony, no rosewood.
 
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MadAsAHatter said:
As we all know Leo Fender chose pine to make his guitars because of its superior tonal qualities.
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Interestingly I've played several guitars made of pine that sounded good, including a pine classic vibe tele. I have never had a basswood guitar I liked the sound of, including an Anderson Drop Top that should have been more awesome.

I've become convinced over time that light "swamp" ash or Honduran mahogany is where it's at depending on how bright you want.
 
chumbucket said:
In Suhr's defense, I believe that John's personal preference is basswood with a maple top (and maple neck). The maple top may bring out some different frequencies than just a solid basswood guitar body would.

* Edit - this combo was EVH's choice too, but the fingerboards had to be maple or ebony, no rosewood.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can see that preference. I have a body with that and sounds fine to me. I agree with hating how soft basswood is - look at it wrong and it dings, but it's not horrible. Also, can see wanting a brighter neck with it.

Really though, I think all the various tonewoods can produce good sounding bodies and clunkers, and none of them are such profound difference for an electric guitar that I can't find a pickup match to get something useful out of them.
 
Greazygeo said:
Basswood sucks? Interesting. Some of my favorite guitars currently are basswood. Has a great midrange that sits in the band mix nicely. Records well too.
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It’s just one of those things, like saying V30s suck, then saying my best recording cabinet has V30s and sounds great, then still not letting go on the stance that V30s suck :D
 
I avoided basswood for many years, but now I have a FGN singlecut with basswood and a maple top, and damn, I LOVE how it sounds. It surprised me, bigtime.
 
What they're trying to pass off as "basswood" today perhaps.
Basswood from 40+ yrs ago, not so much.
 
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Suhr mentioned years ago that Basswood is more “neutral” (generally pleases more players) that don’t articulate picking technique.
The light weight is nice for overall live players. The softness has its positives, EVH and Goven have their signatures, use what you like.
 
thegame said:
It’s just one of those things, like saying V30s suck, then saying my best recording cabinet has V30s and sounds great, then still not letting go on the stance that V30s suck :D
Click to expand...
Yes, the overwhelming majority of V30’s do suck and they still suck. As I have said many times this 1992 Mesa cab with these V30’s does sound and record great.
That said, the new Eminence Platinum 70 watt 12’s do not suck…at all. They finally figured it out. 😎
 
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