Basswood sucks

[shredi knight]

 

[thegame]

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.

Actually I agree with you on the V30 thing now lol
Never heard of these Eminence Platinums. Never been a fan of Eminence before but I’m open to new developments.
Having said that I’m very happy with my early 80’s G12-65s and G12-80s.

 

[70 Mach 1]

Honesty if you didn't tell me i wouldn't know the difference.

Everyone rags on me that my fairy expensive SA2200 is sycamore.

I researched it.

It is maple. When the Japanese wrote down the specs it got lost in the translation to proper UK English

Sycamore to umurikhans is not the same thing.

Go figure 50 some odd yrs later with the SA series and Yamaha never corrected it

 

[sandman]

Ive owned a lot of basswood guitars. Suhr, ibanez and others…..i still have two ibanez. Love how they play but i much prefer swamp ash or alder in strats/super strats.

 

[chumbucket]

Ive owned a lot of basswood guitars. Suhr, ibanez and others…..i still have two ibanez. Love how they play but i much prefer swamp ash or alder in strats/super strats.

I like alder the best for neutral tones. Basswood seems to have more low end to my ears.

 

[raakaribul]

Blame evh. He was the one who started the basswood body wood trend. I think … hell I don’t know…

Well his sound became shittier when he switched to those guitars, surprise surprise.

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.

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.

Sounds like marketing of a shitty wood to me: "Just add a maple top to it and it'll be just as good as honduran mahogany with one"

What a dickwad.

View attachment 452815

Tell basswood to go fuck himself with a rubber dildo.

 

[Deleted member 77333]

Don't think ive ever heard anyone complain about Basswood before.

 

[VonBonfire]

Sounds like marketing of a shitty wood to me: "Just add a maple top to it and it'll be just as good as honduran mahogany with one"

What a dickwad.

I am digging your brash opinion.

 

[Lightning]

It was actually Steve Vai that started the basswood thing then Eddie Van Halen

 

[sandman]

I like alder the best for neutral tones. Basswood seems to have more low end to my ears.

Mushy muddy low end

 

[sandman]

It was actually Steve Vai that started the basswood thing then Eddie Van Halen

Yet even his Japenese made jems and pia’s are alder these days to my knowledge.

 

[Fusionbear]

Basswood with a Maple top is OK. But not my favorite. I ended up selling my Suhr Modern with this combo. My other Suhrs just sounded better overall...

Here is a gig I did with that Basswood/Maple Modern:



I will say that Suhr Modern was the best Basswood guitar of the Basswood family I've played. I'm not a fan of Basswood overall and generally avoid it....

 

[Lightning]

I never liked basswood

 

[raakaribul]

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.

Would you recommend northern ash to someone that likes the sound of alder overall but just wants it to have a more punch?

 

[Jack Luminous]

Northern ash sounds brighter than alder (to my own ears YMMV) and is heavier. Kinda different IMHO.

 

[Beam Tetrode]

Allan Holdsworth was into basswood.

 

[shredi knight]

Tell basswood to go fuck himself with a rubber dildo.

 

[raakaribul]

Allan Holdsworth was into basswood.

Who cares he's dead?

View attachment 452831

If I could I would immolate every basswood tree on this planet

 

[HowieJams]

I won't say Basswood sucks, but I also don't own any Basswood guitars.

Back in the day the only guitars made of Basswood were budget guitars, now they are using them on Boutique Guitars.

For me...

I find Mahogany (with a Maple cap) to be a main reason Les Pauls sound so good, but SGs with just Mahogany sound great too.
I like my Strats to be Alder. My Ibanez Prestige AZ2402 is also Alder and has great tone.

I do have an Ash bodied Charvel Guthrie Govan USA and my Ibanez LB1 is also Ash

When looking at guitars...

I try to stick with Mahogany, Alder or Ash, but I was looking at buying a Suhr Modern Plus and I think it was Basswood, if it sounded great I would have been OK with it.

 

[JonPearson1994]

I would love to argue but yeah, something about a basswood guitar just doesn't seem to ever sound great. I have several, they are fine, but I think they would be better built out of basically anything else.