Basswood sucks

[Geo]

It's just like many other woods, some sound great, some not so much.

 

[Greazygeo]

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.

These Eminence just came out recently. Just got them a week ago and gigged them last weekend. They don’t sound like any of the previous stuff.

 

[raakaribul]

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.

That's the thing, they sound bland, lacking any balls & impact that's needed for rock & metal music.

Part of the reason why zoomers can probably relate to it, lacking testosterone themselves.

 

[Kelly]

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

Holdsworth started the basswood thing. He had Grover Jackson make bodies out of everything he had, and chose basswood. John Suhr commented over at TGP once that most of the guitars being touted as basswood really aren't.

 

[PDC]

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

Northern Ask is definitely brighter than Alder, but not harsh or brittle - at least to my ear. I will say, Northern Ash is different enough than Alder that different pickups work very differently with these 2 woods. Lower output, A2 magnet pickups with softer, rounder highs sound killer in Northern Ash and higher output pickups with A5 / Ceramic magnets tend to compliment what Alder brings to the table.

 

[vultures]

Basswood is great. I've owned dozens of late 80s / early 90s RGs & JEMs. They all had a snarl to them that I can't get with any other guitar. It sounds great for high gain and pinch harmonics.

 

[fek]

I'm a Les Paul guy so the mahogany with maple cap is probably my favorite combo. I also have a hardtail Chubtone strat with an ebony board and mahogany and maple body that is just awesome.