Basswood sucks

[Eazy-ESP]

Wood doesn't matter you retards.

Yes, I’ve heard you try to tell everyone this regarding the nights you spend with Thai ladyboys.

 

[QVonesh]

Allan Holdsworth was into basswood.

He did have guitars with basswood but ultimately Alder was his favorite in the end, it's the wood material of the box his ashes were buried in

 

[FIREONHIGH]

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

i love my basswood ibanez rgd!maybe i should play bassguitar

 

[Kelly]

 

[DanTravis62]

My personal experience is that the species does not matter nearly as much as the individual plank.

I think this is closest to the truth, at least as far as tone. Can woods vary tonally? Sure, in most guitar player's experiences, that seems to be the case.

The issue, I think, is that everyone assumes the guitars they have played of whatever species are indicative of what every guitar made with that wood species sounds like - and that's not really the case. Wood was alive. It varies a shitload from tree to tree.

As far as quality and longevity? That's an entirely different conversation. I personally would be open to one of those aristides or something if they came in literally any shape besides the godawful super strat shapes, but I would expect it to sound a little different than the guitars i'm used to.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

I think this is closest to the truth, at least as far as tone. Can woods vary tonally? Sure, in most guitar player's experiences, that seems to be the case.

The issue, I think, is that everyone assumes the guitars they have played of whatever species are indicative of what every guitar made with that wood species sounds like - and that's not really the case. Wood was alive. It varies a shitload from tree to tree.

As far as quality and longevity? That's an entirely different conversation. I personally would be open to one of those aristides or something if they came in literally any shape besides the godawful super strat shapes, but I would expect it to sound a little different than the guitars i'm used to.

From my experience building, species and individual planks matter to the extent of hardness/density of the wood. This seems to have the biggest impact on sustain; much more than tone. Once you add in pickups, pedals, amps, speakers, and other equipment any tonal nuances become a wash. Sustain on the other hand is harder to compensate for. If the strings aren't vibrating you don't have signal going through. Softer woods tend to absorb string vibration and harder woods will promote; or at least allow the strings to vibrate longer. Of course species, growth rate, individual tree, areas of the tree/plank can affect and vary drastically in density.

Then when you factor in size, shape, and routing pattern of a guitar; that adds to the complexity of how a guitar will sustain. A small bodied guitar made from a denser wood and large electronics cavities can sustain the same as a large bodied guitar of softer wood with minimal routing. Larger bodies with less routing have more material to keep the strings vibrating.

You can make generalizations like ebony is harder and will sustain more than basswood. But like you were saying about each species, you can't really generalize something like all maple sounds like this. And you can't really generalize something like an Explorer and a Strat made from the same wood will sound/sustain similarly.

I should mention this all pertains to electric guitars. Acoustic is a completely different beast.

 

[Kelly]

I agree with most of what you guys are saying, but will add this: some species of wood are very consistent, some are not. Maple is all over the place, both in hardness and tone. I worked with North Pacific red cedar for a few years, and it was extremely consistent. 95% of the boards we cut would ring out virtually the same.