Best wood for bass?

[silenced]

Let's talk body parts, bass guitar body parts that is.

Neck? Body? Other pieces? What's key for getting the tone you love? What body wood is right for what tone?

[lukedavo]

IMO,
Ash, Alder, or Maple sound the best for body woods. Ash and Alder are very similar in that they have an even tone not to bright and not to warm, and fairly priced. Also these woods are much easier to work with than Maple, which is an extremely hard and difficult wood to sculpt. It is however super bright and should deffintely be used if you can afford it. Maple body and neck with rosewood fretboard has the best combination of resonance and warmth.
Maple fretboards are really personal preference type thing, I personally dont like them, but others swear by them. That pretty much goes for most woods, each person hears differently, and their tastes are dictated by this.

hahahahah wood

[Nubus]

I like Rosewood too. One thing I've noticed about the body of a guitar that will affect the tone dramatically is whether or not it is one solid piece of wood or if it has hollow parts. Sometimes they make those little wings seperate and glue them on to the main part, things like that you can really hear in the sound of the instrument.

[DreamwaveMusic]

every walnut bass ive played has really impressed me. the best fretless i have ever heard is the walnut WAL bass that Percy Jones uses. I have played some walnut alembics that were amazing as well. I REALLY like walnut, plus it looks beautiful

[Whoopysnorp]

Are the Warwick Thumb basses made of walnut? Those things are amazing. The first time I picked one of them up, I saw this little tiny body and expected it to be a super-light bass. Imagine my surprise at how heavy it actually turned out to be! That is some kind of really dense wood they use for those.

My Peavey T-40 bass is made of a big heavy chunk of oak. Probably not the ideal wood for a bass, but it sure does have a big fat sound and endless sustain (especially when played through my cranked Ampeg rig).

[dagosto]

I'm a big fan of ash. I feel like I get a less peaky sound out of ash basses. The sound is nice and even which I like because they usually respond to eq and other effects better.

edit:

[Bellringer]

Originally Posted by dagosto

I'm a big fan of ash. I feel like I get a less peaky sound out of ash basses. The sound is nice and even which I like because they usually respond to eq and other effects better.

edit:

I'm also a big fan of Ash and its Boomstick like quality. Ash seems to be able to take tons of punishment and sustains all the while. Though not always articulate, Ash can be aggressive when needed. I'd trust Ash in any situation. Even if someone were trying to swallow my soul. Rock over London, Rock on Chicago, Shop smart. Shop S mart!

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by Bellringer

I'm also a big fan of Ash and its Boomstick like quality. Ash seems to be able to take tons of punishment and sustains all the while. Though not always articulate, Ash can be aggressive when needed. I'd trust Ash in any situation. Even if someone were trying to swallow my soul. Rock over London, Rock on Chicago, Shop smart. Shop S mart!

ok, there are just too many funny references in this post...... my...head...exploding.....ahhhh!!!!

[lukedavo]

groovy!

[subsonic bob]

Nobody said KOA ?