Electric Bass Timbers

[Mat]

Hello,

I've been recently asked for make a 'frankenbass' (electric bass) from parts for a friend and will be making a new body due to pickup requests and neck swapping etc. My question is will hoop pine or bunya pine make a good body timber? I've got a stack of timber to choose from, due to my hobby of milling, and would possibly be putting a figured mango top on (photo attached as example), as I have ample supply of the stuff also.

If bunya or hoop pine isn't recommended I have a selection of euclyps to choose from as well as silky oak, mango, and black wattle.

Ps. I understand the electrics are going to be the main factor in the overall sound, however, getting some pointers helps.

Thanks in advance for the time you put in answering these question, all responses are very much appreciated.

Mat

[slowlearner]

I've made a stack of instruments now with Kauri pine cores for bodies. The only issue with any sort of pine is the softness. For that reason, a top (and maybe back) made of something a little harder is preferable. Anything that's stable and looks pretty is gonna be fine for the top. Laminating the two together will help it all further.

I'd say use whatever you want. You're only real limiting factor is weight, but you can always chamber the heck out of it like I do...

[Mat]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for your response. I see what you're saying and it makes sense to me. I'll have a play around with different timber combinations and see what I come up with. Might even do a Work in Progress thread!

cheers,

[garryalb]

Hi Mat,

I worked for Chris Kinman many year back, he used hoop pine for strat / tele bodies with no problems due to softness. The hoop pine was hard enough to take the neck plate and trem screws without compressing, perhaps Chris chose higher density pine, they were always fairly heavy. Bunya pine has proven itself to be a resonant wood and could be a good choice. If you end up choosing a light wood ensure the strap button is up near the 12th fret so you don't have a balance issue with a traditional neck.

Personally I think the wood choice will always determine the tone,

Garry.

[kiwigeo]

Personally I think the wood choice will always determine the tone,

Garry.

You're opening a can of worms there. Personally I believe the tone of a solid body electric is determined largely by the pickups and associated circuitry. The only area where wood choice affects the sound of the instrument is in the neck and there the wood choice controls sustain not tone.

[Crafty Fox]

I've only built one bass, the "Telecision Bass", my take on Fender's slab body '51 Precision/Telecaster reissue but with PJ pickups & electrics.
The body is Cape Lilac with a Fiddlewood neck and Sheoak fretboard, all grown locally to Perth.
I love the sound of this bass. It's exactly what I wanted but I find the Cape Lilac to be a bit on the heavy side, more like my old late '70s ash Strat.
I also believe the sound is from my choice of electrics, not so much from the woods.

[Mat]

Thanks Garry,

I didn't think of the position of the horn being over the 12th fret. I've always disliked an unbalanced instrument but didn't think of this until now. Makes sense when using lighter timbers.

The pursuit of tone does open up a can of worms. All I know is that when I give my guitar to one particular friend of mine he makes it sound good, when its my turn to play, it sounds like soggy cardboard. Timber, electrics, the player? Who knows...

I'll let you know what I choose soon.

[kiwigeo]

The pursuit of tone does open up a can of worms. All I know is that when I give my guitar to one particular friend of mine he makes it sound good, when its my turn to play, it sounds like soggy cardboard. Timber, electrics, the player? Who knows...

I'll let you know what I choose soon.

Logically, the only things that have changed when you hand your guitar to another person is the player and your perception of the playing.

[kiwigeo]

Might as well stoke the fire

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/en ... strat.html

[garryalb]

Ok, I'll bite. I am referring to the tone, the peaks and dips in frequency response, not the overall sound. Scroll down to the clip in the comments on the link you provided which shows the frequency response of various woods on a spectrum analyser, it shows a clear and audible difference.

I will explain my take if you like,

Garry.

[kiwigeo]

Ok, I'll bite. I am referring to the tone, the peaks and dips in frequency response, not the overall sound. Scroll down to the clip in the comments on the link you provided which shows the frequency response of various woods on a spectrum analyser, it shows a clear and audible difference.

I will explain my take if you like,

Garry.

I cant really make a comment without seeing a picture of the rig the guy was using. How did the guy ensure that the string was plucked in exactly the same way for each test run? Would also be good to actually see the scales on the plot.

Let's be clear I'm not saying that the wood used on a solid body electric doesn't have ANY effect on the sound of the instrument...I'm saying that the pickups and associated electrics/electronics and other factors such as scale length and string choice have far more influence on the sound.

[kiwigeo]

Here's a more useful link with details of Strandberg's son's test rigs and procedures. Also note his comments....

http://guitarworks.thestrandbergs.com/2 ... ic-guitar/

[Mat]

I'll be making two basses now.

One will be Bunya Pine with a figured mango top, single coil with the inspiration coming from the EBMM stingray bass.
The second will be make from New Guinea Rosewood and taking looking like a P bass setup.

Both will have maple necks with rosewood fretboards, being as its a frankenbass and i'm using the 'neck they are used to and enjoy.'

Photos to come.

[garryalb]

Great choice Matt, the mention of bunya pine and mango in your first post sparked my interest. I have a hankering for an electric bass with an acoustic flavor and very resonant low density woods like these may lead in that direction. The New Guinea rosewood I have used was also very resonant with a metallic mid range sound, I have made a bass neck in rosewood and that character has come through. A strong mid range in a bass can be a good thing, the players in big corporate type bands need this to cut through. Perhaps it is worth considering a pj set up for the rosewood to retain the mids in the electric sound. My personal bass has a pj arrangement with switching set up to give both picks up in parallel, both in series and p alone, in stays in the series position (not a very common combination) all the time, it gives plenty of power with enough mid to keep me happy.

Looking forward to seeing the results,

Garry.

[blackalex1952]

Nobody has mentioned the thickness of the body here. The first bass I modified was a cheap Japanese made one with a fraxinus (ash) body. I planed it thinner and noticed a distinct change in the tone. I also converted the bound neck to something more jazz bass, which also changed things a lot.
I read somewhere, a long time ago, so my memory might be playing tricks, that Les Paul came up with the idea of laminating maple and mahogany together in different thickness ratios on the original Gibson Les Paul guitars in order to have some control over varying wood batch densities for mass producing a consistent sound...
One other point, I have an old Aussie made solid body electric, well known maker from the 1960's to 70's, which has a Kauri pine body. It was my first electric guitar. But it always lacked sustain and the notes were plunky, some sort of wolfy if there is such a word! It is in bits and I haven't played it for years. The pickup rout was from the neck join right through to the bridge, hollowed right out with about 8mm back thickness along that section which coupled the bridge area to the neck. I replaced the wood in that area with Tasmanian myrtle and re routed the pups so that there was plenty of wood still left. Changed everything!
If you go to the Warmoth site, there is plenty of info on the sound of different body timbers.
http://www.warmoth.com/Bass/Options/Woo ... tions.aspx
The other point to take into account, apart from scale length, neck timbers, construction (headstock and tuning machine mass included),string tension, bridge design, pickup and electronics is the position of the pickups. Les Paul set up test jigs when designing the original planks. The pickup is blind to nodal points that occur above it, but this is dependent on string length. As the string is fretted, those points move because the string length is effectively being changed, so a different balance of harmonics is generated for different playing positions along the neck. To quote Les himself "At no point can you pick up the whole sound, the whole thing is a compromise. It can only be trial and error and personal judgement."

[Dekka]

Not a bass but an interesting material choice.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/72001/ma ... ard-guitar

[Mat]

I remember back in grade 9 I did a science project on tone woods and sustain. Apart from getting a decent mark one science teacher threw me a text book on nodes and all that 'stuff.' Personally I had no idea what he was getting at except that the string 'didn't move' in different spots. So i'll be looking into pick up positioning when it comes time to rout.

For the Rosewood bass I haven't thought to much about the pick up configuration. I might do the PJ config. I'll post photos tonight for those interested. Big day of sanding ahead of me.


-Mat

[garryalb]

Customer: "Man, my guitar's broke, when I play the 5th fret harmonic no sound comes out" (demonstrates)

Repairer slowly rubs chin in the manner of a wise man and moves the pickup selector switch from neck to bridge pickup. Harmonic rings out.

Customer: "Wow! Man, you're are a magician, how did you fix that?"

Repairer: "Sorry, that's secret Looterer's business, $50 please."

Lesson: Nodes are everywhere.

Garry.

[Mat]

Here is the first bass. It's a figured mango top on a bunya back. I've rough shaped it and have done the neck pocket, pickup hole and added the bridge. After taking the last photo I drilled the holes for the pots.

Speaking of pots does anyone have any tips for 250k vs 500k? I'll be doing a setup like below

[garryalb]

Hi Mat,

Looking good! Have used the 5 string version of that pickup both alnico and ceramic a number of times and always been happy. In theory a 500k pot will retain more of the high frequencies and are commonly used with humbuckers. In the configuration you have shown the pots are wired to each single coils then blended. Blending passive pickups through pots doesn't work all that well, the pickup seems to be either in or out as you roll the knob. I'm sure someone else can explain the reason, impedances etc. Perhaps a series / parallel or series / split / parallel switch with master volume and tone will be more user friendly and give a good range of sounds.

Please keep posting,

Garry.

[Mat]

Hi Garry,

Thanks for the heads up about the pots on a passive pickup, I understand what you're saying. I'll be back in the shed tomorrow so hopefully will have everything finished and ready for the paint shop (A.K.A. dad with 40 years of polishing experience!)

Mat

[Mat]

Here is todays progress.

My bandsaw, which is maybe from the 80's, decided to not need its guides anymore so I made this sweet as timber one and clamped it on!

However, I still managed to cut out this P bass body today. Made from two pieces of New Guinea Rosewood I picked up a few years back. I love NGR when it's sanded to over 1600g then polished. Something about it just appeals to me. But like everything it's all subjective.

[routout]

I am too a fan of NGR the smell and yes distracted my a many things ,I was interested in tapping a slab sawn neck as opposed to a quarter sawn neck of the same dimensions both were different.

[slowlearner]

Some reading to put that ridiculous "timber = electric tone" debacle to rest.

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/tonewoo ... t.1145369/

P.s. the bass is looking good. Should sound like a Musicman.

[Mat]

More sanding and more routing, starting to shape up. I noticed that I have a glue line between the top timber and the back. Any advice out there to ensure this doesn't happen again? More clamping, better thicknessing? Happy to hear any advice.