Neck wood for 32in Black Korina G4

[Gidge]

I am building a 32in scale one piece black korina G4 bass project. (fourth Warmoth build)  The korina is a gorgeous piece of wood and I do not want to detract from the aesthetics of the body so was thinking of something simple...wenge, pau ferro, or rosewood.  I am a guitar player converting to bass so I am less confident choosing neck woods for a bass, especially taking into account the short scale and smaller body.  I am a small framed woman so weight is a consideration.  My other bass build was a 30in scale walnut/maple combo that plays great but the super short scale is a little small.  Any help would be appreciated.  The wood in person is acutally a bit darker than the photo...

 

[stubhead]

With the G4, I honestly don't think neck drop is going to be a problem, that's what those long upper points are for.  And it's my experience that the shorter scale lengths don't actually hurt tone, you do have to run the action a little higher. With good-quality wood, good pickups and especially decent amplification, it's hard to go wrong with... anything.

I'm not a fan of totally-cosmetic choices if there's evidence you're hurting tone, but it doesn't. With bass you're not going to be screwing up using maple, rosewood, wenge, pau ferro bubinga, bloodwood.... mostly you have to play it well. If your amp can't compensate for the tonal differences among those woods, you need a better amp. Being old, and having played bass for a long time, I jus' a-like my maple/ebony, but you crazy kids today.... (cackle, cackle, urp GRRNG etc.) Go talk to tubby twins, ask him which one sounds worst:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=8838.0

 

[Gidge]

I totally agree with the tone over aesthetics...having said that.  Is there going to be a huge tonal difference between say a wenge, pau ferro, or rosewood neck?  I can order any of the three to look how I want; the bottom line is tone/sound.  As far as the other parts of the bass go:  Fralins, Bartolini preamp, Hipshot bridge, and Schaller lightweight tuners.  Neck dive is a concern, but overall weight is more the issue...I have had both shoulders operated on!

 

[line6man]

I suppose you can't go wrong with Wenge/Ebony. Black Korina/Wenge/Ebony was the forum fad for a while, so apparently it seems to work. That is probably what I'd do.

StubHead- 'can't argue with Ebony, but Maple necks need a finish for Warmoth's warranty to apply, so that makes them undesirable to a lot of people. Maple is so bland and commonplace, anyway, why not do something unique? Maybe Cagey can convince you to give Pau Ferro/Ebony a go?

 

[stubhead]

Maple is so bland and commonplace

Which is why 90% of all rock, jazz, ELECTRIC bass playing sounded so bad?  :icon_scratch: I have a padouk/pau ferro neck on my fretless P--bass, and I must say - it sound as good as maple! I do know how to make the arguments myself... "Successful" blues and rock guitarists for the most part are ridiculously hidebound, though there have been a few exceptions like Andy Summers and the Edge. Still, when they were coming up junglewood instruments were scarce, and, importantly, all the amps have evolved around maple & mahogany guitars, all the stomps, all the cords and speakers and strings.

Still, you have people like John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Al DiMeola, Allen Holdsworth who have each dropped millions of dollars on guitar synthesis rigs over the years, because these are the people who still carry over the old jazz ethos of 'finding your own sound." And they're not actually "rich" in a rock 'n' roll way. There really is an existing group of people who will do any and everything they can to sound their best, spend anything that's needed, and their choices of instruments have nothing to do with the marketing or material costs of "signature" instruments at Guitar Center. And I don't see any kind of movement over to a better wood, anywhere. Rex Bogue made McLaughlin's famous Double Rainbow guitar - out of maple. Jerry Garcia was surely the most prominent user ever of exotic woodies, but - unfortunately, in my opinion and many others, he actually sounded at his best during the 1972 to 1974 period when he was playing the 1957 maple/maple swamp ash Stratocaster given to him by Graham Nash and modified by the pre-Alembic guys. Most unfortunate because it's impossible to separate "the Jerry story" from heroin - he was like the Whitney Houston of his time! (Eww!) :evil4:

I would suspect that the reason "radical luthiers" like Ulrich Teuffel and Rick Toone tend to stick with the maple/swamp ash/alder/mahogany pantheon is consistency - when you're charging $7,000, $12,000 for a guitar it has to do what you intend it too (that AND the aforementioned amps/strings/speakers that WORK with the "boring" woods). I don't know if you know of Tommy over at USA Custom or any of the other big wood guys, but this exotic thing is quite unique to Warmoth - more of a blip than a groundswell... . As you say, maple IS boring and commonplace, but it may be a very long time before it stops sounding absolutely fantastic when played by the best musicians in the world.

 

[Cagey]

STOP CONFUSING THE ISSUE WITH FACTS!

You're absolutely right, though. Some of the greatest players of all time played some of the most pedestrian instruments using bog-standard amplification and minimal signal modification. Grab a Strat or a Les Paul and plug it into a Marshall/Fender/Vox and go Racing With the Devil on Spanish Highway. Makes me wonder if their success had anything to do with their ability to play well.

Naahhh... that can't be it...

 

[NonsenseTele]

I totally agree with the tone over aesthetics...having said that.  Is there going to be a huge tonal difference between say a wenge, pau ferro, or rosewood neck?  I can order any of the three to look how I want; the bottom line is tone/sound.  As far as the other parts of the bass go:  Fralins, Bartolini preamp, Hipshot bridge, and Schaller lightweight tuners.  Neck dive is a concern, but overall weight is more the issue...I have had both shoulders operated on!

Wenge is very liked for bass, Eric always says it gives a "thunderous low"
Pau Ferro will sound very alike Maple
Rosewood will be alike Mahogany, but not so "closed" sound...

 

[line6man]

Makes me wonder if their success had anything to do with their ability to play well.

Ok, you need to just stop spouting off nonsense all the time. One more wild outburst and I'm pushing for involuntary commitment.  :dontknow:

 

[Cagey]

Cagey: Wylie! Line6Man is touching me! Make him stop!
L6M: Am not!
Cagey: Are too!
Wylie: Don't make me pull over and stop this car!
L6M: But, he's so full of shizznit!
Cagey: I am n... what?
Wylie: I am NOT fooling around!