Up in the air between Basswood w/ Maple top, Mahogany or Swamp Ash. Help please!

[pantshappened]

So I'm doing an HSH rear rout strat build soon. My first build, I'm gonna have a luthier friend put it together for me. I think I what a roasted maple neck and board, but I'm having trouble picking body wood. I've tried mahogany body with maple neck before and liked it, and swamp ash with maple neck and liked it but never tried basswood with maple top. And I've looked at some forums and see some hate for basswood for some reason. Not gonna lie, I'm interested in this  combo of wood because it's what Guthrie Govan uses and I love his sound (although I know there's far more at play to someone's sound than the body wood of the guitar). Any experience with any of these or testimonies?  Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

[swarfrat]

I like basswood for its low mid resonant thunk.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

According to John Suhr the Maple top on basswood is almost the perfect combo.

Personally I don't believe that you can make rules about how woods sound together. Or ... well you can make rules. But the woods won't always follow them.  :-\

Some dislike basswood because it dents easier.

My best guitars have basswood bodies and I don't mind the easy denting.

I actually tried the Suhr Govan signature a little while ago. It's got Pau Ferro fingerboard on a maple neck and hands down one of the best sounding factory made instruments I ever heard and tried.

 

[pantshappened]

According to John Suhr the Maple top on basswood is almost the perfect combo.

Personally I don't believe that you can make rules about how woods sound together. Or ... well you can make rules. But the woods won't always follow them.  :-\

Some dislike basswood because it dents easier.

My best guitars have basswood bodies and I don't mind the easy denting.

I actually tried the Suhr Govan signature a little while ago. It's got Pau Ferro fingerboard on a maple neck and hands down one of the best sounding factory made instruments I ever heard and tried.

I've tried the Suhr Guthrie set neck and WOW. Incredible all around. But that was all mahogany with mahogany and pau ferro board. Wish that I got to try his antique modern with basswood w/maple top and roasted maple neck

 

[Cagey]

On the long list of things that will sonically affect your tonal characteristics, the neck is toward the top and body is toward the bottom. I wouldn't worry about it. Personally, I don't care for the fragility of basswood, but that's just me. For some reason, I take dents and gouges as personal failures/insults. Silly, I know, but again, that's just me.

 

[stratamania]

The only guitar I have with a basswood body, is a Jem 7V, with basically a maple neck and rosewood board.

Unplugged it has a beautiful tone as it does when plugged in.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Yeah. Mahogany - not maple on the Suhr. Sorry.

 

[pantshappened]

Yeah. Mahogany - not maple on the Suhr. Sorry.

Such great guitar. Wish I had the $3600+ for one of those haha hence the build haha

 

[pantshappened]

The only guitar I have with a basswood body, is a Jem 7V, with basically a maple neck and rosewood board.

Unplugged it has a beautiful tone as it does when plugged in.

Yeaah, that's the only guitar that I've played that was knowingly basswood, I may have very well played other ibanez's or other brands with basswood. I've played the JEM70V, the Indonesian one in sea foam green. Great guitar but not into the pickups unless I was doing Vai stuff. But I want to try basswood with maple still

 

[bagman67]

I had a Fender Aerodyne Tele made of basswood (with maple neck and rosewood fingerboard), and it was hands-down the best factory guitar I ever had.  I miss her.

 

[pantshappened]

I had a Fender Aerodyne Tele made of basswood (with maple neck and rosewood fingerboard), and it was hands-down the best factory guitar I ever had.  I miss her.

Nice! Any specific tonal characteristics it had compared to a standard tele by chance?

 

[bagman67]

Bridge pickup being a standard MIJ tele pup, it was very much in line with what I had come to expect as a telecaster sound.  The neck was a P90 style soapbar, so it's really apples-to-oranges on that score.  But the thing sounded good. 


Overall, I don't set much store by the idea that body wood will make much of a difference in your sound.  It's electronics first, then technique, then neck lumber.  The order of these first three may vary, but body wood is pretty much the last factor I would consider.

 

[stratamania]

I've not tried a 70V but they seem to get good reports. The Jem makes it fairly easy to get Vai like tones, and you can get others but more than one guitar is needed for diversity. The Pickups could be swapped out but I've left them as is.

Which I think leads to the point that when we make a guitar we try to get the closest to an ideal and so on, but there will always be that next guitar to buy or make.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

... but there will always be that next guitar to buy or make.

Thank God for that.  :laughing7:

 

[stratamania]

... but there will always be that next guitar to buy or make.

Thank God for that.  :laughing7:

Indeed  :toothy10:

 

[pantshappened]

... but there will always be that next guitar to buy or make.

Thank God for that.  :laughing7:

Indeed  :toothy10:

Hahah I like the way you all think!

 

[Re-Pete]

Mahogany w Maple top has a history with humbucker pickups with the Les Paul guitars. But like any other organic material, there's good wood and bad wood, even from the same woodpile.

I'm not a fan of basswood because of reports of it's softness & I do unfortunately associate it with the poor quality of some Asian copy guitars & even the 1970s poor QC period of Fender.

That said the Ibanez people do good - no make that GREAT - work with their guitars for a variety of price ranges and do use basswood successfully within the ranges.

You already have a fair deal of 'snap' possible using the maple neck, so maybe a basswood or mahogany body would assist to tone it down just a minute fraction?  :dontknow:

 

[line6man]

Not gonna lie, I'm interested in this  combo of wood because it's what Guthrie Govan uses and I love his sound

I would not expect even a signature model guitar to get me a tone anywhere near the tone of a favorite player.

 

[pantshappened]

Not gonna lie, I'm interested in this  combo of wood because it's what Guthrie Govan uses and I love his sound

I would not expect even a signature model guitar to get me a tone anywhere near the tone of a favorite player.

Yeah I know. That was why directly after that I said something like "although I know there's far more to someone's sound than just the body wood of the guitar". Basically I'm not a newb haha I know that a person sounds the way they do and no one else is really going to sound like another person. I More meant that I love the sounds he's able to out of the guitar with that pickup configuration and that I love the appointments on his signature model. It just all seems practical I guess. All of the features on his new guitar make sense as far as the super stable neck, different pickup possibilities (with the HSH and five way switch), stuff like that. The idea behind it just seems like a great all-in-one guitar ya know? Just trying to find the best all around wood combo I guess

 

[swarfrat]

If it didn't matter at all, some contrarian would be slaying Keef licks on an electric Ukelele and you wouldn't be able to tell which was which. As long as people are aware its not a magic formula ... I don't see why you wouldn't want to paddle downstream to your tonal goals by using similar gear, paying attention to the pieces that do matter.