What do you guys think is better for a sg styled bass? i believe ive tried both woods, as i think my thunderbird is mahogany, the epiphone version, and my fender is a ash body, so would be similar to swamp ash, and well im putting a music man and a rio grande powerbucker in it, and im not sure which would give them a better sound, what im looking for is something that would give a good merged sound when both are used, and a very definite sound when one is used, as in able to do fills on it and for it to stand out on a music track, any help?
Wood for a bass, Mahogany or Swamp Ash?
- Thread starter JimBeed
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NonsenseTele
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Epiphone Thunderbird is Alder body if I'm not wrong...
I'd say Mahogany... Both would have good sound, but it's more about of what KIND of tone not about how good...
I'd say Mahogany... Both would have good sound, but it's more about of what KIND of tone not about how good...
NonsenseTele
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Specially while the 20% sale is on!JimBeed said:
Hit a snag, just looked at bodies with mahogany and swamp ash, and it looks like swamp ash has alot more figuring than mahogany, as im wishing to have translucent purple on there which would be better for that? or would they both be generally the same quality of look? was thinking of candy purple to go with my cola red precision but saw its a pretty light purple, and wanted something darker to blend with black, and seeing the wood would be awesome. sorry if its going off topic but still focused on the body wood
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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Swamp Ash looks better with a Transparent finish, IMO. Mahogany with Transparent Red on an SG is classic though.
i thought it might, and well this is when your opinions matter alot, and oh right, well its gonna be a purple transparant sg so not so classic, hehe, hmmm welll looks like as far as colour goes swamp ash is better, but far as tone i dont know as i havent tried a mahogany bass before, ill track one down and go to a guitar store, i know my precision bass has great tone to it, specially with string through, but mahoganys a unknown, though its impulse thinking because of the sale, so ill probably just go with what i know sounds good, hopefully different a bit with a music man and powerbucker going through it. mind you i have this sg 4 string and a possibly Z 5 string in mind, depends whats more useful first hehe
Hello, id suggest not getting too worried about how the wood of the body will affect the sound of the instrument. Both mahogany and swamp ash are great tonewoods and im sure alot of people will agree that the pickups are the biggest factor in how an instrument will sound. If you go to a shop and play a mahogany bass, what you get from warmoth wont sound the same unless you put the exact same pickups in it. You might even get a bad impression of mahogany if the instrument you played in the shop had pickups that wernt to your taste. As far as construction goes the wood the neck is made from will have a greater affect on the sound of the instrument then the wood of the body aswell. Perhaps going with what you like the look of and then choosing pickups that compliment that instrument would be a better course?
:guitarplayer2:
Edit: I noticed youve already choosen the pickups your going to put in it. My opinion that either mahogany or swamp ash will sound great still stands.
:guitarplayer2:
Edit: I noticed youve already choosen the pickups your going to put in it. My opinion that either mahogany or swamp ash will sound great still stands.
Im actually new to the world of Warmoth so i cant tell you anything about those particular neck woods except what you would read on here or on the Warmoth site. What i told you above is basically what ive learnt from people here and also some of my personal experience. Ive just bought my first Warmoth and am keenly waiting :guitaristgif:.
O
OzziePete
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Many years ago, I had a friend who played one of these:
Ibanez Eagle Bass guitar.
That bass guitar had some great definition at the low end, and while it didn't have the thump of a Thunderbird, it's definition had it like a deep sounding Fender Jazz bass.
They had a mahogany body and a maple neck and maple fingerboard. Oh, and they weighed a ton!
If you could get a heavy mahogany SG Bass body and match it up with a maple/maple neck, there should be some good solid low end coming form the instrument, depending upon the pickups you choose.
Ibanez Eagle Bass guitar.
That bass guitar had some great definition at the low end, and while it didn't have the thump of a Thunderbird, it's definition had it like a deep sounding Fender Jazz bass.
They had a mahogany body and a maple neck and maple fingerboard. Oh, and they weighed a ton!
If you could get a heavy mahogany SG Bass body and match it up with a maple/maple neck, there should be some good solid low end coming form the instrument, depending upon the pickups you choose.
stratamania
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I would say that swamp ash will be lighter in weight than mahogany, generally.
Hot damn, that's a record necro-threading 
In the end I built my 5 string Z bass with a swamp ash body and it's a nice balanced instrument that doesn't strain me standing up down at the body in my opinion.
and my Mahogany Epi T-Bird got sold due to not using, partially cause of the weight standing up. Though i'm not super careful about if I buy a weighty bass and big straps generally help alot for me.
So yeah best bet is swamp ash I'd say, Good luck with the Gecko
In the end I built my 5 string Z bass with a swamp ash body and it's a nice balanced instrument that doesn't strain me standing up down at the body in my opinion.
and my Mahogany Epi T-Bird got sold due to not using, partially cause of the weight standing up. Though i'm not super careful about if I buy a weighty bass and big straps generally help alot for me.
So yeah best bet is swamp ash I'd say, Good luck with the Gecko
