software

Hey guys, what do you think of basswood as a possible body wood for a Strat project? I need something that has a warmer tone without the weight of mahogany, and I'm thinking this could be a good choice. I swore I'd never own another basswood body due to the softness of the wood, but my basswood Wolfgang still has one of the best unplugged tones I've ever heard. I'm matching it with a Strat neck that is a little bit bright...not ridiculously bright, but I think Alder is just a little bright for my tastes. I want it to sound like a Strat, but at the same time I like to have my own sound and not try to reproduce the typical Strat sound that everyone chases...maybe that makes no sense to anyone other than me, but I'm thinking basswood might be the best choice to tame a bit of the high end and produce a nice well-rounded tone. The neck I'm using is a Warmoth neck, goncalo with an ebony fretboard, double truss rod, and stainless frets. Like I said, I found it to be just a tad too bright. The tone is close to what I'm looking for, and I think a warmer body wood will put the tone right where I want it. I know some of the older MIJ Strats are made of Basswood, and those are generally regarded as being very good Strats. Assuming we're talking about high quality basswood, what do you guys think? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ryan

I would say basswood is what your looking for. I too own a Wolfgang copy made of it and a schecter. Basswood sounds incredible to me and can take many different pickups. I would suggest Dimarzio's for your project or even fender stocks! It's lightweight, sounds warmer than alder, and will suite you well.

Get a good peice of lightweight Hondouran Mahagony. Screw the Basswood, just find light mahagony!!

I love my MIJ 62 RI. Its basswood with a maple/rosewood neck and it's one of the best sounding strats I've ever played.