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I'm a big fan of mahogany strat bodies - and I feel I have good experience with mahogany and alder and ash bodies. I was wondering about basswood though - what's the sound like? I know they use it on JEMs and JSes and I guess a lot of RGs too...

Its supposed to be in between alder and mahogany in tone.

Don't take this the wrong way if you really like JS and Vai tones, but the basswood does little for tone. That's not to say that they don't have good tone, especially Vai, who has pretty neat, modern, hi-gain tone.

It's a dull, uncharacteristic wood, IMO. Guys like JS and Vai get a lot of their tone from their modern, high-output pickups.

Mahagony, alder, and ash are much better bets, and all will add to your sound in their own way. Generally, mahogany adds a lot of warmth. Alder and ash are both sonically well balanced woods, ash tending to be slightly brighter.

The one real advantage of basswood is that it's fairly light. On the other hand, it's not good for clear finishes, at it often has unsightly greenish streaks, and it doesn't stand the test of time as well as other woods. It'll chip a lot easier.

I personally wouldn't go for it for the reasons above, but if weight is important to you, it's to be considered.

All the white JEMs (and VSBLs for that matter) are alder, not basswood. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Basswood is the last popular type of guitar wood I'd ever want in a guitar.

FWIW, of the five best sounding guitars I've owned, two were basswood (Ibanez RG470 amp; LTD M100). Two others were mahogany (Schecter 006 amp; Ibanez S540) and the fifth is alder (Kramer Focus 6000).

I find that basswood is a great wood for modern sounds, and it should be paired with modern pickups.

I LOVE basswood especially in my HM strat, and would definetly prefer it over mahogany.

Rock on

Played it, heard it, not astounded by it, but its a decent wood to build a guitar body out of.

MMmmmmm.....I loooove mahoagany.


Originally Posted by SeraphimTNI find that basswood is a great wood for modern sounds, and it should be paired with modern pickups.

ditto. basswood is nicely suited for a modern sound imo. not a nice piece for clear finishing so opaque colors is a must. be careful, stare at it too hard and you may dent the wood. yes, basswood is that soft.

I love the sound of the single coil in my RG770DX... Basswood body.

It's pretty sweet...

I've always thought basswood was dull. Mahogany sounds great.

From the Tom Anderson website:

Pronounced bass like the fish. This wood gained popularity in the 80s and for a time was probably the most used wood for locking tremolo guitars. It is very light weight and produces a fairly even and full mid-range response throughout the entire band width. Many people feel it is extremely well matched with humbucking pickups because it produces a lot of the same frequencies that humbuckers easily reproduce. This is not to say that single coil tones aren't great as well. Toward the end of the late 80s, a few other species of woods were mistakenly thought to be basswood and this seemed to lead to a decline in basswood's popularity. However, true basswood does produce a very pleasing midrange tone and is the only type of basswood used here at Tom Anderson Guitarworks. Ifs natural color is light blonde to of white with little to no discernible grain. For this reason, an opaque paint color is usually chosen for a solid basswood body.

It depends on how the guitar is built (set neck or bolt on, for example), but mahogany is warmer and slightly darker than basswood is in general.

I agree that basswood has a more quot;properquot; sound for modern rock than mahogany does.

I have a les paul and an Ibanez 7 string. The difference is pretty big. The les paul has more crunch due to its mahogany body and rosewood fretboard. The ibanez is punchier, brighter and the growl/vibe of a modern sound. I was trying to nail Petrucci's tone when he still used Ibanez, but I could not get it with the les paul, because it does not have that modern growl/vibe.

My personal taste prefers Mahogany over basswood any and every day of the week. It#8217;s warmer, fuller, and seems to have more character than basswood. Mahogany is also more attractive.

Basswood often has mineral streaks and has virtually no distinct grain lines in the wood as the Tom Anderson quote said. It#8217;s also a very soft, very open wood that is a major pain to finish. The stuff soaks up finish like a sponge.

oh yeah, mahogany sounds more musical than basswood where the latter sounds more 'surgical' for a lack of a better word.

Iv'e built a few guitars from basswood and some from mahogony. The mahogony sounds fatter and wider. IMO mahogony is the premier tone wood for fat, sustaining guitar tone. This doesn't mean that basswood doesn't offer some good aspects.

I would agree that basswood is in between mahogony and alder, but closer to alder. The main characteristic I find in the basswood compared to alder and mahogony is a smoother overall pick attack. It's less usefull for percussive playing. Additionally, basswood is very touch sensitive to the players picking technique. For example, by picking lightly you get a light indistinct tone coloring, with a strong fundamental. Another example though, would be a hard hammer on, on the G string. The note will sing out and sustain with a very thick rich tone. Basswood responds well to hammer ons and other types of legato playing. Basswood can be more rewarding and challenging to players that like to get various tones from their picking and left hand techniques.

Unlike alder, or especially swamp ash, basswood has a looser, fatter bottom end response. For this reason basswood probably matches up better with pau ferro, or maple fret boards. Ebony works good too, if you like it a bit brighter.


Originally Posted by Kindred_SpiritsFrom the Tom Anderson website:

Pronounced bass like the fish. This wood gained popularity in the 80s and for a time was probably the most used wood for locking tremolo guitars. It is very light weight and produces a fairly even and full mid-range response throughout the entire band width. Many people feel it is extremely well matched with humbucking pickups because it produces a lot of the same frequencies that humbuckers easily reproduce. This is not to say that single coil tones aren't great as well. Toward the end of the late 80s, a few other species of woods were mistakenly thought to be basswood and this seemed to lead to a decline in basswood's popularity. However, true basswood does produce a very pleasing midrange tone and is the only type of basswood used here at Tom Anderson Guitarworks. Ifs natural color is light blonde to of white with little to no discernible grain. For this reason, an opaque paint color is usually chosen for a solid basswood body.

I agree with this. Anderson, Suhr, and Gamp;L Legacy Deluxes often use high quality basswood (tilia) with a maple veneer, for beauty and enhanced highs.
I prefer mahogany/maple or alder, but basswood can be good too. One thing I've noticed is that vintage pickups (especially singles) don't sound very good in it, and basswood tends to prefer higher output A5 humbuckers.
The biggest surprise I found in my Legacy Deluxe was that most Duncans sounded too smooth in it. I tried one of my least favorite pickups, a Gibson 498T, and voila, it had the right grindy character that wood needed. Vintage singles sounded tinny, so I went with 498T/Cool Rails/Hot Rails.

I've been wondering about basswood after seeing alot of MIJ fenders having it...thanks for starting the thread