Members mad axe man Posted July 6, 2005 Members Share Posted July 6, 2005 BODY BASSWOOD & BIRCH NECK 1Pc MAPLE SCALE 25.5" FRETBOARD MAPLE INLAY BLACK DOT BRIDGE TAILPIECE POWEROCKER HARDWARE CHROME PICKUP CONFIG S-S-S PICKUP'S SUPER 5 (N) SUPER 5 (M) SUPER 5 (B) CONTROL 1VOL 1TONE 5W SWITCH PHASE SWITCH FINISHES BK (BLACK) WH (WHITE) This axe does? whay tone does birch produce? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slider Posted July 6, 2005 Members Share Posted July 6, 2005 birch is considered a hardwood. it does have color and grain, but not in ways that are typically considered good looking. being a great wood it is used in guitar building and painted to hide the grain and or color. hardwoods, like maple, produce nice and bright tones. basswood is a soft wood. I never understood why it's used; it dents so easily.since woods transfer sound, maybe basswood has a quality . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bmajor Posted July 6, 2005 Members Share Posted July 6, 2005 Originally posted by slider basswood is a soft wood. I never understood why it's used; it dents so easily.since woods transfer sound, maybe basswood has a quality . 'Cuz it's cheap and alot of players would never know the difference. Or care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted July 6, 2005 Members Share Posted July 6, 2005 Havent heard of birch being used for guitars. Howeverthe reason to use basswoodis verysimple. Superior sound. If you like the sound of Steve Vai & JP Of Dream Theater, your a basswood guitar fan. Thats what they pick as top choice for guitar body for tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ghastlyone Posted July 6, 2005 Members Share Posted July 6, 2005 I read those same specs for those guitars in a catalog at ibanezrules the other day. I googled it and found this builder that speaks of Yellow Birch and American Basswood in particular. http://www.wingsguitars.com/tonewoods.html As Darkstorm mentioned, John Petrucci is a good example of a pro that prefers basswood. He used basswood for his RG-like signature models with Ibanez which was not any different than what the rest of the RGs, Vais, and Satrianis guitars used. But when he jumped ship to MusicMan what did he choose for his signature? Basswood again. He prefers it. People would rather think Japanese businessmen are deciding what woods to use in signature guitars for economic reasons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bmajor Posted July 7, 2005 Members Share Posted July 7, 2005 Originally posted by ghastlyone People would rather think Japanese businessmen are deciding what woods to use in signature guitars for economic reasons Hmmm..., Then I wonder why Basswood is the overwhelming wood of choice used on lower priced guitars... I have no preference either way and Petrucci's preference is certainly his choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim gueguen Posted July 7, 2005 Members Share Posted July 7, 2005 Originally posted by Bmajor Hmmm..., Then I wonder why Basswood is the overwhelming wood of choice used on lower priced guitars... I have no preference either way and Petrucci's preference is certainly his choice. Its also the choice of high end builders like John Suhr on some of their instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted July 8, 2005 Members Share Posted July 8, 2005 Basswood is a soft, easily machined wood, but it's also very light and resonant. My Dean baby is made from basswood, and tonally it's great. I'd suspect the 'cheap wood' theory for budget guitars is correct, but for the wrong reasons. With Basswood you can make a cheap guitar because the machining costs will be lower, plus it will produce a much better tone than a cheap, heavy piece of ash or alder. To get a high quality piece of Alder that is light will require care and inspection - all things that add cost. I too like basswood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted July 8, 2005 Members Share Posted July 8, 2005 Originally posted by mad axe man That guitar looks cool - I like it a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 8, 2005 Members Share Posted July 8, 2005 Originally posted by slider birch is considered a hardwood. it does have color and grain, but not in ways that are typically considered good looking. being a great wood it is used in guitar building and painted to hide the grain and or color. hardwoods, like maple, produce nice and bright tones.basswood is a soft wood. I never understood why it's used; it dents so easily.since woods transfer sound, maybe basswood has a quality . Basswood is a hardwood. The tree is deciduous. Of course it isn't as hard as maple,birch,etc. Closer to aspen/poplar. Birch as a wood is somewhat similar to maple,so birch would make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members danyeo Posted July 8, 2005 Members Share Posted July 8, 2005 According to Anderson guitars, Basswood gets a bad reputation because guitars in the past that were thought to have been made of Basswood were actually made from other cheap, or mystery wood, that sounded like crap. From thit i used to do at Kramer, nothing suprises me. When i worked as a tuner or as a QC checker we would take Hondo guitars out of the box and remove all the Made in Korea stickers and replace them with, Kramer! Were proud to be an American company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Redglittercoffin Posted July 8, 2005 Members Share Posted July 8, 2005 It must be a pretty good-sounding combination. Not that far from mahogany and maple. Lots of fat tone with some extra top end. BTW, there is also great looking brich. A lot of more exclusive furniture made here in Scandinavia is made from flame birch. The kind of wood figure you just stop to get a good stare at... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted July 8, 2005 Members Share Posted July 8, 2005 BAsswood is a soft, cheap wood. It dents easily and manufacturers love it because it's readily available (furniture manufacturers avoid it like the plague). It's cheap and very easy on CNC router bits. It has a sterile quality to it's tone. Even response without a lot of coloration. Not very good sustain due to it's soft nature. If you use a lot of effects and just need your guitar to send out a uniform signal to be processed it might be better. Most of a guitar's tone comes from the pickups anyway and it is extremely lightweight compared to other guitar hardwoods. Personally I don't see the sense in paying thousands to have a luthier make something out of basswood for me. I can buy a cheap guitar to get THAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Originally posted by guitarcapo BAsswood is a soft, cheap wood. But as a genus,it is obviously a hardwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matter-Eater Lad Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Filter500 Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Originally posted by mad axe man BODY BASSWOOD & BIRCH NECK 1Pc MAPLE SCALE 25.5" FRETBOARD MAPLE INLAY BLACK DOT BRIDGE TAILPIECE POWEROCKER HARDWARE CHROME PICKUP CONFIG S-S-S PICKUP'S SUPER 5 (N) SUPER 5 (M) SUPER 5 (B) CONTROL 1VOL 1TONE 5W SWITCH PHASE SWITCH FINISHES BK (BLACK) WH (WHITE) This axe does? whay tone does birch produce? Cool looking guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverkw Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 guitars using basswood: Music Man AXIS and JP models Ibanez JPM Ibanez JS models Ibanez RG models just to name a few, from the top of line to the cheap guitars. that means 2 things:1. basswood is cheap.2. it sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Builder Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 We use lots of American Basswood, in our solid body, and semi hollow body guitars, not because it's cheap, but because of it's tonal values. With a Rock Maple neck, a Basswood body balances out the natural high frequencies from the Maple, and adds a lower tonal 'color' to it. It's a wonderful tonewood. Yes it dings easily, but with care, they hold up well. The cheap imports are using a crap plywood now anyway. Good American Basswood isn't cheap! GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shocker Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Originally posted by guitarcapo BAsswood is a soft, cheap wood. It dents easily and manufacturers love it because it's readily available (furniture manufacturers avoid it like the plague). It's cheap and very easy on CNC router bits. It has a sterile quality to it's tone. Even response without a lot of coloration. Not very good sustain due to it's soft nature. If you use a lot of effects and just need your guitar to send out a uniform signal to be processed it might be better. Most of a guitar's tone comes from the pickups anyway and it is extremely lightweight compared to other guitar hardwoods.Personally I don't see the sense in paying thousands to have a luthier make something out of basswood for me. I can buy a cheap guitar to get THAT. Whoa, hold on a sec. Basswood is very soft, but also very resonant. If the guitar was purely acoustic, it would make for a very low sustain instrument. However, a resonant electric guitar vibrates in sympathy with the sound waves from the amplifier. Basswood generally has very good sustain, as do many resonant guitars. //S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Builder Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Another really good tonewood, is Balsawood. Yes, it's a hardwood (believe it or not), but it's too soft to really use in an instrument. Some solid body guitars have a Balsa core, between the top and back laminates, the tonal properties are much like Basswood in this case, but that's another story. On our acoustic guitars, the only place we use Basswood, is in the top and bottom kerfing. It blends the vibrations from the top, to the sides and back well. BTW, tonewoods are based on their 'speed of sound', or the speed at which certain acoustic frequencies travel through them. Yellow Birch, is also called 'poor man's Maple', as it has much of the properties of Sugar (Rock) Maple, with just a little less density, and stiffness. GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matter-Eater Lad Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Believe it or not cardboard also makes an excellent tonewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Builder Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Originally posted by Matter-Eater Lad Believe it or not cardboard also makes an excellent tonewood. That is ridiculous, and doesn't even deserve a response! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dglgmut Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Originally posted by Guitar Builder That is ridiculous, and doesn't even deserve a response! So you...responded to him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucketboy Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 High end Ibanez, Suhr, and Ernie Ball guitars have Basswood bodies. Lots of Fenders have Alder and Ash bodies. Les Pauls have Mahogany and Jacksons have Alder and sometimes Mahogany. And no matter what, you're still going to sound the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Builder Posted July 9, 2005 Members Share Posted July 9, 2005 Originally posted by Bucketboy High end Ibanez, Suhr, and Ernie Ball guitars have Basswood bodies. Lots of Fenders have Alder and Ash bodies. Les Pauls have Mahogany and Jacksons have Alder and sometimes Mahogany. And no matter what, you're still going to sound the same. I suppose you also think that a hollow body guitar sounds like a solid body? You are seriously mistaken! These woods are different, and these differences make the guitars sound different. An LP has a mahogany neck, and body, with a maple top cap. An SG is all-mahogany. They sound different as a result. An Ash bodied Strat, sounds different than an Alder one. The best way to tell about the sound quality of even a solid body guitar, is to play it un-plugged, and listen to it. We've been doing this for a long time, and it still amazes me, that so much wrong information is still out there. GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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