I Have This Strange Prejudice Against Basswood

[Geo]

I made a guitar out of poplar. I put a bookmatched spruce top on it from an abandoned acoustic project. It has a mahogany neck and cocobolo fingerboard, and "Golden Age" humbuckers from Stewmac. I went cheap all the way, and I love this guitar! I no longer lust after other guitars. Maybe, for each of us, there's one guitar that we're meant to be with....

Anyway, I will use poplar for any subsequent projects because it's 1) cheap and 2) works. But, I'm a penny-pincher.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Geo

[jmrentis]

I made one out of it. I can't complain about a single thing other than the wood is very soft and marks easily. Tone is what I wanted, sustain is PRETTY good, and it was almost free.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC02222.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC02229.jpg

I guess it depends on the finish you are using and the tone you want out, this is mainly for metal

I love that guitar, there are two finishes that always stick out in my head when contemplating my project, Maidens on that guitar and a red one that I believe Mattia did, the one with some cool inlays I think, I'll have to verify that, but thats what I think. Those two also pop into my mind when think of how I want to finish my maple cap.

There have been a ton of wicked finishes here no doubt, I just really like those two.

Edited June 4, 2007 by jmrentis

[Jon]

The wood being inexpensive has nothing to deal with the quality of the wood. If you want to talk about cheap crap, get some green pine from Home Depot and build a guitar out of that (not recommended).

[DC Ross]

The wood being inexpensive has nothing to deal with the quality of the wood. If you want to talk about cheap crap, get some green pine from Home Depot and build a guitar out of that (not recommended).

You mean something like Brian Timpe's 2xForce?

[fryovanni]

for some reason I avoid basswood like a plague. I know many expensive guitar has them, but when I see a guitar with a basswood body, a part of my brain screams "CHEAP!!!"

for this reason I avoid most Ibanez guitars and many bodies on eBay.

I haven't found out why I've come to dislike basswood so much. I don't know if it's just me, or if it's a common thing. many bodies on eBay are basswood, and avoiding it just limits my options so much.

can someone come up with an explanation? and perhaps pursuade me another direction?

thanks

You know, if your brain thinks it screams "cheap" than just don't use it. The actual change in tone using different body woods is going to be subtle, and if your brain is already thinking it sounds bad it will. Really there are so many other woods to choose from you would never need to use it. So I see no reason to persuade you otherwise. If down the road you ever are curious enough to try it, then you can draw your conclusions about it.

There are real workability, finishing, weight considerations with any wood you choose. Every wood has it's own unique properties. Basswood is just another option out there. I would doubt a company chooses Basswood only for cost(there are cheaper options). It is gentle on machines and that is possibly a good reason from a manufacturers point of view, as well as consistent availability of good quality wood(both are very important), but other woods fit those requirements. It is a good wood for finishing(easy to surface) and that could play into the mix. It is light, and many people like light guitars. With the right pickup, neck, electronics, hardware, and design it can be made into a very good guitar(Ibanez makes a case for that). So I don't think it is fair to say it is not a viable choice.

We don't need great availability. This opens up our options(we pretty much can use any wood we choose). Wood is generally the cheapest aspect of a build on solid body guitars. Electronics and hardware are generally a larger expense(not even mentioning time to build). So build with whatever you like to use, and have fun experimenting. That is what this is all about.

Peace,Rich

[Jon]

The wood being inexpensive has nothing to deal with the quality of the wood. If you want to talk about cheap crap, get some green pine from Home Depot and build a guitar out of that (not recommended).

You mean something like Brian Timpe's 2xForce?

Haha, that's pretty cool. Sounds a lot like my old squier bass.

[GregP]

The wood being inexpensive has nothing to deal with the quality of the wood. If you want to talk about cheap crap, get some green pine from Home Depot and build a guitar out of that (not recommended).

You mean something like Brian Timpe's 2xForce?

Haha, that's pretty cool. Sounds a lot like my old squier bass.

So cool! If I stumble into a $5 bass pickup, I know what I'm doing...