Basswood vs Alder - Guitar Tonewood Comparison!

ChrisMusic · September 2016

Interesting

Duration 7:46

some phrase about "cats" and "pigeons" comes to mind ... %-(

thomasross20 · September 2016

I look forward to this one!

Richardj · September 2016

Interesting indeed.

I could tell the difference in the OD neck pickup comparison, but got the middle clean and bridge distorted wrong.

As someone who has recently bought a couple of maple necked guitars, having always had rosewood, the differences really aren't that great as soon as you start adding colouration to the sound.

richardhomer · September 2016

Surely the only 'fair' comparison is to use a completely clean amp?

ChrisMusic · September 2016

3 out of 3 for me, I am glad my ears are still working that well, despite the tinnitus (will somebody *please* answer that bloody phone). I was surprised that the difference was great enough to come across clearly with O/D and distortion as well as the clean @richardhomer . Nice use of the spectrum analyser too, explained quite a lot.

@ICBM should be pleased to see a Blue Angel on the video, lovely sounding amp IMO too.

ChrisMusic · September 2016

Here's his other video on Rosewood vs Maple fretboards (note to the misguided ~ no, it is not a rosewood neck)

Duration 7:36

WezV · September 2016

the "tests" will never convince anyone

a few controls tests would help - without needing to go down the proper scientific method

He could have just swapped the body and kept everything the same...not added the extra variable of fretboard wood being different. makes a big point of braking out the soldering iron and screwdriver to keep electronics the same - why not do the neck too and make this just about the body wood

He could have taken a guitar apart, messed with the set-up, then put it back together again and tried to replicate the original set-up - no change to anything really, but the guitars are being put through this process in the comparisons so its worth ruling out the effect it could have

He also could have done two alder, or two basswood bodies to show similarities or variance within species

I full believe body wood makes a difference, and i believe there are rough generalisations you can make from species, and specific predictions you can make from the actual body blank you will use.... but all this video tells me is two different guitars sound different

Some body buy me a Teuffel Birdfish so I can do some proper tests with the changeable tone bars

WezV · September 2016

also. Tonewood. Electric guitars are built with ordinary ungraded lumber that has many other wonderful uses. There is no grade classed as "tonewood" to separate the wood for instruments from the wood for bookshelves.

For spruce or cedar to be considered tonewood they have to meet certain criteria. straight grain, quartersawn, so many grainlines per inch etc... These woods can be an acoustic top or a fence post depending on quantifiable and gradable characteristics in the wood.

thomasross20 · September 2016

Surely the neck wood matters more than the fingerboard wood?
I actually think I prefer the sound of rosewood - it's a tad warmer. But I prefer the look and feel of maple.
I never got them all right - again, I don't think the tonal differences are that massive. We kid ourselves a lot.

ICBM · September 2016

Interesting - I could hear the difference, and I got the first two tests right with no trouble. The rosewood/alder is very slightly smoother and the basswood/maple is very slightly twangier. But with distortion, I couldn't hear any difference at all and I didn't even bother guessing.

I fully agree with him that there's no real meaningful difference and you should just get the one you like the look or feel of best. Blue/maple for me please.

Great amp too - I keep wondering why I ever sold mine...

TTBZ · September 2016

richardhomer said:

Surely the only 'fair' comparison is to use a completely clean amp?

Depends what you'd use the guitar for most of the time doesn't it? If you mostly play distorted and can't tell a difference between the two then what does it matter if it sounds different clean? It wouldnt mean anything to me anyway as I very rarely play clean.

richardhomer · September 2016

TTBZ said:

richardhomer said:

Surely the only 'fair' comparison is to use a completely clean amp?

Depends what you'd use the guitar for most of the time doesn't it? If you mostly play distorted and can't tell a difference between the two then what does it matter if it sounds different clean? It wouldnt mean anything to me anyway as I very rarely play clean.

No - to hear any subtle tonal difference the amp needs to be clean.

If you play with significant gain, the difference is masked by distortion.

If you never play clean, it simply doesn't matter. Buy the one which feels best....

ChrisMusic · September 2016

@richardhomer ~ it may not be massively significant in real world situations, but it seems to me that the more complex harmonic makeup during the note decay shown on the spectrum analyser extends to the distorted tone, giving the distortion a signal that is more complex over the note's envelope subtly changes the sonic footprint of the resultant signal.

Multiples of those sort of little nuances all add up in the recording studio, choosing the right kit, mic placements, EQ, treatments etc. Subtle use of an Aphex Aural Exciter can really enhance a track whilst not being obvious. My personal feelings as a guitarist, are to use whatever enhances my relationship with my instrument, to bring out the best emotive performance, to "open the channel from soul to sonics".

thermionic · September 2016

That was very good, although the change in fingerboard material adds an unnecessary complication.

Funny thing was, when I was listening to the clip where the guitars are seen, my brain was making notes as to how they each sounded different. I thought I had it sorted in my head then got the first two wrong! I unexpectedly got the third right, which is where I thought any differences would be masked by the distortion pedal.

As with so many things in the guitar world, I could tell there was a difference in sound, but I wouldn't say one was better than the other, just different.

jonnygreentrees · September 2016

"Tonewood" is such a stupid word

AuldReekie · September 2016

ICBM said:

Interesting - I could hear the difference, and I got the first two tests right with no trouble. The rosewood/alder is very slightly smoother and the basswood/maple is very slightly twangier. But with distortion, I couldn't hear any difference at all and I didn't even bother guessing.

I fully agree with him that there's no real meaningful difference and you should just get the one you like the look or feel of best. Blue/maple for me please.

Great amp too - I keep wondering why I ever sold mine...

Let's just say, I'm glad that you did sell it!

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Basswood vs Alder - Guitar Tonewood Comparison!

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