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Hey guys, i've decided to make my own fretless bass guitar and am in search of the best wood combination for that "mhua" sound.
I'm after a Jaco-ish tone, so Alder body? Fretboard i've been told ebony or epoxy'd rosewood (i've done this before and it worked but i'd rather not again if avoidable)
Any suggestions here and on the neck material?

Also, just to clarify, ALL the wood, including top wood must be tonewood yes?

Cheers,

Ed.

Well, first: the Jaco sound comes from Jaco at 99.9994%. The other 0.0006% comes from the woods, the stringes, the pickups, the amps, etc...

But if you want to know about differents woods and what they change in a electric guitar, here's my theory...

Every piece of your bass will affect the sound, at a certain point. Usually, more dense your body wood is, the higher tone you'll get. A lighter wood will gives you a warmer tone. But too hard will kill the sustain, too soft will kill the definition. Too hard is hard on shoulders, too soft don't resist the string tension. And, don't know why, but certain woods, regardless of their density, give different type of sound. Maybe it's the grain composition, don't know. For me, my favorite wood for bass bodies is Swamp Ash.

For the neck, yes, it could affect tone, but i'd say go for stability. You first want that your neck ressit the tension and stay straight and stable. My 2 cents: go with maple, Q-sawn. Never a bad choice, and if the color don't fit... maple is white and really easy to stain the exact color you want.

Fingerboards... there's a difference in sound and feeling between maple, rosewood and ebony... but I cant explain.. the best is to go in a guitar shop, and try 2 identic guitars.. but one with maple FB, and the other one with rosewood... you'll see the difference.

My 2 cents..

Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Francis said it all.
I don't know waht kind of strings he used,
and I don't know what his fret board was made of,so you should find out.
I heard he had only 2 basses...?
Fretless player, so fb would be even more important.

He really had only 2 basses, and most of the time played with only one. The bass was so scrap... that Fender sells a pre-scrap Pastorius J-Bass, with pre-used finish...

+1500$ for a scratched finish. Worth it.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars