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Have access to bunch of bass wood. Only use it for electric body and not neck or anything else. I know structure wise would work ok for body of electric and not acoustic. I just don't while doing first electrics want to work out the routing and all of that on mahog, alder or ash until get that down and the basswood is cheap, free.

Once get where want will go more traditional woods for body. Has anyone used this wood for electric bodies and how is it for weight, tone and durability?

The internet is filled with misinformation about basswood guitars with very little credible information on it's characteristics as a tonewood. I've used it quite a bit for carving and it works really well for that -very fine grain and consistent hardness between earlywood and latewood.

I don't know squat about it as a tonewood, but this is the first place I would ask if I wanted reliable info.

-jd

Chris what bit you in the ass. I see questions here all the time DUDE. I asked because I don't know I have a pro shop and thinking of getting into electrics, so wanted tone wood information as to what anyone might tell me about using it for a electric guitar. I don't build them and do acoustics only, thought move into something else. I know your a real pro with not enough time to give an opinion so why bother doing this? I guess you need to post that to anyone who ask a question. By the way have you ever asked anything about a tonewood DUDE?

But fine will go elsewhere since apparently you have the time to search and not want to maybe get a quick answer. Hope someone if need to ask a question refers your ass to the internet for information DUDE. Sorry wasted everyones time.

Well Chris got that wrong. I actually do a full repair shop and sell about 10 yr to a store and clients and do that on ones give away. But work at it full time. So not a hobby at all. Then if was could have more time surf the net for a quick answer someone may have here. But this will be my last word on it. So stick with your hobby and videos and whatever you do. Good for you on ability to make good electrics. I guess I will stick with the acoustics since in your opinion questions are a lazy waste of time here. What a friggin loser

fascinating.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

In an attempt to add something useful to this thread, I went down to the shop and tapped on a plank of 8/4 Bass to see if it would sing... What I found is that the Bass I have is very, very dead. I also tapped some of 3/4" MDF for comparison and found the MDF had better sustain to the tap tone.

-jd

Calm down, people. Basswood, and Poplar, has been used as a cheaper alternative to Alder on Stratocasters and Ernie Ball makes some of their guitars out of Basswood. It has decent tonal qualities...it probably depends on the right hunk of wood. Find one with the right density and hardness and you can make a good guitar out of it.

I want more ! Keep going !





-BY the way Stan - just build it with Basswood and let us know what you think - I am sure it will be just fine.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

PRS is using African basswood on their new "X" series guitars.

Stan, basswood is good for Telecasters because it is light. But it dents easily so I would say you are exactly on the right track with making one first out of basswood and then progress to mahogany or Ash. Especially if basswood is free for you.

On the other "poke the bear" note; the internet is FULL of hobby makers showing how they do things and why. Often it is a far cry from how a professional would actually work or approach things and even more often it is tedius, fussy, finicky, silly wasteful and dangerous. And often what is said on the internet is half marketing (made up to benefit their business, or possibly half true) and half what they think others have said. It is the wild west out here. I don't blame you for asking at a trusted site where you are familiar with who is responding. I respond with a lot of frankness if you were to call me or come to my shop for instance.

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Ken

I've got an explorer going right now, with Basswood. Probably won't finish it anytime soon, other builds in the way, but I'm excited about it. Some makers use it for lower end models, but I read Eddie Van Halen himself chose it for his new EVH guitar. It's topped with maple. An interview in Guitar World told his process, and he seems really picky about picking the components of this new guitar. I seem to remember they tested all kinds of combinations of wood, pickups, even different finishes before settling on the final combination. That guitar is definately not cheap, so I say try it out and see what you think.

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Rob

Basswood topped with maple is John Suhr's favourite combo for a (super)strat. Just throwing it out there. I quite like working with basswood, mostly because it's cheap, no pores, and really, really easy to shape. But since I don't do many solid color electrics, and since I like the tonality of all the limba and mahogany I have, I haven't actually built any bodies with it yet.

If this post and his grammar were not up to your liking maybe you should have not even responded to this thread since your just adding to the clutter.

i used this for my very first attempt at a guitar.
a large jackson king v shape. (around the width of 18x21", with a 1/4" maple top)
weight fairly light without the maple top.

i also have a washburn culprit basswood body, in comparison to a washburn dime333 alder body.
theres only a slight difference in weight.
durability. dents easly.
tone...... with stock pickups on low C# tuning. very nice .

on the other hand, to know what its really like.
seeing as how its free.and you have a load of it.



make a guitar!

I'd offer that the majority of questions asked on this forum could be answered with some searching on the internet and have been asked before. There's more to this forum than that. Stan was totally in line and Chris out of line IMHO.