Paul Reed Smith on tonewood

[Dave W]

"Tonewood" Doesn't Matter. Wood Does

[slinkp]

He lost me at "Pickups are microphones, amplifying the acoustic tone of the guitar."

[Dave W]

He lost me at "Pickups are microphones, amplifying the acoustic tone of the guitar."

Not the right way to put it, yet not completely off base. They're both transducers that covert sound vibrations into electrical signals.

[uwe]

Finish doesn't influence sound. Wood does. Pretty much more than anything else, even on an electric instrument.

[gearHed289]

Wood does. Pretty much more than anything else, even on an electric instrument.

Strongly disagree. It's the pickups IMHO.

[uwe]

No pickup on earth will make an EB3 sound like a Precision or a Ric 4001 like a Höfner.

Pups are important but they can't change wood and construction tonality.

[amptech]

No pickup on earth will make an EB3 sound like a Precision or a Ric 4001 like a Höfner.

Pups are important but they can't change wood and construction tonality.

The pickups can't change wood tonality, but they do have an impact on tone?
Not as important as wood and construction of course, but a pickup with special characteristics will certainly add flavour to the tone.
I have put a few mudbuckers in neck position of non Gibson basses (Fender P included) and although none of them sounded like an EB-3,
they certainly got in the ballpark more than a P or J pickup could take them.

[Dave W]

Everything affects tone, at least in some small way. Everything from the hardware to the break angles over the nut and bridge.

[uwe]

For a moment I had a panic attack and thought you were gonna add "finish" to the list, phew!

[Alanko]

Back when I owned a 4003 bass, I reckoned it sounded like a classic Rickenbacker bass even unplugged. It had that mid-scooped sound with a rock solid fundamental and treble sizzle. The Rickenbacker pickup placement and design, perhaps mostly by accident, enhance the best elements of the tone that all that maple, plus the through-neck, impart.

I think that particularly in basses, the neck rigidity accounts for a lot of character in the tone. I currently own two Fenders with fairly rigid necks and they sound good. I've played a 1977 Stingray that felt completely rock solid. There was no flex or give in the neck at all. I've made a few parts basses with MIM Fender necks and the worst could easily be flexed by hand, dropping an open E down to an Eb by pushing the neck forwards.

I don't think that pickups can compensate for a body wood and construction type that either promote or rob certain frequencies in areas of the sonic spectrum. Putting Fender-like mids back into my 4003 would have required careful EQ, multi-band compression etc, rather than simply chopping a Dimarzio Model P into the "sweet spot".

[gearHed289]

I'm definitely not trying to beat a dead horse, but here's a couple of vids for your viewing and listening pleasure. 

https://youtu.be/n02tImce3AE?si=i2KEcN1F6x1X42__

https://youtu.be/L9weUo7rP3s?si=eob9qY3us7y2nlv5

[uwe]

I'm not saying that pups don't count! A lousy pup won't let a guitar sound well no matter what its quality of build and wood. And without a working pup, a solid body guitar is expensive firewood.

But I still hear - albeit slight - differences between the various Teles and the "air guitar", even over my crappy laptop loudspeakers. Though not anything that would be relevant in a stadium through modeling amps, a huge PA and before 80.000 people. We can certainly agree on that.

It's like with HiFi equipment, all that hi-end fancy stuff enhances sound - ever so little. If that means something to you, fine. There is of course a reason why most people don't tour with a 1950ies Goldtop, the aural benefit is miniscule compared to the risk of loss or damage.

[Ken]

It amazes me when debates on tone come up that people hardly ever bring up strings, and only mostly in passing.  In my experience, strings can have a dramatic effect on tone.  So much so that if you don't like the tone of your bass, changing strings might give you what you want, and WAY cheaper than pickups.

[Pilgrim]

It amazes me when debates on tone come up that people hardly ever bring up strings, and only mostly in passing.  In my experience, strings can have a dramatic effect on tone.  So much so that if you don't like the tone of your bass, changing strings might give you what you want, and WAY cheaper than pickups.

I strongly agree. IMO strings (and their age) make the single most difference in sound.

[ajkula66]

In my experience, strings can have a dramatic effect on tone.

Definitely. I'm still furious that some of my favourite strings - both in short scale and 5-string LS - were discontinued, since these were exactly the right match for the basses I used them on.

So much so that if you don't like the tone of your bass, changing strings might give you what you want.

Honestly, I've never had this happen. I own a couple of otherwise nice and well-kept basses which simply miss *something* and no amount of string swapping - which was beyond extensive on at least one of them - got me where I wanted to be. Obviously, YMMV.