For my ear alder body and maple neck/fretboard sounds the best - open sound, lot of harmonics and the good rule of thumb is always the same. If the bass have too much high end you can always cut it out with eq but you can't add sth that doesn't exist. So probably my next bass will be alder/maple instead ash/maple. Thanks for great series!
I’ve found the most important aspect of the bass to me is the neck size/shape. I played a p-bass and my wrist was popping and causing all kinds of pain. I got a G&L Kiloton and it has a tiny neck, and I find it so comfortable.
Pickups and placement make a huge difference. Then strings. The wood? I own basswood, alder, ash, and even okoume bass bodies. Pickups and placement make the most difference in the sound. I know, opinions are like… but, that’s my opinion.
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Bad instrument selection. Who thought it was a good idea to compare and contrast basses with active and passive electronics? Or across different brands utilizing different pickup configurations? Or changing fingerboard AND body materials at the same time? Also it would be best to utilize multiple playing examples as some of the tonal differences become more apparent with say slap lines, or using a pick, as opposed to just fingerstyle. Please redo this with a bit more of a scientific approach. I think the talking points were fine but this could be done WAY better. Maybe also include tidbits on how relative hardnesses and densities of body/neck/fingerboard materials should affect resonance and sustain.
Yes, I found the tone to change most drastically when moving from a bass with humbuckers to a single coil, as expected. The wood made a lot less difference IMO. At least the strings weren't different between comparisons. It would be difficult I realize to find one bass pickup / electronics arrangement that had all of the wood selections.
