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Old 04-14-2009, 10:26 PM
Mattijs De Graeve Mattijs De Graeve is offline
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Join Date: 11-25-2008
Location: Belgium
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Question morado grades?

Hi Ken, (and other wood enthousiasts)

I have a question about the top and back woods on my '89 bt5eg.
Does Morado (which is the top wood i think) have grades like the walnut and maples have?

Because i haven't seen alot of Smith basses with a morado top.
And all the other morado tops have this dark yellow colour with a dark brown black grain.

Mine however has this very bright orange colour (as seen on this picture).
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Does that mean i am blessed with a good grade of morado or am i less lucky and have a lesser grade? (The answer won't change my oppinion of this amazing bass and even better sound).

The back of my bass is walnut and i was wondering is this a lower grade of walnut because it is a back, because there are thes dots and knots in it?
Click image for larger version

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i'd like to learn more about woods and as it relates to sound, i had the pleasure of playing 4 NT ken smith basses with 5p wings and 5p necks.
And they all have this great organic sound and that smith character.
but i played a tiger maple top and back 6 string and a quilted maple(lower grade) 6 string is there a big difference in tone between these 2 maples (i don't think i could compare because the quilted had a morado fingerboard) and does the grade affect tone or is it for cosmetic reasons mostly?

Thx in advance for the answer, (sorry for the amount of questions in 1 post)

Mattijs De Graeve
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