When it comes to DB tops what are the wood choices?

[Thomas Erickson]

Yes, tone wood is expensive - it has to be the best cuts from the best trees, prepared properly and aged as well.

Other than spruce you can look at cedar; western red cedar can be good and there are a couple of other varieties that might be useable, I think. Different kinds of fir and pine have been used too, but I don't know that you'll find any these days that is what you want; you could look into things like salvaged wood from old structures and the guys who pull giant old logs out of lakes and whatnot, but you're in uncharted territory and getting pretty far from starting on a bass.

[Ken Smith]

There are many many kinds of Spruce and also Pine which has also been used on many Basses made in England, Italy and USA.

I am no expert in ID'ing Top species but I have owned many kinds of basses with almost as many species of Pine and Spruce.

For strength and durability medium to fine grained quartered Spruce is usually preferred. Basses with wider grained Tops are not as strong. Besides the Top wood itself, the arching and thicknessing are equally important.

I have seen 200 year old 3-piece odd grained Tops in fantastic condition and I have seen new basses with decent looking grain Tops as well that have already sunken in. The difference there was HOW the Bass was made, not from WHAT it was made from.

Care and usage also comes into play as well. Aging/seasoning of the wood plays a huge part also. Climate where the bass was made and where it is moved to live will also affect the Top as well as the entire bass.

My advice from having vast experience of ownership, restorations contracted and numerous basses viewed is to put your concentration on all factors, not just the species of wood.

That would almost be as blind sided as picking a car buy just the color alone!

[Thomas Erickson]

I hate being blind sided when picking a car based on color!

[Ruben E garcia]

Thank everyone for welcome me and for your responses, I do have some knowledge about wood, I know what to look for, but I like to see what I’m buying… there are not two identical wood pieces, now this is going to be my first Acoustic build and a “DB” is an huge undertaking.. I don’t want to be too worried about messing up an $500-$700+ wood piece for the top only… that’s for me is very scary…I may start by building an Acoustic Guitar/bass first and read a some books, before jumping in J
On www.alaskatonewood.com I found the most reasonable price for an DB top: spruce around $200, that’s is not bad I guess…another thing is that I’m living now Atlanta but I came from Miami and I knew a couple places to go and see tons of all kinds of wood… I haven’t found yet any place like that here…

PS ken I'm a big fan of yours