similar woods

[Joel Larsson]

Yes, hm, maybe Aniegré is what I was referring to, although the guy who told me said it was some sort of mahogany. I also heard that some 70's and perhaps 80's Pöllmanns has that wood. Question is, is it as good as proper maple, or a cheap replacement? There are three Pöllmanns at my school, two from the 70's and then my 82er. One is VERY average but needs some fixing before a final judgment is in place, quilt figuring on this one which might imply that the good Günther put some effort into it; the five-stringer is unplayable thanks to some rubbish luthier varnishing the neck and curving the fingerboard WAY too much (and maybe even putting epoxy or something on it, it does look suspicious) but it sure sounds good, and then there is mine, which is the best. On the pic at http://smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=768&page=2 there is a fourth one, another institutional instrument in need of some care (it seemed to develop a sound post crack...) which was from the 70's too. This one was real good though. There are more pics of mine. Can anyone tell whether mine is maple of aniegré (I won't ever learn that word) or maybe the pics aren't detailed enough? The flames do look a lot like the one on the pic Ken posted here, but then again, I have seen even thicker maple flames. What you people's experience of basses made from aniegré?

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Joel Larsson

Can anyone tell whether mine is maple of aniegré

if you can make/post a closeup pic it would help

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Joel Larsson

lWhat you people's experience of basses made from aniegré?

looks nice, sounds good. lets wait 200 years to get a final judgement

[Martin Sheridan]

Ash is a fairly hard wood and has been used for solid body electric basses.

Does anyone know if it's been used for double bass backs, sides, necks?

My arborist son in law tells me that basswood is called that because it was originally used to make double basses.

One reason I'm interested at this time in exploring other woods is that he has access to quite a lot of urban wood. The ash borer is killing ash trees, but they also cut down a lot of maple, some birch etc that is now just getting chewed up into mulch because they have to get rid of it.

It'd be nice to think we could find some musical instrument use for some of this wood.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Martin Sheridan

Ash is a fairly hard wood and has been used for solid body electric basses.

Does anyone know if it's been used for double bass backs, sides, necks?

My arborist son in law tells me that basswood is called that because it was originally used to make double basses.

One reason I'm interested at this time in exploring other woods is that he has access to quite a lot of urban wood. The ash borer is killing ash trees, but they also cut down a lot of maple, some birch etc that is now just getting chewed up into mulch because they have to get rid of it.

It'd be nice to think we could find some musical instrument use for some of this wood.

Martin, there are several species and varieties of Ash. In the Guitars, they usually try for the lighter and softer 'Swamp' Ash which is completely different than Hard (baseball bat) Ash.

On the DBs, I have seen an Attributed H.Amati II (? son of Niccolo) with Ash back and sides. I saw another attr. Italian bass at Kolstein's with an Ash Back as well but he called it Walnut. I saw yet another old Italian bass with an Ash neck graft. What kind of Ash? I assume it was local growth or something they just got their hands on. These Italians, anything is possible.. lol.. Oh and I believe Horst Grunert once made a bass in Ash as well. I read it maybe on his website a few years ago so Ash is in use, just not that much. Walnut is and has been in use as well. I have one Italian bass with Walnut back and sides now, probably local wood as it's lighter in color and totally a different look than American Walnut.

Back to the Guitars, the ones made in Harder dense Ash regardless of species are less resonant in my opinion. I have seen a few Guitar necks in Ash as well. I am not ready to try that myself with our Basses as the maple we use (hard sugar) seems to be less brittle than Hard Ash. Tone is one thing but life in service is another.

On density withon my own Basses, the ones with harder maple backs flat or carved round seem to project more than those with softer backs. The softer ones are sometimes sweeter sounding or maybe less ring in the harmonic range. Hard to describe but my Hart and Gilkes are both louder than my Martini. The Martini is the sweeter of the three basses. The Hart has the most low end spread but the Gilkes projects more at a distance. Go figure..

Basswood named after Basses? When was it named that? Sounds like an olde wives tale.. or tail..

[Arnold Schnitzer]

I have seen and sold a couple basses with ash backs/sides. To me they sounded the same as maple. One of them developed some back cracks, which I think could be endemic. A few years back I bought a huge ash plank and cut it into bass backs. If anyone wants to try it, I could be convinced to sell some of it.

[Aren Winebrenner]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

A few years back I bought a huge ash plank and cut it into bass backs. If anyone wants to try it, I could be convinced to sell some of it.

This sounds interesting. PM sent!

[Joel Larsson]

Originally Posted by Aren Winebrenner

This sounds interesting. PM sent!

This sounds interesting. Further reports requested as things are proceeding. .