Favorite Top woods and why?

[Scott Pope]

I am a maple top fan as well. The tone. The clean articulation and the solid foundation at the bottom. But from the mid bass on up it stays out of the way so you can choose your primary tone wood at will: ash for snap, mahogany for girth, korina for complexity, walnut for variety (both black and west coast species), alder for the "tastes like chicken" tone, and basswood and poplar to burn in the fireplace as you sit in your living room enjoying playing your bass.

Now, for necks, I'm a fan of a purpleheart stringer in a 3-piece maple neck. But that's for a different thread.