Wood Etc. as it relates to Smith Basses..

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Tamás Száva

Ken, I haven't made up mind which bass to choose yet, but now I'm thinking about ordering a BSR-5M-A. Do you build two piece bodys? (Without a center block...)

The '-A' stands for Black Hardware in our code system. The only woods we do in 2-piece bodies without the center block is Walnut, Avodire' and Tiger maple. The Maple in the wider widths is as available. Walnut we have plenty in stock in wider widths. Avodire' is also currently in stock if you favor a slightly lighter weight than Maple in a light colored wood.

[Tamás Száva]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

The '-A' stands for Black Hardware in our code system. The only woods we do in 2-piece bodies without the center block is Walnut, Avodire' and Tiger maple. The Maple in the wider widths is as available. Walnut we have plenty in stock in wider widths. Avodire' is also currently in stock if you favor a slightly lighter weight than Maple in a light colored wood.

Sorry, I thought A stood for Ash. That's what I meant Do you have Ash in narrower pieces?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Tamás Száva

Sorry, I thought A stood for Ash. That's what I meant Do you have Ash in narrower pieces?

Do you mean 'wider' pieces? No, currently all the Ash we have is cut into body wings and center blocks. We bought this lot of Ash in 1997 even before we moved into this building. It was about 500 bd.ft. of 8/4 (2 inch thick) kiln dried narrow width (5-6") lumber. In that same time be have purchased 25-50,000 bd.ft. each of figured Maples and various Walnuts. We rarely make a Bass using Ash these days as it is only used only our lower cost handmade Basses in the J and M series bolt-ons. Most of when we build are laminated bodies but in the solids, figured Maple is #1 by far followed by Black Walnut.

[Tamás Száva]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Do you mean 'wider' pieces? No, currently all the Ash we have is cut into body wings and center blocks. We bought this lot of Ash in 1997 even before we moved into this building. It was about 500 bd.ft. of 8/4 (2 inch thick) kiln dried narrow width (5-6") lumber. In that same time be have purchased 25-50,000 bd.ft. each of figured Maples and various Walnuts. We rarely make a Bass using Ash these days as it is only used only our lower cost handmade Basses in the J and M series bolt-ons. Most of when we build are laminated bodies but in the solids, figured Maple is #1 by far followed by Black Walnut.

Yes, sorry I meant "narrower only?". I like the light weight and the sound of ash. but then It'll be an MW or GN with maple core and walnut t&b.
Or maybe an M with maple core, ash wings. Those ash parts must be very dry and resonate very well due to the long time they've been stocked.

[Tamás Száva]

To my ear walnut produces a bit clearer lows and more cutting highs, compared to ash, is that right?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Tamás Száva

To my ear walnut produces a bit clearer lows and more cutting highs, compared to ash, is that right?

Originally Posted by Tamás Száva

Yes, sorry I meant "narrower only?". I like the light weight and the sound of ash. but then It'll be an MW or GN with maple core and walnut t&b.
Or maybe an M with maple core, ash wings. Those ash parts must be very dry and resonate very well due to the long time they've been stocked.

All of our woods are aged for several years before going into our Basses. I still have some wood that was 5-10 years old when the Ash came in.

The 'Core' is the center or a 3, 5, or 7-piece laminated body wing. The piece in the middle of a Bolt-on body under the Pickups is the 'Center Block'. this is on both un-laminated Ms or laminated MWs. On a Neck-thrus like the GN you mentioned under the Pickups is the actual Neck and in the Back we laminate Bubinga and Maple top beef-up the thickness of the Neck to match the Body.

On the sound, what you hear is what you hear. On Smith Basses you may find different results than from other makers as the finish we use is entirely our own and produces part of the sound. For me, Ash is brighter and thinner sounding than Walnut. Walnut has more Mids and a thicker sound but both are clear sounding. Maple has less mids and has more under current lows and tight HIs.

[Tamás Száva]

Sorry again for having to correct me all the time, I wanted to write center block for the M, but was very tired in the evening. And thanks for the useful info.