ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

[trillian guitars]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

ok you guys really misinterpreted the default wood choice....of the 2 companies i own, one is(actually was) a parts store.....when you deal with so many different types of people you have to conform to them...ive never told anyone i wont make them a guitar out of "____" wood.....they get what they want.....now, if someone doesnt specify a wood, the default became basswood....why? because it was easier to get at the time than alder.....it was cheap.....it is free of knots and imperfections...and if someone wasnt aware enough or doesnt really care what wood they get, then it doesnt matter.....personally, i find it thin sounding and dead tone wise.....one thing to note, if you are used to playing a guitar like ibanez thats basswood and thats mainly all you play, then its going to sound good to you...cuz thats what you are used to....when you start making comparisons is when you can really tell....now of course, if you are running a super hot pick up like a evo through a hot amp with tons of distortion, what does it matter anyway? most guitar players today sound like **** anyway with all the mods scooped on their amps.....so rock on

black mariah, werent most of the s series made from mohagony? im not sure just wondering, id have to look

[lerxstcat]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Originally posted by Trillian Guitars:

...most guitar players today sound like **** anyway with all the mods scooped on their amps.....so rock on

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Do you mean "mods" like forum admins, or like Rod Stewart, or Daniel Torres? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

It still seems like you're saying, this wood is crap, but I'll still take your $ to build you a guitar with it, because it's cheap for me. You stated that as a trait of "the big companies" earlier in that thread as though it was bad, then said you do the same thing. If you really feel that basswood is "basic crap"
then do you at least tell your client that's how you feel before you take the order, or do you feel if they don't know better that's their problem? I think if you order a guitar from a builder, you're
entitled to hear his opinions on tone woods, even if you decide to overrule those opinions. Otherwise it seems like you treated your basswood-loving customers as chumps, to a degree. If you give someone your professional opinion and they still choose basswood, that's fine. If you quietly figure "this guy doesn't know the difference, and I'm not telling him", then publicly say you built his guitar out of a "basic crap" wood, you're not doing him a service, are you? He looks like an idiot to his friends to whom he bragged about his basswood Trilian guitar. I'm sure you haven't thought of it that way, but put yourself in your customers' position and consider it.

[ September 04, 2003, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: lerxstcat ]

[Steve]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Originally posted by Black Mariah:
I have an S series Ibanez made out of basswood that's heavy as f**k for something its size. Basswood varies GREATLY in weight. That's one of the reasons it's a crappy wood. Alder bodied guitars don't vary much in weight. Maybe 10-15 percent from one guitar to the next (assuming same model, of course). Basswood on the other hand seems like it goes 50% in either direction. I've played some S series guitars that are 6 pounds or so, where mine is closer to 10.

Basswood is also too damn soft. The paint dings WAY too easy because of it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">yeah I thought the basswood Jackson imports I've owned sounded pretty heavy as well , but yeah now that I think of it they were pretty soft , I've seen dudes ding those old imports pretty bad and pretty eazy . //Steve

[Steve]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

....... oh yeah , alder vs basswood ... I'd take the alder . //Steve

[trillian guitars]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

lexercat, we just filled the orders of what the customer wants.....as you can see from this thread, you just cant reason with people.... i thought i explained everything allready

i really dont care what wood you or anyone else uses...use what you want....but ask for opinions in a thread, dont be surprised if you get differing opinions....sheesh

[skidd]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Bottom line for me is if the guitar sounds good to me though my rig, I'll buy it.I don't care what kinda of wood it is made out. But Maple body and Maple neck is still my 1st choice.

[monk]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Have you guys ever played anything else than "cheap" basswood guitars? Like an ibanez JPM or EBMM JPM ?

[LouSiffer]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Stay away from the basswood bodies. They are total @ss. My Ibeenhad is going in its case as soon as I get another 7 string. So far, both of the strap buttons have been relocated since the basswood isnt strong enough to hold them.-Lou

[Thoraby]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Dude(s), aren't all the Charvel model series guitars(except 5 and 6) made out of basswood? If basswood sounds so ****ty, then why do these guitars get so much praise? [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

[ September 06, 2003, 05:59 AM: Message edited by: Thoraby ]

[toejam]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Yeah, I believe all the old bolt-on Model series were asswood, the neck-thrus were poplar. I've never played any of the bolt-on models, so I couldn't tell you how they sound, but the poplar Model 6 and 5A sounded really nice to me (similar to alder, maybe a little bit brighter).

[lerxstcat]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

Originally posted by Trillian Guitars:
lexercat, we just filled the orders of what the customer wants.....as you can see from this thread, you just cant reason with people.... i thought i explained everything allready

i really dont care what wood you or anyone else uses...use what you want....but ask for opinions in a thread, dont be surprised if you get differing opinions....sheesh

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I understand that, but from a business standpoint it seems you should disclaim in some sort of way that basswood is your bottom-level choice. You say now that you give them what they want, but in earlier posts you said if they didn't specify they got basswood. You also said
if they didn't know better,what's the difference? I'd say that because they came to you for a custom guitar, that is the difference. They're counting on you to choose top-quality ingredients and overcome their ignorance of what's good and bad. In that case you could at least tell 'em that IYO basswood doesn't sound as good, and let them decide. 5 minutes
of explanation could either make a customer choose the better wood, for an upcharge, or choose basswood with some education that you quickly dispensed, that's all I'm saying. If, however, I bought a basswood guitar from you thinking it's the sh1t 'cause Trillian uses it, then read your post saying it was crap, then as a customer would be pissed if you hadn't presented that to me before I presented you with my cash. You
see the logic there? Just saying you should bring it up.

My background is in plumbing service and repair, and we carried some low-level items for apartment managers who maybe needed to save $30 per disposal x 100 units replaced in a year, but when a homeowner asked what the cheapest disposal we had was, I'd tell her, and then mention that the one $30 more was a lot better buy because it had a stronger motor, stainless steel grinding bin and a 3 year warranty instead of 90 days. t's not the same as the guitar biz but most of the time we sold the $90 model instead of the $60 model by elaborating just a bit past the basic answer to the question. I'm not attacking you for having it as a default period, but think you should let your customer know the relative quality, rather than let them stay ignorant. Especially when you can make more money in most cases, and eliminate a complaint source, i.e. "you
should've told me" in all cases. Just my opinion from 20 years in the plumbing business.

Rich

[trillian guitars]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

lex, it has nothing do with disclaiming...im not sure why you are making this an issue anyway.....we take orders and fill them.... we arent here to educate the consumer....in general with guitars, everyone thinks they know whats what....ive had people just insist that "___" VH guitar was made out of "____" wood and they HAVE to have it exactly like ed's...so they get the wood they want....whether its correct or not, those guys you cant reason with...but when someone asks for a recomendation on wood i give it to them....in some cases ive tried to stear people away from a certain wood....but most of the time they know what they want and ask for it....but in every case, the customer knows what wood they are getting....its not like im sending them poplar when they thought they were getting alder like a lot of the major companies do

[toejam]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

But EVH, Vai, Petrucci, Satriani all use asswood... it must be great, right?!? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[trillian guitars]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

does EVH play guitar?

[sully]

Re: ALDER vs BASSWOOD?

a basswood one!!! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]