# Swamp ash vs basswood vs mahogany for metal?



## vejichan (Feb 9, 2019)

Which do u prefer and why


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 9, 2019)

Another day another tonewood thread.


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## chopeth (Feb 9, 2019)

whatever


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## Dyingsea (Feb 9, 2019)

The answer is yes


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## BrutalRob (Feb 9, 2019)

You should worry more about what kind of bridge and nut you have besides, of course, pickups.


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## Musiscience (Feb 9, 2019)

It’s really personal taste. Personally I would always choose mahogany, but you might like the brighter tone of ash more


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## FitRocker33 (Feb 9, 2019)

I play metal on guitars made of all 3 of those woods. They all do great. That being said, I think the amp and pickups are more noticeable in terms of tone.


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## A-Branger (Feb 9, 2019)

Theres a difference and all is nice and great, until the drummer starts playing


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## Jeff (Feb 9, 2019)

Black limba or koa. Basswood and mahogany are too pedestrian.


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## budda (Feb 9, 2019)

It doesnt matter.


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## sylcfh (Feb 9, 2019)




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## Demiurge (Feb 9, 2019)

I agree that it's probably more about the configuration of the guitar than the wood. Is mahogany truly a "dark-sounding" wood for an electric, or is because it is was very commonly used in LPs and SGs with 24.75" scale length and PAFs that it's thought of that way? Is basswood a brighter wood, or is its frequent use in superstrats with double-locking trems and ceramic-mag, high-output humbuckers responsible? One can go on.


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## Musiscience (Feb 9, 2019)

Demiurge said:


> I agree that it's probably more about the configuration of the guitar than the wood. Is mahogany truly a "dark-sounding" wood for an electric, or is because it is was very commonly used in LPs and SGs with 24.75" scale length and PAFs that it's thought of that way? Is basswood a brighter wood, or is its frequent use in superstrats with double-locking trems and ceramic-mag, high-output humbuckers responsible? One can go on.



In my experience, mahogany does sound fuller and “darker”. I had a Les Paul with burst bucker pro, an all mahogany Washburn WM526 with active pickups and an all mahogany Suhr Modern with SSH+ and they all sounded different but all “rounder” and fuller than my basswood and ash guitars with humbuckers. In the end they all sounded great in their own way, but I personally preferred the mahogany.


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## trem licking (Feb 9, 2019)

If it has a tremolo, no basswood


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## bracky (Feb 9, 2019)

trem licking said:


> If it has a tremolo, no basswood



Ibanez makes it work.


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## trem licking (Feb 9, 2019)

It can work... But the wood is barely strong enough to hold the trems studs straight


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 9, 2019)

Arium and richlite. Not a tree in sight.

But seriously, out of all the 3, probably Swamp ash. Mahogany's a bit too round for me as said before, and swamp ash is too scooped. Basswood gets a bad rap, but I love how midrangey it is.


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## dr_game0ver (Feb 9, 2019)

Poplar.


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## Splenetic (Feb 9, 2019)

trem licking said:


> It can work... But the wood is barely strong enough to hold the trems studs straight



And yet there's thousands upon thousands of decade old and older ibbies magically making it work.


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## Wolfhorsky (Feb 9, 2019)




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## Musiscience (Feb 9, 2019)

dr_game0ver said:


> Poplar.



That’s usually not really a poplar choice though.


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## trem licking (Feb 9, 2019)

Malevolent_Croatian said:


> And yet there's thousands upon thousands of decade old and older ibbies magically making it work.



and also, there are thousands of repairs made on those decade old ibbies to fix leaning trem posts  I have 3 of them, 2 have developed the loose inserts. it's a pain in the ass to have to fix that when it could have been avoided with a harder wood in the first place. a tip i can give if you have a trem'd basswood body is to use light strings. im talking no more than 9s


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## Seabeast2000 (Feb 9, 2019)

trem licking said:


> and also, there are thousands of repairs made on those decade old ibbies to fix leaning trem posts  I have 3 of them, 2 have developed the loose inserts. it's a pain in the ass to have to fix that when it could have been avoided with a harder wood in the first place. a tip i can give if you have a trem'd basswood body is to use light strings. im talking no more than 9s



ha! "Body made from solid Yieldwood/ Lenientwood."

The genus is generally called _lime_ or _linden_ in Britain[3] and _linden_, _lime_, or _basswood_ in North America.[4]

"Lime" is an altered form of Middle English _lind_, in the 16th century also _line_, from Old English feminine _lind_ or _linde_, Proto-Germanic _*lendā_, cognate to Latin _lentus_"flexible" and Sanskrit _latā_ "liana". Within Germanic languages, English "lithe", German _lind_ "lenient, yielding" are from the same root.


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## Konfyouzd (Feb 9, 2019)




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## Jujex (Feb 9, 2019)

Having owned the same model prestige with both basswood and mahagony bodies, I can say that it does make a difference. Mahagony all day. Same with Petrucci models.

Not saying that basswood is horrible but mahagony is always better. Ash is also a good tone wood. It works better for my ears for longer range guitars.


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## A-Branger (Feb 9, 2019)

fun fact, you can make necks out of basswood, and there are guitars made out that way


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## Splenetic (Feb 10, 2019)

trem licking said:


> and also, there are thousands of repairs made on those decade old ibbies to fix leaning trem posts  I have 3 of them, 2 have developed the loose inserts. it's a pain in the ass to have to fix that when it could have been avoided with a harder wood in the first place. a tip i can give if you have a trem'd basswood body is to use light strings. im talking no more than 9s


I have three of them as well, none with strings under 10's, no issues what so ever. *shrug*

One is 19 years old, 2nd is 13 and the third is 12.

Oh coincidentally, I did have a mahogany bodied 7 string that DID have that problem within a few years. It all comes down to the quality of the specific cut and your setups (mine weren't too great back then). The basswoods are Fujigen made beasts, the Mahogany body guitar was a RG knockoff made by Dillion.


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## Ziricote (Feb 10, 2019)

Wow some of you guys have bad ears. The woods are what make the difference. The same pickups in different guitars Doesnt sound the same etc. Its the woods


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## prlgmnr (Feb 10, 2019)

Ziricote said:


> Wow some of you guys have bad ears. The woods are what make the difference. The same pickups in different guitars Doesnt sound the same etc. Its the woods


It's not so much the ears as what's between the ears.


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## mastapimp (Feb 10, 2019)

Is it just me, or does this guy ask the same question every 6 months? http://sevenstring.org/threads/wood-choices-mahogany-basswood-or-swamp-ash.329981/#post-4880056


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 10, 2019)

mastapimp said:


> Is it just me, or does this guy ask the same question every 6 months? http://sevenstring.org/threads/wood-choices-mahogany-basswood-or-swamp-ash.329981/#post-4880056



Can’t ever tell if the op is trolling or not. From briefly looking over his post history.


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## sezna (Feb 10, 2019)

does red paint or blue paint sound better for metal?


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## possumkiller (Feb 10, 2019)

Well this is SSO so basswood and rosewood are garbage. Before 2012 we would say mahogany and ebony are the true metal woods. Now it is ash and roasted maple.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 10, 2019)

possumkiller said:


> Well this is SSO so basswood and rosewood are garbage. Before 2012 we would say mahogany and ebony are the true metal woods. Now it is ash and roasted maple.



we love basswood


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## prlgmnr (Feb 10, 2019)

sezna said:


> does red paint or blue paint sound better for metal?


Red paint on the left side to accentuate the upper mids, blue paint on the right side to calm the strident highs.


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## A-Branger (Feb 10, 2019)

prlgmnr said:


> Red paint on the left side to accentuate the upper mids, blue paint on the right side to calm the strident highs.


Well it depends... are we talking gloss finish or satin?


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## lurè (Feb 10, 2019)

If you want an heavy sound use heavy woods


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## Zhysick (Feb 10, 2019)

sezna said:


> does red paint or blue paint sound better for metal?



I don't know which color will sound better but for metal if you use two white stripes you will definitely play faster. Race car paint. Ya know...


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## Seabeast2000 (Feb 10, 2019)

prlgmnr said:


> Red paint on the left side to accentuate the upper mids, blue paint on the right side to calm the strident highs.


what about relaxing the ardent lows? What color?


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## prlgmnr (Feb 10, 2019)

The906 said:


> what about relaxing the ardent lows? What color?


That comes more from the amp, purple tolex should deal with it.

But a green overdrive might come in handy too.


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## V_man (Feb 10, 2019)

prlgmnr said:


> It's not so much the ears as what's between the ears.



^^ Underrated post


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## plyta (Feb 10, 2019)

I like this vid a lot, put it on in HD with some good headphones and decide for yourself. Difference is definitely there, but does it matter that much or not?


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## vejichan (Feb 10, 2019)

Which would you pick to if had a gig to go on stage with John Petrucci and Zakk wylde and wanted to cut thru ?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 10, 2019)

vejichan said:


> Which would you pick to if had a gig to go on stage with John Petrucci and Zakk wylde and wanted to cut thru ?



Whichever one is available. 

because everything else will make the biggest difference. Strings, pickups, pedals, amps, cabs, etc. 

IMO, wood choice is more of a feel thing than a major tone thing.


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## Zhysick (Feb 10, 2019)

^That!! The wood is more because of the feel. That's why I prefer bolt-on, I "find'em" to be more "alive, snappy", with more attack, but depending on the wood choice it should not be true but it is just that I like how it react to my playing and all that crap... same thing for pickups: I have just realized I prefer single coils but I play mainly metal so I have a slight problem (not a big one thou 'cause there are a few great single coil pups for great metal tones and NO I am not talking about Yngwie...)

PS: I prefer hard woods like alder or maple but mahogany+maple cap or basswood+maple cap do the trick... so, maple basically.


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## budda (Feb 10, 2019)

Incredible records have been made with various types of guitars in various configurations.

Whatever time you were going to spend mulling over specs will be *far* better spent practicing.

When you're good enough, an affinity strat into a spider ii can still sound decent.


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## Wolfhorsky (Feb 11, 2019)

Basswood is for bass guitars.
As for guitars....oh wait...


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