MIJ '62 Strat - basswood?
- Thread starter Flyboy
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john_cribbin
Friend of Leo's
I always assume that a Japanese Fender will be basswood until shown otherwise.
Yeh. I'm torn on this one.
dreamingtele
Poster Extraordinaire
Yep. Most low end MIJ Fenders were basswood. However, the high end ones would sport Alder/Ash and rare ones have nitro finishes.
I think the high end ones would always have US pickups/electronics.
I think the high end ones would always have US pickups/electronics.
IMO that's not Basswood grain. Typically, Basswood has fine, uniform grain with no figure.
The back of the body looks a lot more like Alder to me. Seems like Alder with some figure to it and they've cut the body so that figure is on the front.
Is this something I missed, a universal distaste for basswood? I have a couple of great sounding basswood guitars; one is one of my favorites.
Anyway, I agree... it doesn't look like the grain of either of mine. But then I'm no botanist...)
Anyway, I agree... it doesn't look like the grain of either of mine. But then I'm no botanist...)
I had a piece of Basswood for carving. It did not have grain like that body shows, it had more of a uniform wood grain without any swirly figuring at all like an ash or alder has... I suppose if cut a certain direction from the log it could show those though...
I had one basswood guitar that was fine, light.
I had one basswood guitar that was fine, light.
I had a guitar and a bass with basswood in the past; both were lifeless. Just my experience.
Another county heard from... there must be many with the same experience; hence the general basswood disdain.
One of mine sounds dark, but not bad... the other sounds pretty balanced. I wonder if there's a lot of variety between different pieces?
One of mine sounds dark, but not bad... the other sounds pretty balanced. I wonder if there's a lot of variety between different pieces?
Sure doesn't look much like basswood to me. My experience with basswood is it's finer grained and not much character to it, like @schmee example shows. My money would be that it's most likely Alder... but I'm not familiar with MIJ's so FWIW
kookaburra
Friend of Leo's
FWIW, I’ve a mid 80s Basswood MIJ Strat that sounds fine regardless of pickups used.
Well, that's 2 examples. 2 points on a line don't make a trend.
My basswood ST-62 DEX2 sounds really fine. The basswood body is only one component in a guitar comprised of many.
Here's a pocket-full of basswood:
Archetype_ST-62EX2_5
www.tdpri.com
Lots of variety. Body blanks from the same tree can vary tremendously. It's really the individual chunk of wood that makes a difference, the species not so much.
tele_savales
Tele-Afflicted
Basswood is a relatively decent tradeoff when you compare to the other cost-cutting measures such as lousy tuners, pickups and other electronic components. I have a 90's MIJ Tele and on 80s MIj Strat and they are both great sounding, abeit w after market pickups.
Pretty Strat!
Take it over next to the PA gear. If it starts turning knobs it’s bass wood.
Take it over next to the PA gear. If it starts turning knobs it’s bass wood.
FSRCustomTeleHHGT
Tele-Meister
You know, a lot of very expensive instruments use basswood. Suhr has used it for a long time and guys like Vai play basswood bodies. You may not like it (not that it makes even a slight difference in sound in a solid-body electric with non-microphonic pickups -- I mean how could it?), but it's not inferior.
kookaburra
Friend of Leo's
Based on the grain, I’m guessing alder.
Keep in mind that I don’t feel that I’m qualified to make a living making a guess, so there you are.
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It's hard to say, I have a basswood guitar and 2 alder ones and it doesn't look like any of them.
It looks more like my Poplar body out of all of them. (this is from stewmac mines painted white)
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