Welcome to the end of this issue! Now, this month, we’re talking about wood. Good wood? Bad wood? Tonewood!
Okay then, Veall. What’s a tonewood, exactly? A wood chosen for its tonal characteristics in instrument manufacture. It’s one of those phrases that gets thrown around, but beware—a wood type may present itself as an ideal selection for one instrument function and not another. For example, a resonant top softwood like sitka or cedar is excellent for an acoustic guitar, versus a wood choice like maple, which is required to withstand the pull of five strings on a bass neck, 24/7.
Do they really sound different? Be honest with us now. I’m always honest! It’s quite obvious that different wood types can and do make acoustic instruments sound different. When it comes to electric instruments, there’s more influence to be had in the sum of the other design elements, pickups and electronics especially.
This story is from the Holiday 2021 edition of Bass Player.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
This story is from the Holiday 2021 edition of Bass Player.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Freekbass
The funk master talks us through five career high points.
ASHDOWN RM-800-EVO ll
What a lightweight! Kev Sanders tests the new head from Ashdown
DUVOISIN Standard 5
Mike Brooks gives this Swiss-style five a road test…
I WAS THERE!
A historic moment in bass world – recalled by those who were there to see it
BAREFACED - One10T Cabinet
A new Barefaced cab? Kev Sanders feels the quality
KRIST NOVOSELIC
It’s 30 years since the release of Nirvana’s era-defining album, Nevermind, and high time that we revisited this 2011 chat with the great bassist turned political activist, Krist Novoselic, a musician who witnessed a truly chaotic period in music history
BASS PLAYER AWARDS 2021
After a year off thanks to the pesky virus, BP’s annual Lifetime Achievement Awards return—and this time we add a new category. Raise your glass to this year’s winners, Marcus Miller, Gail Ann Dorsey, John Taylor and Charles Berthoud.
RUSH TO READ
Rush’s Geddy Lee will release an “epic” memoir in 2022
STAYING POWER
Tal Wilkenfeld’s recent album Love Remains features a five-string in tenor tuning with a capo. Ellen O’Reilly finds out why…
TONEWOODS EXPLAINED
Do woods really determine tones?
The Commander in Chief
THIS SEDULOUS SEVEN-STRINGER PUTS A COMPLETELY NEW SPIN ON CLASSICAL-INSPIRED GUITAR MUSIC
Shred-nado
EVH STRIPED SERIES SHARK
5 Questions with Death Valley High's Reyka Osburn
SAN FRANCISCO’S DEATH Valley High recently unleashed “Raise Hell,” the first of a planned series of singles to drop throughout 2020. Describing their music as “aggressive, skronk-disco light fantastic, like Saturday Night Fever on Thorazine,” singer/ guitarist Reyka Osburn isn’t really doing justice to the fact that, basically, DVH are a great rock ’n’ roll band.
FLOWER POWER
In this exclusive interview, STEVE VAI takes you inside his brand-new signature guitar, the Ibanez PIA
Shifting Gear
FROM AVANT-GARDE ELECTRICS TO AFFORDABLE ACOUSTICS, MINI AMPS TO MIGHTY APPS, COATED STRINGS TO BRILLIANT BRACINGS AND BEYOND, GUITAR WORLD REVISITS A DECADE OF UNBRIDLED INNOVATION.
New Voices In Guitar
On the lookout for jaw-dropping new talent? Here’s our guide to 10 guitarists to keep an eye (or two) on in the coming year.
Necks & Religion
Between a pair of shoulder surgeries, Steve Vai delivers Inviolate. An album of artistic purity, armed with a gretsch and the Triple-necked Hydra.
“Some people might see my Hydra guitar and think, ‘Vai, what a joke!'”
Steve Vai reveals all about his three-necked Hydra, how he invented a new technique he calls “joint-shifting”, and how he made a track from his new album using only one hand...
GARY MOORE - The Rock & Fusion Years
Richard Barrett traces the development of Gary’s style and technique from the mid 1970s through to the late 80s, with some specially devised warm-up exercises, top tips on technique, and four full solos.
THE EVOLUTION OF… Yvette Young
ONE OF THE MOST GIFTED AND INNOVATIVE GUITARISTS OF THE MODERN ERA EXPLAINS HOW SHE DEVELOPED A UNIQUE STYLE THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION, INTUITION AND PLAIN OLD-FASHIONED HARD WORK. AS YVETTE YOUNG SAYS: “MY TIME IS STILL VERY MUCH BASED AROUND IMPROVING”