wood qualities

[British Kid]

i dunno if this is a beginner question or not, but i was wondering what kind of sound that basses made out of basswood have. is it similar to anything. i have experience with alder mostly. i'm wanting it to have a good p-bass sound and i want to know if bass wood is good for punchy sounds.

[death12721]

bass wood is a lighter weight wood normally producing Strat® bodies under 4 lbs. The color is white, but often has nasty green mineral streaks in it. This is a closed-grain wood, but it can absorb a lot of finish. This is not a good wood for clear finishes; It is quite soft, and does not take abuse well. Soundwise, Basswood has a nice, warm tone.

you might want to get:
Walnut- a heavy weight wood, but not quite as heavy as hard maple. It has a similar sound to hard maple but it tends not to be as bright. Walnut is very beautiful with open grain. Oil finishes work great on Walnut.
or
Hard Maple-
a very hard, heavy and dense wood. This is the same wood that we use on our necks. The grain is closed and very easy to finish. The tone is very bright with long sustain and a lot of bite. This wood cannot be dyed. It looks great with clear or transparent color finishes.
or
Western Maple-
It is usually much lighter weight than Hard Maple but it features the same white color. It has bright tone with good bite and attack, but is not brittle like the harder woods can be. Our flame ( fiddleback) and quilted bodies are Western Maple. This type of maple works great with dye finishes.