I always took “tone wood” to mean the actual wood that the body was made from. IE: the difference that alder makes vs basswood. But having “mass” in the body I thought was supposed to matter., even understanding the other factors that you mentioned… Live and learn, I guess…
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Yes, this is what it is. And what did Leo Fender use for his first bass “tone woods”? The ones that are coveted so as vintage instruments for their fantastic tone?
The cheapest wood he could find.
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Honestly I would be surprised if wood choice mattered for more than 10% of the sound.
Status Graphite agrees 
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The only bass I feel the wood makes a difference is my Sire, and that’s strung through the body. Logically there’s a a size where you get diminished returns. I mean if you put a neck on a tree trunk, there’s just to much mass to vibrate. So how small a piece of wood you need to get maximum benefit, I don’t know.
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Are there metal bushings in the through holes?
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Usually ferrules
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Exactly. So does wood tone matter if ferruled? Just a thought.
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I think the theory is that the different tonewoods resonate to the string vibrations differently. Presumably the vibrations (and the resonance) would transfer though the metal of the Ferrule (or bridge).
I’d still be surprised it if were even 10% of the tone.
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Strangely nice to look at but I reckon I’d end up breaking something off it pretty quickly 
That reminds me… I need to check for termites. 
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The pickups companies will tell you that changing pickups will change your tone and they are 100% accurate.
The strings companies will say the same and the will also be 100% correct.
Your luthiers will tell you that moving the pickup position will have a effect in the tone on your bass and they would also be 100% accurate.
Your bass instructor would tell you that playing techniques will dramatically altered the tone of your bass an it’s also 100% accurate.
It’s 100% accurate to say that different bass will sound different to one another, it’s like fingerprints or the more trendy term snowflakes, an identical bass of the same design and materials will sound different to one another, but at what degree?
10%(up to) different would be vastly generous. Paul Reed Smith famous demonstrated by playing the tone of the different types wood and the produce different tones, but what he didn’t demonstrate to the audience was if he would use the same type of wood it would also produce different tone, just not as dramatic.
Like @John_E said, yes there’s a different in tone wood but it’s way, way way down the list of things you can do to alter the sound of your instruments before the choices of wood body.
Tonewood is not a myth, it just not that important for tone.
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With ferrules there’s less metal between the string and the wood than with a bridge, but I’m not really claiming it’s making a huge difference. But I feel it makes more of a difference.
I notice the sustain more to be honest. But this is just feelings and impressions, nothing scientific. I know enough wave theory to know a denser wood will propagate a wave better than a lighter wood. But no clue how that affects sound if it does at all.
One area it does matter is durabiltiy. This bass we’re discussing, while it looks cool, also looks fragile, and how long would it last gigging on the road?
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A denser wood will likely have a higher resonant frequency as well, so it may be a bit brighter. That seems to be the opinion of ash and maple bodied basses. BUT, that’s hearsay on the interwebs, which is even less reliable than good old fashioned, traditional hearsay. Also, I probably couldn’t tell the diff anyways. Additionally, to really test this, you’d need two identical basses, size, shape, electronics and hardware as well as dimensions: all except he tonewood. Only that would give an accurate measurement.
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I’m not making any claims on brightness, just that a denser material transmits sound more efficiently. The speed of sound is faster at sea level than 20,000 feet because the air is more dense. And it is faster in water than air, and faster still in solid objects such as wood. The denser the object the more effciently it conducts sound. How that affects tone, I don’t know enough to make a conjecture.
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Cookie monster came for cookies but left with a newfound appreciation for electric basses that are stealing that upright look, oh and he also took 2 bites.
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The amount of difference it would make, would really only be applicable to acoustic string instruments, and extremely well trained ears, and even then, you would probably need to have side by side testing to hear the difference. Its not like you could walk in on a classical violinist or guitarist playing in a room, and go, oh yeah, sounds like the violin is poplar and the guitar is mahogany………
The person that has the different instruments and can hear the difference, would be able to hear the difference on their own instruments, if they had 4 of the same Jazz basses all with different tone woods, but even then, if he walked in on a person playing a Jazz bass, probably couldn’t with absolute certainty, tell you what tone wood it was.
True, if you see the instrument, and know the make model and year by sight, you might know what it is, or if you saw the classical guitar or violin or cello, and recognize the instrument with your eyes, and you may know what wood that instrument is made from, but that is your eyes telling the brain what wood it is, not the ears, so assume all that, is to be in blind tests as well.
I know I will never be able to tell the difference., and would only care in natural clear coated or oil finished bodies, and would go by what pleases my eyes, because my eyes will tell my brain the
Wood grain and color that looks best, sounds and feels best.
Same way my brain will always tell me the orange bass sounds better then the mint or sea foam green bass.
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There is a corollary discussion on this topic in the saxophone world, regarding plating (nickel, silver, gold) on brass or raw brass or lacquered brass or RE-lacquered brass and the inherent tone you get from each (and the loads of marketing crapola behind it). Vintage horns with darkened over time lacquer play darker, silver horns play brighter, gold brighter still. The brass used before WWII was magical and now has less whatever in it, etc. It is all pure B.S. Tone goes like this for saxes….person, mouthpiece, ligature (only in holding the reed properly or not), reed, sax neck design, sax bore design, sax brass thickness across design. Add on top of that that a sax setup can ruin the tone across all of those in the hands of an incompetent tech, which is the biggest determination of tone of a sax and if you buy one IMO.
I was in a store once and a guy was playing a black nickel plated horn and went ‘oooooh, this is so dark’ (note: it is good we can’t go around slapping people upside the head for stupidity in public).
@Lanny’s latest video here Post your covers! (2019-2022) - #4861 by Lanny proves how you can manipulate your tone WAY beyond the wood of the bass.
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Thanks @John_E - John…. The sky’s the limit!! When it comes to bass, we all play such an awesome instrument that has so many different variables……. We can do so, so much with this instrument…… We should all just use our imagination and let it all flow!!... I’ve never in my life played such a “versatile” instrument…. I LOVE playing bass!!
Keep On Thumpin’!
Lanny
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That said there’s noticeable differences in the tone with different fingerboard materials. When used with a more reactive strings like round wound on a fretless.
I love Wenge because it’s stiffness and it’s hardness Stiffer material seems to give you the extra mawh. For this the newer sometimes cheaper materials are better. Richlite, Enonel, and of course carbon fiber.
I think it the way the strings react to the surface that makes for different experience.
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Less talking; more porn!
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