Some are far more dense than any wood, quite apparently.
It can also get rather tedious………..
Somebody always finds a way to steer the discussion to the sustain topic.
It’s one of those things that defines Bassbuzz ![]()
You’ll have to settle for quadratics
I can’t resist sticking my oar in any longer. So, for fishing purposes I have used as much emotive language as possible.
Sustain is about the string vibrating for as long as possible; this will be best achieved by preventing its supports moving (as far as is possible). To do this the instrument must be as stiff as possible. Bending stiffness is related to three parameters: Young’s Modulus of Elasticity (the constant relationship between stress and strain for a material), length (scale length) and second moment of area.
In the plausible range of hardwoods used in bass guitars, Young’s modulus is directly related to density.
Second moment of area is a section property which is difficult to explain. Reduced to primary school logic, it is related to depth cubed. So, thicker necks will be stiffer.
Better sustaining instruments will be made of denser timber, have a shorter scale length, and a thicker neck.
Then we get to the subject of the thread – if you put a joint in the middle of the instrument, it must introduce flexibility and so reduce sustain. Clearly bolt-on necks are inferior for sustain purposes but offer action adjustability.
So, for maximal sustain, sell all your bolt-on neck basses, make sure your truss rod is engaged (it will stiffen the neck), go string-through and tighten up the tuner screws (or get some locking tuners – do they exist for bass ?).
Some always try to goad a fray about tone.
Far more constructive to step away from keyboard, pick up a bass and make actual tones.
Not unless the neck and the body joint are moving in relationship to each other, but it is an interesting point for engineering consideration, no doubt
Having the strings anchored to a rigid bridge, rather than a beveled washer in the body of the wood should have less damping, therefore, more sustain. However, it doesn’t mean that you will prefer the tone.
As for guitar sustain; Fender Stratocaster Enters the Chat
Or use threaded inserts! I’m pretty sure that this works as well as neck-thru.
He’s just looking for some used bargains!
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Oh good, now we get to factor in the trem springs
You haven’t considered string mass yet (thicker strings → more oscillating mass) or scale length (longer → higher tension + more oscillation harmonics → more energy in string).
Of course none of this matters because most basslines are quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes and there is no production bass, no matter how bad, that cannot sustain across multiple measures of whole notes.
Hard heavy and dense wood offers a nice transfer of vibration to the body than lesser ones. This is one of the main reasons I love the old Fender Jazz bass, Marcus Miller Fender and the Steve Harris, they are all great slappers. The Sire V7/V8 are also right up there with feel.
I don’t really care much about sustain because most modern basses offer more sustain than I need in any given songs. I’ve not yet need any more sustain than 8 bars, anyways anything longer my muting Kung Fu has not been mastered to that next level yet ![]()
My 1974 Jazz was one solid, heavy-ass mofo. I wish I still had it, just to have. But I traded it for stuff I’d play more.
Now, my V8 checks all the 70s Jazz boxes for me. ![]()
Apropos of nothing, but given the recent discussion of Hipshot and Gotoh products I realized I had a set of Hipshots lying around that I could weigh, and I previously had weighed some Gotoh Res-o-lites. They aren’t the exact same style, so not a completely fair comparison. I bought the Res-o-lites to replace the garbage tuners on my V3.
Stock Tuners
Gotoh Res-o-Lite
Hipshot USA
Cool, yeah, those are close.
Mine (Y-keys, so proportionally more weight in the thicker blade) are slightly lighter (2g or so) for the Res-o-Lites.
anyways anything longer my muting Kung Fu has not been mastered to that next level yet
You’ll get there! Have Faith!! ![]()


