Any Bass Experts here?

[tubanonymous]

I just said damp and muddy, because, well, compared to a normal bass which is very bright and has long sustain, the hollow bodies have more of a thumpy tone.

Note that players who go that way, also like to use heavy, flat wound strings. That's going to have a real effect on tone. Vs. cosmetic hollowbody construction, especially of the strung to the bridge type which has to be effectively solid mount.

The tone on my old Matsumoku isn't exactly crystal clear, but I put that down to short scale (also common on hollow bodies), dead flatwounds, and the pickups, which to be fair put out an awesome amount of low end. Take an Epiphone "Jack Casady" (bridge strung, long scale), and put round wounds on it, and I bet no listener would ever guess it's "hollow."

I have to say I disagree that the difference is cosmetic. A hollow body with flats, a hollow body with rounds, a solid body with flats, and a solid body with rounds will have completely different tones. Also, on the topic of bridge stringing hollow bodies...I have to say, I've never heard of a hollow body being thru strung? I'd love to see it if you have a link. I'm curious how it works, seeing as the body is hollow

[Donn]

I have to say, I've never heard of a hollow body being thru strung? I'd love to see it if you have a link. I'm curious how it works, seeing as the body is hollow

I don't know what "thru strung" means, but image search on "gretsch bass" will show lots of both designs I'm talking about: strings attached to the end of the body via tailpiece, vs. strings attached right to the bridge.

In terms of acoustic guitar designs, arch top guitars have the tailpiece, flat tops are bridge strung, and the acoustic principles are real different. An archtop bridge (also violin family, banjos etc.) transfers string energy parallel to the top, compression force; the flat top acoustics are more complicated, more tension force.

Anyway, if you had a cheap junker bridge string hollowbody, I'm pretty sure there's a hefty solid rib up the center to the neck, and you could pry and saw the sides and back off until there's nothing but that bar, and the bass would be functionally unimpaired. At some point as you make the internals stronger to support the tension force from the strings, the hollow body becomes a decorative shell around a narrow solid body, a place to mount the controls. The Epiphone Jack Casady is like that - play one unplugged, there's virtually no resonance. Which is mostly a good thing - you worry less about feedback!

[Three Valves]

...but there are certainly many-many things about which I am ignorant.

For Donn...

[ginnboonmiller]

For what it's worth, string-through is a real thing. it refers to strings that are attached to the guitar by the body of the guitar itself -- there are holes drilled through the body and ferrules to catch the ball end of the string. Like a telecaster. Pretty rare feature on a hollow body guitar, but it's been done (with blocks in the body cavity, of course), and next to completely unheard of for a hollowbody bass. Certainly not on any Standel I've looked at.

[Donn]

Oh yeah, don't recall ever seeing a bass like that in person, but now that you mention it ... duh. Ouch, 90° bend in the string. The point escapes me, but ... there are many things about which I am ignorant.

[ginnboonmiller]

Oh yeah, don't recall ever seeing a bass like that in person, but now that you mention it ... duh. Ouch, 90° bend in the string. The point escapes me, but ... there are many things about which I am ignorant.

The point, I think, back in 1952, was that since it's a solid chunk of cheap pine, you don't need to buy a stop tail when you can just hit it with a drill.

But by now the theories (which I buy) are:

-- That sharp bend increases pressure on the bridge increasing sustain and volume
-- Zen-like oneness of body and string resonance vibrations stuff that hasn't really been proven but...

Basically, if you go string through, you get better sustain, extra volume, and a brighter sound. Fortunately, guitars exist that allow you to choose, so it's a pretty easily verifiable difference.

[Donn]

OK, not 90°, but more than necessary or desirable. I don't know what's going on with the stripped winding on the E string (but there are many things ...) Maybe I'm more protective with my strings because flatwounds are expensive and don't really sound right the first year or so.

[Three Valves]

fwiw...
Even though it's cool-lookin' and gold-plated, I'm probably not too eager to drill 4-holes in my early-70's 4-bolt-neck all-original J and mount that on it...

"bloke ...but a whammy bar might be really cool. "

That's why they make Squiers!!

[Joemac]

OK, not 90°, but more than necessary or desirable. I don't know what's going on with the stripped winding on the E string (but there are many things ...) Maybe I'm more protective with my strings because flatwounds are expensive and don't really sound right the first year or so.

I believe that's called a tapered string and I believe they make them that way so they don't break being strung thru the body and bent so much. You see that on low B strings too.... and I agree, I don't think any bass strings, flat or round wound sound good for about a year.