epa Wrote:
With a starter bass, plywood back and sides are o.k., try and get a spruce top, (cheap chinese basses use pine, stay away). Make sure it has an adjustable bridge.
Phil's the man.
Anything acoustic, be it guitar or bass, needs a good top material. Sides are really just structural, so as long as it's strong and doesn't absorb sound it's fine. But the top plate is the "speaker" for it, and the way it vibrates in response to the strings has everything to do with how the instrument winds up sounding... "vibrant" vs "dead." Pine just doesn't respond like spruce, or sitka fir... much tighter grain and better stiffness.