Basswood

A soft, light hardwood of the genus Tilia, plain in appearance and cheap to work, used widely for solid bodies on budget and mid-priced instruments.

Its lightness suits large or heavily routed shapes and its neutral, mildly mid-focused voice flatters high-output pickups without adding harshness. The penalty is durability: the timber dents easily and screw holes in it can wear loose over years of tremolo use, and being plain it is nearly always finished in a solid colour. Many signature instruments with hot electronics are basswood for exactly these reasons.

Example: a basswood superstrat with a high-output bridge humbucker sounds tight and even rather than shrill, which is the point of the pairing.

typical use: Solid bodies on budget and mid-range models, and on several high-output signature instruments.

Basswood

See also