swamp ash is actually quite light ... my old fender warmoth's body is made of swamp ash ... which was quite light .. the only exception that made the bass heavy were the tuning machines and my bridge ...
my past experience with basswood is with an Ibanez SRX505 that i owned before ... it was made of basswood with a flamed maple top .. i have to admit that Ibanez does their finishes very well ..
the sound was really middy and crunchy .. not to mentioned that a large part of the sound came from the pickups .. i may be wrong .. ..
here's the breakdown of the wood from Warmoth
Basswood (Tilia americana):
This is a lighter weight wood normally producing Strat® bodies under 4 lbs. The color is white, but often has nasty green mineral streaks in it. This is a closed-grain wood, but it can absorb a lot of finish. This is not a good wood for clear finishes since there is little figure. It is quite soft, and does not take abuse well. Sound-wise, Basswood has a nice, growley, warm tone with good mids. A favorite tone wood for shredders in the 80s since its defined sound cuts through a mix well.[/i]