Why are Maple Fretboards unpopular for bass?

[ggvicviper]

I think a better question to ask is: How come you see far fewer maple boards on budget and intermediate instruments? It's wayyyyyyy more common to see rosewood.

[iriegnome]

I prefer maple. I like the tone better and I prefer the feel of it over rosewood.

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by iriegnome

I prefer maple. I like the tone better and I prefer the feel of it over rosewood.

Interesting, considering maple is a dryer wood.

[Ken J]

Let’s through this one out. I prefer fretless. What’s a fretless maple board like?

[iriegnome]

Clean smooth solid and more bright than rosewood or ebony. I prefer my maple fretless over my rosewood fretless as well. I also like the way it looks too

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by VanillaThundah

Quite the opposite. Within reason, I rarely have to clean a maple fretboard like a rosewood fretboard. From what I feel, the grain is tighter on maple so it doesn't have as many grooves for nasty finger grunge to get cozy in.

Most rosewood is unfinished aside from a bit of oil. All maple will have some type of finish which means there is a barrier from any gunk getting into it.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by iriegnome

Clean smooth solid and more bright than rosewood or ebony. I prefer my maple fretless over my rosewood fretless as well. I also like the way it looks too

Well, If maple is brighter than rosewood because it is harder and tighter grained. How could ebony not be brighter than maple, its much harder, and tighter than maple is. I don't really buy that one.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

Well, If maple is brighter than rosewood because it is harder and tighter grained.

Rosewood is ranked considerably harder than maple on the Janka scale.

[Figjam]

Mostly looks and subconscious effects on feel.

[JamesGoodall]

Is this turning into another "how will/does [insert factor of a basses tone here] affect the sound of my bass?" thread?

Ooh these are my favourite! Please, continue! Where's my popcorn!?

[JamesGoodall]

Originally Posted by Figjam

Mostly looks and subconscious effects on feel.

+1, though I'm failing to see how the wood affects the feel of your bass...neck would for me definitely does, but my fingers are so calloused and more focused on the feel of the strings that I rarely notice the fretboard...

It's all aesthetics for this guy!

[2meterbassman]

The classic material for guitar and bass fretboards is a dark wood.
Watch all the guitars from the beginning of the instrument til Leo Fender appeared.

And that guy used one piece maple necks to produce them faster and easier and to have a very hard wood for a lower price.
Ahem, I talk about the wood of the necks, of course...;-)
He wasn't thinking about sound or playability at all. He was just counting.

So today you see maple fretboards mostly on Fender style basses and guitars.

To me, maple fretboards look very nice on Fender style guitars and basses - but I don't like the feel of them. It's too "slippery".

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by 2meterbassman

To me, maple fretboards look very nice on Fender style guitars and basses - but I don't like the feel of them. It's too "slippery".

I'm not trying to flame you, so please don't take it that way.

When and how exactly do you feel your fretboard? Maybe I have a different playing style than you do, buy my fingers never really touch the fretboard, my hands touch the back of the neck, my fingers touch the strings but not really the board. Maybe the tips of my fingers, but they are so tough and hard from playing/working that they are desensitized to the point that I couldn't feel the difference between rosewood and maple anyway if I were blindfolded.

[2meterbassman]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

I'm not trying to flame you, so please don't take it that way.

When and how exactly do you feel your fretboard? Maybe I have a different playing style than you do, buy my fingers never really touch the fretboard, my hands touch the back of the neck, my fingers touch the strings but not really the board. Maybe the tips of my fingers, but they are so tough and hard from playing/working that they are desensitized to the point that I couldn't feel the difference between rosewood and maple anyway if I were blindfolded.

Hi there,

well, I restarted bass playing about 10 months or so.
I started playing bass, wenn I was 14, played it til I was about 28.
When I was 20/21 I started playing guitar.
When I was 28 I quit playing bass, played only Guitar - for 20 years.

And if you play guitar, you touch the fretboard with your fingers and your fingertips.
So - that's why I don't like maple fretboards on guitars.
My brain transferred it to the bass, hehehehe.
It feels slippery wthout touching it, do you know what I mean? ;-)

Greetz

[mogpipe]

Was only used to rosewood boards cause that was all I ever had. Got a new bass for Christmas with maple board. I LOVE IT!! To me, the maple seems to 'invite and recieve' my touch more readily. If that makes any sense to anyone.
My maple board bass, (squier vmj), has become the 'go to' bass, while the rosewood has moved to back up bass.

[pocketgroove]

I prefer rosewood boards, both for tone and feel. Whenever I've played a maple boarded bass, it usually sounds, to me like there's something missing. I also don't like the feel of a maple board under my fingers as much; it seems unwieldy and less comfortable for whatever reason. I know it's strange and kind of arbitrary.

[GroovinOnFunk]

I own 3 basses... All maple fingerboards. Roscoe, fender jazz, mm stingray.
I like the snappiness (especially on the roscoe which is a little dark to begin with) plus I have sweaty hands, so the seal on the fretboard helps from my hand oils getting in the wood.

[kjpollo]

The majority of my basses have maple boards. Right now I have 7 - 3 have maple boards (T-40, T-20 and L2K Trib) 2 have rosewood (Schecter Model T & SX SPJ) one has ebony (Carvin LB-75) and one has cocobolo (Clement).

The ONLY time I make a conscious choice of fretboard material is based strictly on appearance- on basses with darker bodies and matching or black headstocks, IMHO a maple board looks out of place.
Otherwise it doesnt matter to me. In fact, when I get bass #8 sometime in the next month or so (L2500 Trib)-the one I'm buying has a maple board. So I'll have 4 maple and 4 "dark" but only 2 of the dark woods are actually rosewood.

[jeffbonny]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

Well, If maple is brighter than rosewood because it is harder and tighter grained. How could ebony not be brighter than maple, its much harder, and tighter than maple is. I don't really buy that one.

I think it makes a lot more difference on fretless boards.

There's a school of thinking that the big difference in tone between maple and rosewood boards is more the damping effect of the lamination on the rosewood than the species of wood.

[C.Linton]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

I'm not trying to flame you, so please don't take it that way.

When and how exactly do you feel your fretboard? Maybe I have a different playing style than you do, buy my fingers never really touch the fretboard, my hands touch the back of the neck, my fingers touch the strings but not really the board. Maybe the tips of my fingers, but they are so tough and hard from playing/working that they are desensitized to the point that I couldn't feel the difference between rosewood and maple anyway if I were blindfolded.

Thats my experience as well. I can see it making a difference in feel on a guitar, but not a bass. I started out and played basses with RW boards for years, in the last few years it's been strictly maple, and I've felt/heard no difference in feel or tone. For me, it's a matter of aesthetics only.