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Maple vs Rosewood Neck?

S

seidler

Dec 18, 2005
98
3
71
www.myspace.com
#1
Other than looks what are the differences in Maple vs Rosewood neck. One of my local dealers says that Guitars sales are 85% Maple abd Basses 95% rosewood. He says it has to do with the tone of the necks.
I ask this as I always liked the look of the dark rosewood necks but yesterday I 8saw/played a Fender Highway One P bass with a finihed (shiny) maple neck and it felt pretty good to me.
 
#7
i think it all depends on what YOU want to hear. if you like bright sustained type tone, maple is the way to go. if you like warm "woody" type tone with less sustain, rosewood is your avenue. lookswise, maple is my preference, because it looks more natural. but imo, never sacrafice looks for what you want to hear. jaco played maple and rosewood. in fact, one time he put a maple precision neck on a jazz(normally rosewood) body. so experience with what YOU want to hear when you play!!
 
#10
I personally don't believe that the sound difference between the two is enough to warrant a choice by itself. If you don't believe me, a/b two basses that are completely identical except for the fingerboard wood. I personally think that maple looks brighter, so psychologically people think it sounds brighter too. Close your eyes and I bet you won't notice a difference. Also, as far as feel goes, maple does feel harder and denser under my fingers, especially a finished maple fingerboard. I think that the finished maple boards are the most attractive of all bass fb's, but to me they feel "sticky" while fretting. Anyone else notice this or I am crazy? An unfinished maple fb feels more like rosewood, but to me an unfinished maple fingerboard is cheap looking and I personally prefer the look of rosewood anyways. Its the shine of the finished maple fingerboard that gets my motor running

Edit: I'm not sure that the fingerboards on the "unfinished maple fingerboards" that I referred to in my post are actually unfinished, or if they have some sort of satin or oil finish. Whatever they are, they are not pretty and shiny like the more common finished boards that I referred to. I would be interested to know if the "unfinished" boards are actually unfinished, and if not, what kind of finish the do have...
 
#12
Akami said:
This subject has attracted much attention in the past but by and large I believe that the choice is best left to aesthetics.

If you like the looks of rosewood or maple better, go with that preference.
Click to expand...

+1.

They both sound the same to me. The change in sound has to be pretty small. I remember someone saying it was around 3%.

IMO of course. ;)
 
#19
I ask this because I have been bad. I have an American Jazz and a 60's reissue Jazz already and on a whim ordered a White 62 Reissue Precision bass with a rose wood neck as my Jazzes have and while playing around at the store picked up a 50's reissue Precision with a finished Maple neck. If just felt cool being so smooth. It was like it was polished and then clear coated. I liked the feel so much I ordered it in black also. Now to hide the 2 new basses from the wife. At least they are the same colors as my Jazzes so she may not notice. If I do not like the wide neck (that is why I got Jazzes in the 1st place) I will sell them.
 

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