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Rosewood vs. Maple Neck

D

dearle

Nov 21, 2002
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Philadelphia, PA
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#1
Hey gang,

I have been away from playing bass for a few years and am looking to come back hardcore. I'm looking around for a new bass and forgot that there are two types of necks: rosewood and maple.

What is the actual difference between the two? I know it affects the sound in some way but cannot remember exactly how.
 
#2
There are several neck woods. Maple is the most common. The fingerboard is then different, and I do belive that you mean the fingerboard wood. Check out the warmoth site, there is a quite good tone wood explanation. I do belive that more to the tone is the pups than the wood..
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#4
dearle said:
Hey gang,

I have been away from playing bass for a few years and am looking to come back hardcore. I'm looking around for a new bass and forgot that there are two types of necks: rosewood and maple.

What is the actual difference between the two? I know it affects the sound in some way but cannot remember exactly how.
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Lot's of threads on this if you do a search. While there is no complete agreement, in the very general sense, a maple board will have more upper mid content, be a little brighter in general, and feel a touch 'quicker'.

Rosewood is more complicated, since there are many varieties, and some basses listed with RW boards actually have Pau Ferro boards, which look like RW (dark) but actually are more similar to maple boards.

However, 'true' rosewood boards TEND to be a little warmer in the low mids, and a little less aggressive from the upper mids to the upper treble.

The impact of boards, like any other single component of a bass, is usually confounded with a lot of other stuff (i.e., most maple board Fenders J also have ash bodies and 70's pickup placement, which all 'conspire' to result in a slightly brighter tone. However, since the maple board is the most visually obvious, it gets most of the 'credit' for the tone. Likewise, most Fender J's with RW board have Alder bodies and 60's pickup placement.... similar impact in the other direction).

Hope that helps!
 
#11
#14
T-MOST said:
If they sound different enough (which to my ears they do) of course. As the bass player "you" should be able to hear the difference even if no one else does. :hyper:
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I can "Feel" the difference. A Maple neck feels "Harder", almost like the strings could Bounce off of it. Rosewood (and Wenge!) I feel almost like I'm Digging in to it! I'm not a fan of Maple Boards, unless they are Hanging on the wall!

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#15
They feel slightly different to me, and I prefer maple boards, but that's what I started out with. Maple doesn't require any maintenance, which is a plus. Ultimately though, I think it's mainly cosmetic. I would go with the bass you like the look, feel and sound of, which is more important. If you don't like how a bass feels, you won't play it.
 

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