Basses w Maple FB's more stable than RW?

[vindibona1]

I now have 5 basses, but 3 generally in rotation. Two have rosewood fingerboards and one has maple. My home is temperature/humidity controlled. Right now the temp in my studio is 69°F and humidity is 40% which is about standard, sometimes going up to 45% in the warmer months. I have a regular Friday night gig where the conditions aren't unusual.

However, I know that I have to arrive early to allow my basses to acclimate. But I also know that I have to bring a light set of tools, particularly an allen key because inevitably my rosewood fingerboard basses will often need a neck relief adjustment. My Yamaha TRBX605 is the worst offender. At least the truss rod is easy to access at the bottom of the neck. My MIM Fender 5 isn't too bad and only occasionally needs on the spot adjustment. However my Ibanez BTB675 with maple neck is stable as heck at home or away.

May I simply assume that the differences between these basses is that the rosewood and the maple necks, with or without mahogany are expanding and contracting at different rates than a solid maple neck/fingerboard? I should probably state that I like the relief as low as I can get it, so a very small change is felt/heard.

What do y'all think?

 

[vindibona1]

One more thing... Other than cosmetics how does a "roasted" maple neck differ from un-roasted, mostly in terms of sound. Personally I tend to prefer the sound of rosewood. Maybe I'm just biased because it seems cheaper to just CNC a maple neck rather than cut and laminate a rosewood FB on the backside of the neck?

 

[two fingers]

The only bass I ever had get a twisted neck had a Maple fretboard. Sp there's that.

I've noticed no correlation in 35+ years owning dozens of basses with all kinds of fretboards.

 

[Sharko]

I think you’re overthinking it

 

[Warpeg]

I’ve had countless basses over the last 25 years or so. With just about any fingerboard wood you can think of, I’ve noticed absolutely no pattern to reliability.

 

[Marko 1]

The fretboard is gonna go wherever the neck goes.

 

[BlueRock]

If laminating hardwood makes it less stable could someone please explain exactly how that works?

 

[AHaze]

Three different neck styles (laminated neck-through, laminated bolt on, single piece bolt on) from three different brands. Fret board material is probably the least influential difference to neck stability between those particular instruments.

 

[gg22]

In my experiense - yes, necks with maple fingerboard are more stable, probably because they are usually sealed.

 

[Topkat13]

What AHaze said. Sharko too.

 

[roller]

The only only basses I owned with necks that moved around way more than I believed they should were:

1. all made by the same company
2. all featured one-piece birdseye maple necks (necks not fretboards)
3. all made in the 1990s

 

[TyBo]

Never noticed any correlation. But that's just me.

 

[fretlessman71]

May I simply assume that the differences between these basses is that the rosewood and the maple necks, with or without mahogany are expanding and contracting at different rates than a solid maple neck/fingerboard? I should probably state that I like the relief as low as I can get it, so a very small change is felt/heard.

What do y'all think?

I think it's certainly a possibility, but I think that 5 basses is far too small a sample size to reach a definitive conclusion. Might ask a repair tech or a luthier.

 

[Bassdoggydogg]

The only only basses I owned with necks that moved around way more than I believed they should were:

1. all made by the same company
2. all featured one-piece birdseye maple necks (necks not fretboards)
3. all made in the 1990s

So what kind of basses are they?

 

[2112]

I've gigged for nearly 30 years using a ton of different basses, including many with maple and rosewood necks, across a wide range of environmental conditions and never felt the need to let my basses acclimate and then adjust setups right before a gig. So, maybe I'm not the best person to reply. Even so, I might expect sealed necks/boards to be more stable than unsealed. However, most maple boards I've played have been sealed, and most (all?) rosewood boards have not, but there has been a varying degree of oiling and other treatments applied to many of them. Plus, the backs of the necks on all these basses, regardless of board material and finishing/treatments, have also varied widely. So, personally, I would find it difficult to attribute neck-movement amounts and rates to specific board wood types.

 

[Durham52]

Three different neck styles (laminated neck-through, laminated bolt on, single piece bolt on) from three different brands. Fret board material is probably the least influential difference to neck stability between those particular instruments.

Pretty much this.^^^ The fact that a maple neck is usually sealed, including the fretboard, "might" be a factor, but you'd need a bunch of basses all made by the same company, at the same time, all constructed the same and kept and played the same, in the same environment, with the only difference being the fretboard wood, to get any sort of statistical result worth considering.

Or replace all your basses with rosewood boards with one with maple and see how that works out.

 

[JakobT]

In view of the fact that rosewood is a harder wood than maple, I have a hard time seeing how a rosewood fretboard make a neck less stable. I suspect other factors are at work, and that the type of fretboard on the offending basses is coincidental.

 

[Levent]

All my current 3 basses have different woods but they are quartersawn and have 2x carbonfiber stabilisers inside sandwiching truss rod. Haven't adjusted neck for 8 years in a humid city with crazy climate changes over seasons.

 

[sonic 7]

I have about 10 basses currently (I really need to put a few more of these in the classifieds). All but two of them have lacquer or poly finishes on the neck. Two have light oil finishes and those are the ones that need the most adjustments through the year. I’m not sure if it’s still the case but I remember at some point Warmoth wouldn’t even sell an unfinished neck due to stability issues.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I now have 5 basses, but 3 generally in rotation. Two have rosewood fingerboards and one has maple. My home is temperature/humidity controlled. Right now the temp in my studio is 69°F and humidity is 40% which is about standard, sometimes going up to 45% in the warmer months. I have a regular Friday night gig where the conditions aren't unusual.

However, I know that I have to arrive early to allow my basses to acclimate. But I also know that I have to bring a light set of tools, particularly an allen key because inevitably my rosewood fingerboard basses will often need a neck relief adjustment. My Yamaha TRBX605 is the worst offender. At least the truss rod is easy to access at the bottom of the neck. My MIM Fender 5 isn't too bad and only occasionally needs on the spot adjustment. However my Ibanez BTB675 with maple neck is stable as heck at home or away.

May I simply assume that the differences between these basses is that the rosewood and the maple necks, with or without mahogany are expanding and contracting at different rates than a solid maple neck/fingerboard? I should probably state that I like the relief as low as I can get it, so a very small change is felt/heard.

What do y'all think?

Well, maple is coated, therefore not exposed to the elements.

But, so is the neck on the rosewood one. The differences would just simply be shrinking slightly. Like, getting a little fret sprout here and there.


Really, it's just simply the quality of the necks.


Ibanez, not often praised for their quality, makes some pretty amazing necks. At every price point.