OK, reading posts recently i've been feeling skeptical. First, some history: I used to (well, still do) play acoustic guitar, and my stepfather collects very nice ones. Over the years I've been able to compare everything from a garage-assembled laminate body gluemonster to nice custom brazilian babies with englemann tops to beautiful 1950 Martin smallbodies. many of them have the exact same body style and come from the same manufacturer (mostly high end Taylors and Martins, with a few custom Ovations as well) Clearly there's a huge difference in sound between the cedar tops and spruce tops, and even between the side tone woods. Brazilian rosewood sounds different from indian rosewood (though not much, to tell the truth) and both sound completely different from maple or Ovations, of course. The top wood and body shape make most of the difference. unlike basses, of course, it's all in the guiter--no pickups to modify the sound, or account for tonal variances. they've all got the same strings.
but in the last week I feel like I've seen, oh... 5 or sp posts talking about the tonal effect of the FDINGERBOARD. And I'm pretty sure I've seen some talking about the tonal effect of the neck wood, or the top wood. So I have to ask:
when you're dealing with a laminated structure (eg neck through basses, glued-top basses, laminated necks, fingerboards) can you really tell the difference? On a FRETTED bass? Iis there a single person here who thinks they can identify--in a blind test--the difference between the sound of a maple and rosewood board when the string isn't even touching it? in guitars, that's not an issue--nobody complains about ebony vs rosewood vs maple--and in guitars (acoustic ones that is) it's much more of an effect than in a bass. in fact, the fingerboard wood is sort of like the topwood on the tonehead or the wood they use for binding: nobody mentions it as having any effect at all.
yes, I know, I know, 'everything vibrates as a whole' and all that. but c'mon; even the woodophiles here have got to admit than in a neck-fingerboard combo with 17 laminations and 4 types of wood, the wood type of the fingerboard doesn't do a whole hell of a lot given that they're pretty similar. It's just physics. (if you were comparing maple and balsa it might be different)
You can think of it this way: if everything was so gosh-darned vibratory (great word, ya?) you would have huge tonal difference from the shape. it's that way in almost every instrument; shape/weight will overpower wood choice every time. that's why you get better bass from a Celebrity large bosy than a Martin parlor guitar.
Why am i posting this? because I've been following the threads where people are trying to choose fingerboards, woods, etc... and people (who I have to assume aren't lying) are saying 'choose the maple board because of the sound', etc. but NOBODY has yet to post "oh, extend taht bout by an inch and you'll get better bass", or "be careful what epoxy they use to glue it up, some of them are more absorptive of vibrations and will kill sustain" or any of the things which seem like they might REALLY affect the sound. (I have heard people swear on their mother's grave taht upgrading speaker cables from $2/foot wire to $10/foot wire is easily audible.) Are people being overly authorative about things you can't really hear?
Or am I wrong?
but in the last week I feel like I've seen, oh... 5 or sp posts talking about the tonal effect of the FDINGERBOARD. And I'm pretty sure I've seen some talking about the tonal effect of the neck wood, or the top wood. So I have to ask:
when you're dealing with a laminated structure (eg neck through basses, glued-top basses, laminated necks, fingerboards) can you really tell the difference? On a FRETTED bass? Iis there a single person here who thinks they can identify--in a blind test--the difference between the sound of a maple and rosewood board when the string isn't even touching it? in guitars, that's not an issue--nobody complains about ebony vs rosewood vs maple--and in guitars (acoustic ones that is) it's much more of an effect than in a bass. in fact, the fingerboard wood is sort of like the topwood on the tonehead or the wood they use for binding: nobody mentions it as having any effect at all.
yes, I know, I know, 'everything vibrates as a whole' and all that. but c'mon; even the woodophiles here have got to admit than in a neck-fingerboard combo with 17 laminations and 4 types of wood, the wood type of the fingerboard doesn't do a whole hell of a lot given that they're pretty similar. It's just physics. (if you were comparing maple and balsa it might be different)
You can think of it this way: if everything was so gosh-darned vibratory (great word, ya?) you would have huge tonal difference from the shape. it's that way in almost every instrument; shape/weight will overpower wood choice every time. that's why you get better bass from a Celebrity large bosy than a Martin parlor guitar.
Why am i posting this? because I've been following the threads where people are trying to choose fingerboards, woods, etc... and people (who I have to assume aren't lying) are saying 'choose the maple board because of the sound', etc. but NOBODY has yet to post "oh, extend taht bout by an inch and you'll get better bass", or "be careful what epoxy they use to glue it up, some of them are more absorptive of vibrations and will kill sustain" or any of the things which seem like they might REALLY affect the sound. (I have heard people swear on their mother's grave taht upgrading speaker cables from $2/foot wire to $10/foot wire is easily audible.) Are people being overly authorative about things you can't really hear?
Or am I wrong?
j/k 
