No difference, and I'm having a bass built for me with roswood because the builder told me rosewood is warmer. I'm thinking of giving him a call now. I prefer the look of maple.
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Can You Tell The Difference??? MAPLE vs. ROSEWOOD
- Thread starter -=DanAtkinson=-
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I would definitely encourage you to get a maple if you like that look. I don't think you are going to find them that disparate that you couldn't use EQ to obtain the sound you were after if you got a maple and wanted to take some of the "snap" out of it. (Assuming the particular neck you ended up was necessarily snappy sounding.)
I think A is slightly brighter / clearer so I'm going A=maple
For me, the amp and speaker cabinet are 100 times more important for tone than the same style bass with either ash/alder or mape/rosewood
Thanks Dan
For me, the amp and speaker cabinet are 100 times more important for tone than the same style bass with either ash/alder or mape/rosewood
Thanks Dan
Everybody knows how it looks matters more than how it sounds. I think 'B' has to look better. But if it doesn't, I'll take 'A'. 
Except you're not actually telling the difference between fretboard wood per se.
The fretboard wood is attached to the main neck wood which also contributes to the tone. What you're "telling" is the difference between two necks, not specifically fretboards.
Agreed! So in other words, things like body wood and fretboard wood are actually small contributors to the overall tone, and it's more about the sum of all parts?
Every component is a contributor to the tone and tone is always the result of the interactions of the parts.
It's not as simple as what a component is or what it's made of, it's the interaction of all of them that determines the result.
Hmmm.... I just happen to have a P bass with an Allparts neck (no reinforcing rods, I believe) on hand, and a Warmoth neck (steel rods), and a 2004 Fender Am Std neck (that year would have graphite reinforcing rods, I think) sitting nearby.... All with maple boards....
How many choices would that make in a poll? 6, I think, to list all the options for matching up sound clips to 3 different neck?
This came up in a previous thread.
And you know what? You're EXACTLY RIGHT. You're actually supporting my argument that the conventional wisdom about fretboard wood contributing to tone (in a signifcant way) is probably greatly exaggerated.
In theory maple is a hard wood, harder than rosewood. Take a piece of metal and insert into both woods then tap gently with a piece of metal.
In theory the Maple would have a higher pitched clank sound since the wood is more dense whereas rosewood would still clank but in theory at a lower register.
All in theory, but's that why I chose A as maple.
In theory the Maple would have a higher pitched clank sound since the wood is more dense whereas rosewood would still clank but in theory at a lower register.
All in theory, but's that why I chose A as maple.
They sounded so similar to me and when I finally made up my mind I was surprised to find that I voted with the majority. On your first test I couldn't tell a difference. So is the conclusion that it's quality of the build that affects the tone more so than specific woods? Keep up the good work Dan.
And I've learned that bassists (including myself) can get their panties in a wad WAAAY too easily - but this last one could apply to people in general.
We need a test to compare cotton and silk.
)
"A" sounds brighter to me . . . more of a difference than I thought, which is to say there was a difference at all
Great stuff Dan!!
Great stuff Dan!!
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