Club Sadowsky!!!

[Holdsg]

that's pretty. Once owned an all-rosewood neck bass. It was cool, but not cool enough to stay in the collection. it eventually went away.

 

[Vic]

<custom rosewood neck pic>

yeah, i was talking strictly standard fender line and the origin of RW boards. not custom neck options.

 

[Fuzzbass]

that's pretty. Once owned an all-rosewood neck bass. It was cool, but not cool enough to stay in the collection. it eventually went away.

Neck dive?

My brother has a custom PRS with all-rosewood neck. It's neck-heavy.

A lot of folks think that maple is harder/denser than rosewood (and some go on to claim that this explains why maple sounds brighter). Not true: rosewood is denser/harder than maple.

 

[phillipkregg]

Neck dive?

My brother has a custom PRS with all-rosewood neck. It's neck-heavy.

A lot of folks think that maple is harder/denser than rosewood (and some go on to claim that this explains why maple sounds brighter). Not true: rosewood is denser/harder than maple.

Yeah, I've never completely understood why people think maple is brighter either. Most "comparison" videos on youtube show no difference.

The only difference I could possibly see is that some maple fingerboards - like the Fender American Elite basses - have a hard lacquer finish on the fingerboard over the maple. I could see how this might cause some possible perceivable change in tone, although very slight because, either way, the strings are pushing against metal frets.

Now graphite, that's a whole different story. Graphite sounds very different to my ears.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Yeah, I've never completely understood why people think maple is brighter either.

TBH that's a can of worms I didn't mean to open... plenty of threads on it already. I mainly wanted to comment on weight.

 

[Vic]

The only difference I could possibly see is that some maple fingerboards - like the Fender American Elite basses - have a hard lacquer finish on the fingerboard over the maple. I could see how this might cause some possible perceivable change in tone, although very slight because, either way, the strings are pushing against metal frets.

*THIS*

Thing is, most maple boards, not all, but most, have some sort of hard finish. I'm pretty sure the reason is because of how the dirt shows on an oiled finish on maple. Some vendors, like Ernie Ball, to name one, however, don't care about that.

 

[Drucifer]

yeah, i was talking strictly standard fender line and the origin of RW boards. not custom neck options.

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[ElMon]

TBH that's a can of worms I didn't mean to open... plenty of threads on it already. I mainly wanted to comment on weight.

Boy I must have missed some things.

Seems to me, after owning an unchambered ash-body PJ5 with a maple board (birdseye if that makes a difference) and now my current, unchambered ash-body PJ5 with a Braz RW board, that my maple-board PJ5 was way more 'bright' and aggressive sounding.

To the Talkbass Rabbit Hole Robin?

 

[Fuzzbass]

Thing is, most maple boards, not all, but most, have some sort of hard finish. I'm pretty sure the reason is because of how the dirt shows on an oiled finish on maple. Some vendors, like Ernie Ball, to name one, however, don't care about that.

"The dirt keeps the funk" -- James Jamerson



We don't all have to share that opinion, obviously!

 

[phillipkregg]

Boy I must have missed some things.

Seems to me, after owning an unchambered ash-body PJ5 with a maple board (birdseye if that makes a difference) and now my current, unchambered ash-body PJ5 with a Braz RW board, that my maple-board PJ5 was way more 'bright' and aggressive sounding.

To the Talkbass Rabbit Hole Robin?

Personally, I LOVE maple fingerboards, but it's primarily because they feel different and I like the visual aesthetic.

But I used to also think that there was a big difference until a friend of mine put me through the "blindfold" test where I literally wore a blindfold and he played a rosewood and then a maple jazz bass fingerboard and I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

This is one of my favorite videos highlighting the similarity

Of course, I'm willing to concede that there are those whose ears are far more sensitive than mine. Heck, there are some people who have 4 cones in their eyes instead of 3 and can see more colors.

 

[Spidey2112]

Heck, there are some people who have 4 cones in their eyes instead of 3 and can see more colors.

I must have more cones during the peak construction summer months, but I usually only see red... maybe, a little orange, but mainly red...

... and now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[ElMon]

Personally, I LOVE maple fingerboards, but it's primarily because they feel different and I like the visual aesthetic.

But I used to also think that there was a big difference until a friend of mine put me through the "blindfold" test where I literally wore a blindfold and he played a rosewood and then a maple jazz bass fingerboard and I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

This is one of my favorite videos highlighting the similarity

Of course, I'm willing to concede that there are those whose ears are far more sensitive than mine. Heck, there are some people who have 4 cones in their eyes instead of 3 and can see more colors.

See I don’t agree with these pseudo-science approaches. To ME, the proper ‘lab conditions’ are on stage, with a band, through a rig. That’s where you pick up on these nuances. Maple was a snap in the uppermost treble that rosewood just doesn’t have. But my Braz/RW PJ5 alternately has an all-over sweetness and warmth that the maple bass could never match. These subtleties make me phrase/emote in different ways, and I would contend that the audience WOULD notice that, if not ‘dang Rog, is Dale the bass dude rocking a pau ferro board tonight? His slap tone has a GANK to it’.

But ... to your point ...

I think a competent player has a way of seeking out ‘their sound’ on any instrument. I’m a thick-in-the-low-mids Pbass guy, and if you get me on a JBass/Modern humbucker, my right hand tends to drift towards the neck searching that deep P-Bump

 

[deepestend]

If you want to read what Roger has to say, check out this article that he wrote three years back: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Fingerboards: I feel very confident in saying that I have found the fingerboard to be the most important factor in relationship to wood and tone.

Here are my observations:
Maple: Tightest and brightest. Best for slap on basses and for bright, glassy tones on guitars. Can produce more string and fret noise than other woods.

Ebony: Not as bright as maple. Most immediate attack and punch of all fingerboard woods. Virtually no “bloom” to the note after the initial attack. Note has more fundamental with less overtones.

Rosewoods: Sweetest and warmest of the fingerboard woods. South American Rosewoods are tighter and punchier than Indian Rosewoods, which are darker and rounder.

Pau Ferro: (Also known as Morado, Caviuna or Bolivian Rosewood). Pau Fero is not a true Rosewood, but I have been a fan of this wood for fingerboards for over 35 years. Grain is very tight and silky smooth. More warmth than Maple or Ebony but tighter sounding than the other Rosewoods.

 

[Spidey2112]

‘dang Rog, is Dale the bass dude rocking a pau ferro board tonight? His slap tone has a GANK to it’.

 

[Holdsg]

it's full of.......Sadowskys

 

[Bassdudeman]

I was a rosewood guy, but now a maple man!
Brighter more aggressive, but you can always dial back the treble.
You can not add.

 

[HeavyJazz]

I was a rosewood guy, but now a maple man!
Brighter more aggressive, but you can always dial back the treble.
You can not add.

That was my mantra for over 20 years. I guess I got tired of dialing back because now I'm a rosewood guy.

On another note, was another SC Sprucecore ever made? I saw the one from several months ago and thoroughly impressed - though it was getting in Fodera pricing territory.

 

[Vic]

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Yah, i know, again, standard fender line, not custom options, and i guess i needed to add or limited editions. k? just making a general comment about the main product line, the bread and butter configs that have been the standard for years. i know there's always the exceptions, etc..

 

[Vic]

"The dirt keeps the funk" -- James Jamerson

We don't all have to share that opinion, obviously!

i actually agree funky worn maple necks look awesome. just seems they've done the market research and i guess we're in the minority on that one compared to the bulk of their customer base, or things would be different. i even had the finish stripped off my older Sadowsky and LOVE it.

 

[tombowlus]

I believe it was the HS series of Berg. Awesome cabs!

Sadowsky Amplification question: Does anyone here recall which Bergantino series the Sadowsky 410 was based on? I remember it was its own animal, but spawned from the work Bergantino had been doing up to that point.

Yes, the SA410 and SA210 were based on the Bergantino HS410/210, though they did have significant differences (primarily a stiffer spider, I believe). I really like the SA200 with the SA410/SA210 setup, but man does it come alive with two SA410's!

It's also pretty phenomenal pushing the Berg HS410's, but you definitely need to dial back the lows a bit.