Whadayaknow, here's one.
Yeah. My next bass will be maple, not for tone or feel, I just like the color.
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difference between maple and rosewood?
- Thread starter mart356
- Start date
Whadayaknow, here's one.
Yeah. My next bass will be maple, not for tone or feel, I just like the color.
I think it is very clear when you listen to marcus miller fender bass with its maple neck.
I'm 100% sure he wouldn't get the same sound/attack/brighteness if he would change it for a rosewood neck.
Rosewood definitely sounds warmer, whereas maple is bright and with more attack.
I'm 100% sure he wouldn't get the same sound/attack/brighteness if he would change it for a rosewood neck.
Rosewood definitely sounds warmer, whereas maple is bright and with more attack.
I have built many basses from both scratch (think raw lumber) and from prefab parts (Warmoth, Chandler, etc). There are enough variables in wood, even from the same tree, that it is impossible to have two identical basses. That being said, my experience is that hard maple is generally brighter than Rosewoods. Exceptions can occur but that is generally what I find.
Part of this "difference is sound" is coming from the placebo effect. Tell enough people that Maple is brighter, and people will believe they hear a brighter sound on a bass with a Maple board. Now granted I do believe that some people hear a slight difference in sound, but as someone said previously, you'll hear a difference in sound between two different Maple boards and two different Rosewood boards, not to mention two different pieces of wood anywhere else on the bass.
But people ask this question all the time as if it matters. It doesn't. Slight difference? Maybe, who cares, it is slight. If you want to upgrade or design your bass with 10-20 variables that all create a slight difference, go for it, maybe you will be able to notice some kind of difference. But when I go out and hear bands, it doesn't matter what kind of board they are using, what the body wood is made of, the brand, Squier, Sadowski, Fender, whatever. I've heard just as many low end basses sounds as good or as bad as high end basses. Buy a bass that looks good to you, feels good, operates well, sounds good within the mix of your band and you'll be set. You can go over such details as "maple vs. rosewood" as long as you want, the final result will pretty much be a mute point anyway. You may see, hear or feel a perceived difference, but most of it will be in your mind only.
I may come across as being negative with my views. I'm not. I just live in the real world and don't get caught up in the useless details that do not make a difference in the end result. I get a kick out of some of you guys though. Carry on......
But people ask this question all the time as if it matters. It doesn't. Slight difference? Maybe, who cares, it is slight. If you want to upgrade or design your bass with 10-20 variables that all create a slight difference, go for it, maybe you will be able to notice some kind of difference. But when I go out and hear bands, it doesn't matter what kind of board they are using, what the body wood is made of, the brand, Squier, Sadowski, Fender, whatever. I've heard just as many low end basses sounds as good or as bad as high end basses. Buy a bass that looks good to you, feels good, operates well, sounds good within the mix of your band and you'll be set. You can go over such details as "maple vs. rosewood" as long as you want, the final result will pretty much be a mute point anyway. You may see, hear or feel a perceived difference, but most of it will be in your mind only.
I may come across as being negative with my views. I'm not. I just live in the real world and don't get caught up in the useless details that do not make a difference in the end result. I get a kick out of some of you guys though. Carry on......
Though I haven't played any maple necks yet...
someone here posted a comparison using the same bass but different necks.
The maple IMHO did have more "bite" to it but it was only noticable towards the higher end.
Of course, YMMV, but maybe you could try digging up that old thread and giving it a listen yourself and judge for yourself.
someone here posted a comparison using the same bass but different necks.
The maple IMHO did have more "bite" to it but it was only noticable towards the higher end.
Of course, YMMV, but maybe you could try digging up that old thread and giving it a listen yourself and judge for yourself.
I have had about 50 basses with very different fingerboards. And as a bass player I can say that the differences have been always audible. I've also built basses more than 5 years and I can say based on my experience that the differences are clearly existing.
Maple is definitely brighter than Rosewood. Brazilian Rosewood is brighter than Indian or Malagassy Rosewood. And Malagassy Rosewood tends to sound brighter than Indian Rosewood.
You can easily notice the difference between Rosewood and Maple fingerboard when recording different bass guitars side by side.
Of course, when playing in a reggae band there's actually no difference whether to play Maple or Rosewood fingerboard, just turn down the highs and there's no any noticeable differences, just mud.
Maple is definitely brighter than Rosewood. Brazilian Rosewood is brighter than Indian or Malagassy Rosewood. And Malagassy Rosewood tends to sound brighter than Indian Rosewood.
You can easily notice the difference between Rosewood and Maple fingerboard when recording different bass guitars side by side.
Of course, when playing in a reggae band there's actually no difference whether to play Maple or Rosewood fingerboard, just turn down the highs and there's no any noticeable differences, just mud.
1) Placebo effect?? Wrong. The difference is real.
2) You may not care, but others do.
You sound like you've got it all figured out. Well, if you can't hear it....you can't hear it.
Edit: To be serious though, it is suprising to me that people don't hear a difference between maple and rosewood. To me it's very distinctive. And for many others too.
My main 5'er is has a maple neck and so does my 7 string guitar. I own just as many maple as rosewood instruments and I love both. But maple feels great
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5270777#post5270777
I found this older post by the one and only Roger Sadowsky (see above). It is in reference to Rosewoods and describes differences in some species of Rosewoods. I agree because there are many different rosewoods and the grains and density varies greatly.
I found this older post by the one and only Roger Sadowsky (see above). It is in reference to Rosewoods and describes differences in some species of Rosewoods. I agree because there are many different rosewoods and the grains and density varies greatly.
Some here made a thread with two clips of the same bass with a maple and rosewood fingerboard except with out saying which was which.
I listened to them "knowing" that maple is brighter and rosewood is warmer. I listened carefully and in the end I guessed right. It might have luck, there were only two options after all, but I felt that my choice was based upon the apparent differences in the sound.
This may seem like conclusive proof that there is a difference, but it may not be worth taking into account when buying a bass because it took careful and repeated listening to just a bass track. You probably wouldn't be able to here this difference in a band at all.
When it comes down to it the pickups, electronics and the body wood (I don't want to start an argument on this one)make more of a difference in terms of tone.
So I'd probably choose based upon aesthetics and your preferences. Which looks nicer? Feels nicer?
That said, there ain't nowt wrong with basing it upon the diferences in tone of each board.
I listened to them "knowing" that maple is brighter and rosewood is warmer. I listened carefully and in the end I guessed right. It might have luck, there were only two options after all, but I felt that my choice was based upon the apparent differences in the sound.
This may seem like conclusive proof that there is a difference, but it may not be worth taking into account when buying a bass because it took careful and repeated listening to just a bass track. You probably wouldn't be able to here this difference in a band at all.
When it comes down to it the pickups, electronics and the body wood (I don't want to start an argument on this one
)make more of a difference in terms of tone.So I'd probably choose based upon aesthetics and your preferences. Which looks nicer? Feels nicer?
That said, there ain't nowt wrong with basing it upon the diferences in tone of each board.
Aesthetically, I really don't like the look of maple.
Tonally, I can't notice a difference.
Touch-wise, I've always felt maple to be a little more "sticky" to me.
Thus, rosewood for me. YMMV.
Tonally, I can't notice a difference.
Touch-wise, I've always felt maple to be a little more "sticky" to me.
Thus, rosewood for me. YMMV.
You forgot to mention these and how they affect toneWhen it comes down to it the pickups, electronics and the body wood (I don't want to start an argument on this one
Stainless vs traditional fretwire
Heavy vs light bodies
J bass pickup spacing (i.e. 70's vs 60's)
Dual action vs traditional vs Martin style truss rods
Thick finishes vs thin finishes
Nitro vs Poly finishes
Headless vs Headstock in terms of shifting the dead spot and tone
Brass vs Bone vs Graphite vs plastic nut
Badass vs stock Fender bridge
Fake vs real Fender logo on headstock
Whether or not you hear any difference, it is a fact that maple is much softer than rosewood, which is almost as hard as ebony. Rose wood is oily and looser grained than ebony, also cheaper, which makes rosewood a good choice for fretted instruments, whereas you never see it on quality viol family axes. There is no way different wood species will resonate the same.
I go for looks, dark fretboards are imho sexy, blonde ones are not.
Soundwise, too early for me to tell, I'm in the bass game since jan/feb 2008 only ...
D.Don
Soundwise, too early for me to tell, I'm in the bass game since jan/feb 2008 only ...
D.Don
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6108668
listen and vote before you read it and wear headphones
listen and vote before you read it and wear headphones
Whether a person hears the difference is directly related to how their bass is setup, how they play, and how everything is EQed. Light roundwounds on a maple fretboard, with a flat EQ curve, have a snappier attack (think slapping/tapping) than rosewood, and it is quite noticable to the player. Old flats with a bass heavy EQ, played finger style, will sound the same on maple or rosewood. IMHO of course!
Just the other day I took an all maple neck from an alder body (where it sounded great) and put it on a poplar body which originally had a rosewood fretboard. The difference was astonishing and not good. The poplar body with the maple fretboard was simply too bright. It also lost a lot of definition and mids, to my ears. I swapped them back and both basses sound great again. None of this may matter going from alder body to alder body, or it may be subtle. The poplar just isn't meant to have a maple fretboard.
Yeah, there is no difference between maple and rosewood and guys like Roger Sadowsky, Mike Tobias, Vinnie Fodera and others know nothing.
