Do you dislike maple fingerboards?

[neckdive]

If there were anything to dislike it would be they tend to look dirty after a while after the thin layer of sealant wears away.

Like this...

 

[KaseOfBass]

Oops, voted wrong. I prefer maple fretboards.

 

[CrashClint]

Like this...

View attachment 720214

Exactly, I bet that bass is funky in both the ability to produce the funk in sound and smell.

 

[neckdive]

Exactly, I bet that bass is funky in both the ability to produce the funk in sound and smell.

'The funk is in the junk'. I plan to put that neck on a '72 P body when I find one.

This '74 maple P fretless neck I usually use with this bass is much cleaner.

 

[jamro217]

Maple has its advantages. Great on a darkly lit stage, low maintenance, dense grain produces a smooth feel, more choices for inlays (all colors of blocks, dots and binding). That being said, how does it's rigidity effect the overall properties of an instrument compared to rosewood, ebony or other woods? Do rosewood necks need more frequent adjustments or go out of tune quicker than maple? Does the maple neck/ rosewood board combo have some inner struggle with temperature changes and humidity? What about seven piece sandwich necks with any kind of board? How are they compared to a regular maple/maple unit? This seems like such a simple question until you really give it a grilling. I'm currently building a maple through neck fretless with a maple board. Rather than keep the light color, the fingerboard will be stained dark brown, almost black with a decent amount of clear coat. When finished it should appear to be an ebony board, yet retain all of the characteristics of maple. Best of both worlds, in theory. Hope I don't screw it up.

 

[fender68]

The darker the better for me; to the point where I would never even consider buying a bass with a maple board. I love maple bodies, especially nice figured ones, I like maple necks, but boards? No!

Yeah, the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice!!LOL

 

[UK Philip]

I like the way they look but rosewood just feels better in my hand.

People will say that you can't hear a difference, but you CAN feel a difference and that difference in feel CAN translate into a difference in sound.

 

[Gbass75]

Funny... having played both for many years, I always thought that the maple boards were a touch brighter, and cut through a live mix with more clarity than rosewood. Rosewood always sounded a touch more mellow to me. All of that said, I know many folks on TB would respond to those observations by saying "bollocks!"

But, yeah... I like maple fretboards a lot.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

For me it just depends on the bass. My first choice is always rosewood . But there are some maple fretboards that I have liked both the tone and the feel .

I think black basses look great with maple fretboards .

 

[tzohn]

I prefer maple, but not because of tonal characteristics (in blind test I can never tell if the fretboard is maple or something else).
If possible, one-piece maple neck!!

 

[bassbully]

Love them! They are easy to see in crappy low stage lights and besides they are purty.

 

[Marcury]

On basses I prefer Rosewood or Ebony, but recently discovered on fender style guitars at least I prefer Maple.

 

[mark beem]

I love maple boards!!

 

[Dropzilla]

Ive always liked the look of Maple fretboards, but I've come to learn that while i slightly perfer maple on fretted basses, i completely dislike the look of maple fretless basses. I would much rather play a fretless with a rosewood fretboard.