Does fretboard wood make a consistent difference in tone that you can hear?

[tfer]

But once you agree that tonewoods are important to electric instruments, they can then persuasively say that *their* maple is better than anyone else's, or that their rosewood is better than anyone else's, because they truly understand tonewoods better than Fender or Gibson, and their wood is all individually selected based on their expertise. I've been in sales and marketing for my entire adult life, it's all about polishing the turds to differentiate yourself, and turn your weaknesses into strengths. To make it a viable business, they need to get much higher profit margins from each unit than Fender or Gibson need to, so they need to create and sell a value well over and above the cost of the materials and their time to avoid competing on price, where they will always lose versus the bigger household names who can take more of a margin a hit for each unit because they're making it up across their huge sales/supply channel and product line.

I'm not trying to convince you - like I said, you should absolutely play whatever you like, for whatever reason you like, and ignore anyone who says otherwise - and I'm not knocking Sadowsky's, I'd *love* to be able to own one. If you can hear a difference, I am by no means qualified to say you are wrong. I can't hear a difference between maple and rosewood fretboards, and I am also not wrong. Like you, I'm sure, I've played lots of both, on recordings and in different venues, and have listened to plenty of other artists who play both and I cannot tell a difference, all other things being equal. So I do not believe it until someone proves otherwise, with science, and I will remain skeptical of anyone who says otherwise, unless they have science to support their claim.

Who knows, maybe if I owned a Sad, I could hear a difference!

In that interview, both go out of their way to praise Leo, and talk about how he acquired his materials.

If you are buying basses from those two, it's more for the attention to detail that they give each instrument, and not the wood (although to be honest, I'd be inclined to believe that they'd take more care in finding attractive grains than I would expect from a mass manufacturer like Fender or Ibanez).

If you buy a KIA, you are not expecting handmade quality like you'd get from a Bentley. However, they do the same basic job.

 

[Kragnorak]

Yes, that's the idea. The thread though is asking does it make a difference that you can hear. I personally don't hear the tonal difference in most of these comparisons people are posting where it apparently should be so blatantly obvious.

Have you tried with fretless basses? That's where I hear the biggest difference.

 

[LiveToWin]

That's an extreme example, at the one end of softness, and at the other end of extreme rigidity.

Wood is a substance of variable density that lies somewhere between the two extremes.

You definitely can't cheat physics; everything vibrates.

Of course everything vibrates, this is evident.
But my examples only point that the harder material, with more mass, will simply reflect more energy than softer material with less weight. This apply to ANYTHING, and to every scale of experiment. As I said- You can't cheat physics. Unless you are Jedi
No doubt that wood can vary in density but body + neck works as a unique unit. And this unit with the whole factors combined will determine the rigidness of this object and further actions and reactions.

 

[MtManiac]

There are some obvious examples of differences. You can prove it with fretless basses. Rosewood necks just don't growl or sustain the same as harder woods. I have a 6-string rosewood fingerboard and a 6-string laminated ebony fingerboard. You can argue that the laminated surface is cheating, but the huge difference in sound and sustain between the two basses shows that fingerboard material absolutely matters.

To that end, even on fretted basses, try slapping on a P-bass with a maple neck vs one with a rosewood neck. I bet the maple produces a more dynamic response when the string bounces off of it even if all the other factors are the same.

Why do you suppose that might be the case? How would you explain the difference in sound between maple and rosewood on a fretted bass? How do you explain your assertion that rosewood doesn't growl or sustain like ebony?

BTW, fretless versus fretted board woods is a whole other bag of cats. I would buy a difference for a fretless bass much quicker than I would a fretted bass, but I've owned two fretless basses, one rosewood and one ebonol, and I didn't hear a difference that couldn't have also been attributed to different pickups or different strings, or different amps. So how do you explain the difference you can hear? What qualities of Rosewood would contribute to a lack of sustain and growl?

 

[PullThePlug]

What's the timbre of a carrotwood?

All jokes aside, I don't hear much of a difference. Like others, the physical feeling is vastly different though. I love satiny maple necks and finished fretboards =D

 

[Kragnorak]

If you buy a KIA, you are not expecting handmade quality like you'd get from a Bentley. However, they do the same basic job.

Man, that reminds me, back in the day I ordered a bass from St. Louis Music because I was intrigued by the full-on aluminum neck. I was quite disappointed when a young Bently arrived with a rosewood fingerboard. I was young and didn't complain or demand a refund, but I can guarantee there was a massive sound difference between wood and metal!

 

[GBBSbassist]

Have you tried with fretless basses? That's where I hear the biggest difference.

I have not. In fact, I've never even played a fretless. However, the title states "FRETboard".

 

[MtManiac]

 

[LiveToWin]

Oh man, you just opened a can of worms ...

 

[Kragnorak]

So how do you explain the difference you can hear? What qualities of Rosewood would contribute to a lack of sustain and growl?

It's very spongy, so there's just not a lot of mwah when I slide my fingers around. You can create mwah in a rosewood fingerboard by using roundwound strings and wearing pits and grooves in the neck though

As far as fretted necks go, I don't believe there is a huge difference in sound except among the extremes. And the difference isn't always of tone per se. Spongy rosewood absorbs kinetic energy, so maple necks presumably vibrate for longer, so you get better sustain. And I used slapping as an example, because there is a very physical act of strings bouncing against various materials. I also believe that different woods matter less the higher the frets are.

 

[LiveToWin]

BTW - You know that this guy received death treats because of this ? This is insane ...

 

[tfer]

I have not. In fact, I've never even played a fretless. However, the title states "FRETboard".

As I stated previously, metal transmits vibration more effectively than almost any other material. When vibrations are transmitted that well, it is almost transparent.

 

[MtManiac]

It's very spongy, so there's just not a lot of mwah when I slide my fingers around. You can create mwah in a rosewood fingerboard by using roundwound strings and wearing pits and grooves in the neck though

As far as fretted necks go, I don't believe there is a huge difference in sound except among the extremes. And the difference isn't always of tone per se. Spongy rosewood absorbs kinetic energy, so maple necks presumably vibrate for longer, so you get better sustain. And I used slapping as an example, because there is a very physical act of strings bouncing against various materials. I also believe that different woods matter less the higher the frets are.

Which kind of rosewood are you referring to?
Janka Hardness chart for Exotic Wood and Domestic Wood | Bell Forest Products

Because every kind of rosewood is much harder than any kind of maple.

 

[Sixgunn]

I stand corrected!! That was fun, thanks!

I couldn't find the one where he said "reech crushed ve-lour"

 

[Kragnorak]

I have not. In fact, I've never even played a fretless. However, the title states "FRETboard".

It would be an interesting experiment perhaps. To me, sound differences come from various materials. The sound difference between fretted and fretless is analogous to the sound difference of fretting with a metal slide vs a glass slide vs your squishy fingers.

 

[Gorn]

The poll results are interesting. Almost even with the yesses in the lead. Carrotwood still in the fight.

 

[Kragnorak]

Which kind of rosewood are you referring to?
Janka Hardness chart for Exotic Wood and Domestic Wood | Bell Forest Products

Because every kind of rosewood is much harder than any kind of maple.

That's great! Now I need to know why rosewood feels so spongy. Is it softer but more porous?

 

[MtManiac]

It's very spongy, so there's just not a lot of mwah when I slide my fingers around. You can create mwah in a rosewood fingerboard by using roundwound strings and wearing pits and grooves in the neck though

As far as fretted necks go, I don't believe there is a huge difference in sound except among the extremes. And the difference isn't always of tone per se. Spongy rosewood absorbs kinetic energy, so maple necks presumably vibrate for longer, so you get better sustain. And I used slapping as an example, because there is a very physical act of strings bouncing against various materials. I also believe that different woods matter less the higher the frets are.

Also, if your neck is vibrating, your tone is gonna just plain suck. You'll also have enormous tuning issues.

 

[Pbassmanca]

I haven't seen one with a poll. Not a recent one anyway. It's obviously an old and tired question but I wanna see the split. I think it'll be 50/50.

True , but it's still a very relevant question as fingerboard wood choices have changed in terms of the ease of their availability and may continue to change into the future. So I suppose it's potentially beneficial for us here on this forum to try to analyze the differences between the main tonewoods for fingerboards and make some sense of what those differences are and what they mean and what effect they have on the overall tone of a bass guitar on its own and mixed in with other instruments. IMHO.

 

[MtManiac]

That's great! Now I need to know why rosewood feels so spongy. Is it softer but more porous?

It isn't softer, it's harder, almost as hard as ebony.

Maple however usually has a finish of some kind, so it's gonna feel different on your fingers.