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

[MtManiac]

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

You really should watch the video I posted, here it is again:

 

[GrapeBass]

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

All necks vibrate to an extent, they do so more than bodies (which are more of an anchor).

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Yes . But it's much more noticeable on passive basses. Also more so to the player acoustically than through the amp/pa.
But yes.

 

[tfer]

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

Maple is lacquered to protect it.

Rosewood and ebony are usually left bare. Ebony has an extremely tight grain structure, giving it an almost glassy feel.

Rosewood has an open grain and tends to feel 'woodier'

 

[MtManiac]

All necks vibrate to an extent, they do so more than bodies (which are more of an anchor).

Do the pickups convert that vibration into an electrical signal?

 

[tfer]

Do the pickups convert that vibration into an electrical signal?

The strings do, sympathetically.

If you ever play a bass with both magnetic and piezo pickups, you'd be shocked at how close the 2 emulate each other.

 

[eekamike]

You know, through all of this one would figure Gorn has been here long enough to know what would happen with this thread. Which begs the question: is this a tonewood debate, or a social experiment? Hmmmm...

 

[Gorn]

You know, through all of this one would figure Gorn has been here long enough to know what would happen with this thread. Which begs the question: is this a tonewood debate, or a social experiment? Hmmmm...

What happened? The debate is incidental. I wanted to see poll results to satisfy my curiosity. Team Yes has anecdotal data that convinces them, Team No is unconvinced, and carrotwood's just trying to have a good time.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Whether it's maple or rosewood or pau ferro or ebony or ebanol or carbon fiber or a weirwood tree's face carved by the children of the forest into a fretboard.....does the material of which the fretboard is made make a difference that you can hear? "Maple is brighter and rosewood is warmer......" and such. There are certainly differences from one piece of wood to another that scientific instruments could detect, but the question is whether or not a person can hear it, or thinks they can. That's what I'm asking. We're not gonna prove anything here but I think poll results might be interesting.

I think wood density and thickness probably matters the most. It just so happens wood density correlates with the species of wood, however there will be some natural variation within each species due to environment and other factors.

So long story short, it likely matters, but it's hard to predict exactly.

 

[eekamike]

I took a quick look online to see the price difference between Sadowsky basses equipped with both maple and rosewood.

The difference in price was less than $40 on basses priced well over $2K. Maple was more expensive - my assumption is that the lacquering process requires an hour or so of labor.

I appears to me that there is no real financial incentive in pushing a customer one way or the other.

There is an advantage in giving a customer an instrument that meets their tonal expectation. So, instead of assuming that they are pushing tonewoods for financial gain, how about giving them the benefit of the doubt, and are trying to educate possible customers on what combines to give them the tone they desire?

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I thought I'd point out that the cost/profit of the bass isn't what's in question here with this whole conspiracy theory. The idea is that by pushing the belief of "tone wood," instrument manufacturers and luthiers can more easily drive the idea that each instrument combination is inherently different, and hence drives more orders and more custom orders. Because people like us want a maple fretboard with alder body, and also a rosewood fretboard with alder body, but then also maple and ash, and rosewood and ash, because they "sound different." Alternatively, craftsmen of customs want to plant the idea that you can only get your specific tone from a custom build. E.g. maybe Ibanez doesn't offer a mahogany body with a maple neck and pau ferro fretboard, so if you want that "tone" you need to go custom. Making the customer believe that only you can offer what they want is a common marketing technique.

 

[tfer]

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I thought I'd point out that the cost/profit of the bass isn't what's in question here with this whole conspiracy theory. The idea is that by pushing the belief of "tone wood," instrument manufacturers and luthiers can more easily drive the idea that each instrument combination is inherently different, and hence drives more orders and more custom orders. Because people like us want a maple fretboard with alder body, and also a rosewood fretboard with alder body, but then also maple and ash, and rosewood and ash, because they "sound different." Alternatively, craftsmen of customs want to plant the idea that you can only get your specific tone from a custom build. E.g. maybe Ibanez doesn't offer a mahogany body with a maple neck and pau ferro fretboard, so if you want that "tone" you need to go custom. Making the customer believe that only you can offer what they want is a common marketing technique.

That would be true, if the main offerings from Tobias and Sadowsky weren't also the most common combinations. However, as was pointed out in the interview, they are...

If you want a beautifully figured top on it, your gonna pay, but otherwise what you're getting is the most common combination done better.

They both went out of their way to praise Leo Fender for stumbling across great wood combinations that have come to define the tone of the bass.

 

[tfer]

You really should watch the video I posted, here it is again:

I wonder how many guitars he's built...?

 

[bass12]

One thing I've learned over the years is that different people often hear different things when it comes to bass tone and responsiveness. I trust my ears and leave it at that. My ears tell me that wood has an impact on tone. They tell me that maple fretboarded basses will often produce a tone which is "brighter" (and noisier) than rosewood and that wenge tends to sound compressed. However, experience has lead me to conclude that it is unreasonable to expect to fully predict tone based on wood type. In addition, overall tonal characteristics won't mean a whole lot to me if a bass does not respond to my touch the way I want it to. The general timbre of a bass might be what the audience hears, but what I hear when I play is as much about the subtleties of immediate response as it is about anything more general. I've several times read comments to the effect of "the audience can't tell the difference in the mix". To me that argument holds absolutely no water. If I can hear and feel the difference then my enjoyment of my instrument is going to be affected, and the way I play is likely to be affected as well. Then there's the seemingly popular idea that any variation in tone and/or responsiveness that might be attributable to wood can be nullified by the use of EQ...

 

[GBBSbassist]

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

I guess I know how it's going to turn out even without watching the video then.

All I know for sure is, the Yes's have described the tone difference with many different words that don't make a whole lot of sense when you're describing sounds.

 

[Gorn]

The Sadowsky and Tobias thing is interesting. I don't think they're being dishonest. I believe that they believe that tone wood makes an audible difference. It just so happens that perpetuating that belief doesn't hurt their business.

 

[GBBSbassist]

I wonder how many guitars he's built...?

At least three if you watch the video. How functional they are is irrelevant.

 

[GBBSbassist]

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

I say it's time for another blindfold tonewood test.

 

[MtManiac]

I wonder how many guitars he's built...?

Lol ok...

 

[Sixgunn]

Here's a quote from a recent article by Roger Sadowsky, who has had a fair amount of experience working with various woods.

"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."

He has to sound like a guru so people don't feel so bad about spending so much on a Fender copy

 

[GrapeBass]

IME It's all about the 'package' or the 'system' and how all components come together. Not unlike choosing our partners (wives, girlfriends, husbands, boyfriends). There maybe one thing that strikes up interest but ultimately it's the package that makes or breaks the relationship.