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

[bass12]

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.

Roger Sadowsky has discussed his preference for Brazilian rosewood over other rosewoods, but besides that he mostly works with the usual, traditional bass-making woods (ash, alder, maple, various common rosewoods). He has commented in interviews that the tops on his basses (which might be of a more exotic nature) are too thin to have any discernable impact on tone. I don't see how anyone could legitimately accuse Roger of hyping tonewoods.

 

[GBBSbassist]

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

He also says that rosewood isn't just warm but it's also sweet. Nice! That truly describes the sound differences.

 

[GBBSbassist]

Roger Sadowsky has discussed his preference for Brazilian rosewood over other rosewoods, but besides that he mostly works with the usual, traditional bass-making woods (ash, alder, maple, various common rosewoods). He has commented in interviews that the tops on his basses (which might be of a more exotic nature) are too thin to have any discernable impact on tone. I don't see how anyone could legitimately accuse Roger of hyping tonewoods.

That's a strong way to put it. I doubt that's the intention of anyone here. We all know his basses are great. I think Gorn summed it up nicely though.

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.

 

[Sixgunn]

People want to believe what they prefer is best and they convince themselves they can hear the difference. Oh. My car really does run better after I wash it.

 

[southpaw723]

I think the difference is hardly noticeable and people tend to dig a little too deep

 

[bass12]

People want to believe what they prefer is best and they convince themselves they can hear the difference. Oh. My car really does run better after I wash it.

I'm sure that happens, but the reverse also occurs. There have been many times that I have expected to hear certain results and have been disappointed.

 

[tfer]

He also says that rosewood isn't just warm but it's also sweet. Nice! That truly describes the sound differences.

Describe the taste of vanilla to me...

 

[74hc]

I discount what Sadowsky and other manufacturers say about tone and woods. They have an financial interest in marketing wood for profits. If they can successfully market that some woods have more desirable tone, they increase their profits.

However, the guys I know that profess to hear wood differences in tone, and buy custom guitars and basses, almost always end up choosing the fretboard wood on looks than tone. I always wondered about this.

For me, though, I largely don't believe that wood affects tone because tone is created by electro-magnetic fields created by the strings. Frets do, and how well those frets are anchored into the fretboard does as well. My view is that's what most who say it's the fretboard wood are hearing.

Of course there are exceptions such as pickups that work on vibrations not magnetic fields.

 

[Sixgunn]

Describe the taste of vanilla to me...

Reverse chocolate.

 

[phillipkregg]

I've never met a person who claims that there is a difference who can actually tell the difference in a blindfold test.

 

[tfer]

Reverse chocolate.

I've never tasted chocolate...

 

[Sixgunn]

I've never tasted chocolate...

It tastes like being in love

 

[MtManiac]

Describe the taste of vanilla to me...

Describe the colour blue to me. If you say it's "sweet", you're neither wrong nor right.

 

[GrapeBass]

Describe the taste of vanilla to me...

Mexican, Indian or Madagascar?

 

[tfer]

Describe the colour blue to me. If you say it's "sweet", you're neither wrong nor right.

That's my point,aimed at people who are critical of using certain adjectives to describe a sound.

 

[MtManiac]

Roger Sadowsky has discussed his preference for Brazilian rosewood over other rosewoods, but besides that he mostly works with the usual, traditional bass-making woods (ash, alder, maple, various common rosewoods). He has commented in interviews that the tops on his basses (which might be of a more exotic nature) are too thin to have any discernable impact on tone. I don't see how anyone could legitimately accuse Roger of hyping tonewoods.

No more than a famous winery can be accused of how their wine tastes chocolatey with a hint of summer and a flourishing finish.

It's been proven that wine... never mind.

That's my point,aimed at people who are critical of using certain adjectives to describe a sound.

And it's also objectively meaningless. Like I said, if it works for you, but I'm unconvinced.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

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.

 

[tfer]

No more than a famous winery can be accused of how their wine tastes chocolatey with a hint of summer and a flourishing finish.

It's been proven that wine


And it's also objectively meaningless. Like I said, if it works for you, but I'm unconvinced.

I'm not trying to convince anyone. But unless a person is trying to make it hard on themselves, I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to match the foundation of the sound you hear in your head, with the instrument you hold in your hands...

 

[mapleglo]

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.

I voted carrotwood not to have a good time, but because the other two choices did not reflect my belief.

Another poster stated that they swapped out necks often, and heard a difference. Of course, that's a neck/fretboard combo that's changed, not just the fretboard. That doesn't address your question, as we don't know how much the neck wood influenced the sound. I have never removed a fretboard after careful listening on a bass, and replaced it with a different type of wood. So I can't answer the question accurately. I've played a variety of basses with different fretboard woods, and many sounded different from each other, but there's no way to isolate how much of that difference is due to the fretboard wood. I'd venture to say that is the experience of the majority of bass players. Honestly, I don't believe any of us are in a position to definitively answer the question.

 

[Gorn]

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Have you been enjoying your popcorn through the 12 pages of what I think has been a civil and interesting discussion? How do you feel about the effect of fingerboard wood?