I can’t tell a difference but I like how maple looks compared to other materials.
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Does fretboard wood make a consistent difference in tone that you can hear?
- Thread starter Gorn
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- difference fretboard tone wood
Doesn’t matter. Can’t play two different necks at the same time.
EDIT: I can’t play two necks with different finger boards at the same time, or two necks at the same time. Technically, I could...but there would be nothing scientific salvageable from the results. Believe me.
DOUBLE EDIT: Please for the love of god, don’t post a pic of some d-bag in a leotard playing a doubleneck. I get it. I misspoke.
EDIT: I can’t play two necks with different finger boards at the same time, or two necks at the same time. Technically, I could...but there would be nothing scientific salvageable from the results. Believe me.
DOUBLE EDIT: Please for the love of god, don’t post a pic of some d-bag in a leotard playing a doubleneck. I get it. I misspoke.
I can hear the difference at home playing solo. The difference is very subtle if I play along with a recording. At band practice the difference all but disappears. The audience just hears bass
I don't think so. Some claim they can, but lets do a blindfold test with identical basses other than the neck wood to make sure.
I wonder who is going to fund a well designed experiment to answer the question once and for all. Until that happens: quarter-sawn carrot.
Every luthier says the exact same thing - that woods matter. Most believe that they matter more than electronics.
If you don’t wanna believe them, that’s up to you, but it just seems like willfull ignorance.
A 1/20th turn of a tone knob makes a bigger difference.
Over 10,000 basses between the two of them (Tobias and Sadowsky), with reputations and livelihood on the line.
I’m pretty confident in whose expertise is more extensive.
I don't know about different wood fret boards, but my graphite board sure makes a difference in tone and sustains forever.
On a fretted electric bass the string vibrates between the metal fret and the metal bridge piece, and that vibration is transmitted magnetically to the pickup. Maybe I’m missing something, but I cannot logically see how the wood of the fingerboard could have an effect on the sound in that chain.
Fretless could be a different story altogether.
Fretless could be a different story altogether.
I like to think so. If i can see them then i can describe how they differ but i know a little about how easily i am fooled by my own brain so consistently in say a blint test? No freakin way. Its not because i cant hear nuance. My senses deceive me. I just found out today that green skittles are green apple, not lime. I have eaten hundreds of them just this year and as recently as today. I saw it on the bag and didnt even believe it at first.
JeezyMcNuggles
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On a fretless maybe. But, the frets are above the wood, and the pickups are in the body. So I honestly can't see the slightest reason why there'd be any "noticeable" difference in sound with any other wood.
JeezyMcNuggles
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Of course they're gonna say that, they're luthiers...
JeezyMcNuggles
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That's funny though, I didn't see you write this one I said the same thing
JeezyMcNuggles
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I'd be quite surprised if that's the case - pickup placement and type (eg SC vs humbucker, no. of winds etc) make a huge difference that is very easy to discern. Tobias, Sadowsky et al don't just throw any old electronics in there!
Here's an interesting take from an acoustic guitar luthier:
The Heretic's Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods
The Heretic's Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods
I would be very surprised if someone actually heard a difference. My experience, after all the bases I've used, is that the only one who hears a difference is myself. Everyone else just hears basstone.
The reason I hear the difference is that I imagine there's a difference. So the reason I prefer rosewood is that my mind has decided for it. That's all. Has nothing to do with the sound.
I would think that in an acoustic setting one might hear the difference depending on a lot of things. If there is a scientific test where someone thinks they are different, I do not think so.
If we speak acoustic guitar, there's a difference that people can actually hear. But an acoustic guitar through amplifier then preamp and pickups and such will affect the sound most.
The reason I hear the difference is that I imagine there's a difference. So the reason I prefer rosewood is that my mind has decided for it. That's all. Has nothing to do with the sound.
I would think that in an acoustic setting one might hear the difference depending on a lot of things. If there is a scientific test where someone thinks they are different, I do not think so.
If we speak acoustic guitar, there's a difference that people can actually hear. But an acoustic guitar through amplifier then preamp and pickups and such will affect the sound most.
Submitted for your consideration.........
The fretboard/neck combo is the resonant connector between the nut (or fretted fret, which now acts like the nut) and the bridge, so its specific rigidity will affect tone, attack, and sustain.
Different combinations of woods deliver different results.
Identical combinations can deliver varying results, due to the vagaries of wood composition, glue up, mating surfaces, and 10,000 other factors.
So I'm suggesting that each neck is an "entity unto itself".
Sure, maple/maple usually seems brighter than maple/rosewood, but a badly made MM could sound dull and lifeless while a perfectly constructed MR shines.
Fretless? All bets are off!
The concensus thinking of Rosewood is warm, Maple and Ebony are bright and good for slapping can prove true, but be due to the units rigidity, not the hardness of the fretboard.
Look at Status graphite necks....very hard, yet sound warm.
Pedulla Buzz bass with Diamondcoat......somewhat brighter with lots of bloom (mwaaah?)
Modulus? Seem very bright.
I'd bet the Rockwell hardness of these fretboards is within 10% of one another, but they sound very different.
Jus' sayin!
The fretboard/neck combo is the resonant connector between the nut (or fretted fret, which now acts like the nut) and the bridge, so its specific rigidity will affect tone, attack, and sustain.
Different combinations of woods deliver different results.
Identical combinations can deliver varying results, due to the vagaries of wood composition, glue up, mating surfaces, and 10,000 other factors.
So I'm suggesting that each neck is an "entity unto itself".
Sure, maple/maple usually seems brighter than maple/rosewood, but a badly made MM could sound dull and lifeless while a perfectly constructed MR shines.
Fretless? All bets are off!
The concensus thinking of Rosewood is warm, Maple and Ebony are bright and good for slapping can prove true, but be due to the units rigidity, not the hardness of the fretboard.
Look at Status graphite necks....very hard, yet sound warm.
Pedulla Buzz bass with Diamondcoat......somewhat brighter with lots of bloom (mwaaah?)
Modulus? Seem very bright.
I'd bet the Rockwell hardness of these fretboards is within 10% of one another, but they sound very different.
Jus' sayin!
