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

[Greenstreet]

no one ever talk about fret, nut and bridge ... you know what the strings actually touch

Nobody ever talks about bridges, frets or nuts? Are you kidding?!

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Nobody ever talks about bridges, frets or nuts? Are you kidding?!

well bridge yes when it is about a Fender crappy bridge for a Badass. But this is pretty much it.

 

[Passinwind]

It's pretty close. The carrotwood is fighting hard.

Mandoline sliced carrots beat quartersawn ones in blind tastings 50.1% of the time.

 

[Greenstreet]

no one ever talk about fret, nut and bridge ... you know what the strings actually touch

Nobody ever talks about bridges, frets or nuts? Are you kidding?!

well bridge yes when it is about a Fender crappy bridge for a Badass. But this is pretty much it.

Putting the respective terms into the TalkBass search bar generate the following number of hits:

BRIDGE: 520,655 results
NUT: 200,900 results
FRETS: 391,829 results

FRETBOARD WOOD: 19,036 results

Make of that what you will.

no one ever talk about fret, nut and bridge ... you know what the strings actually touch

Yes, the frets, nut and bridge touch the strings... and convey those vibrations to the fretboard, neck, and body.

If you can't feel the vibrations in the bass itself, try placing your tooth against the upper (horn) straplock and plucking a string. After doing this, it'll be pretty hard to argue that the string's vibrations don't make it to the fingerboard, neck, or body wood just because there's no direct contact with the strings.

 

[Flaked Beans]

My highly figured birdseye quartersawn carrotwood fretboard sounds much brighter than maple. Yeah really!

 

[GrapeBass]

My highly figured birdseye quartersawn carrotwood fretboard sounds much brighter than maple. Yeah really!

View attachment 2943381

Got's ta be heirloom carrotwood!

 

[toowrongfoo]

You just can't find good carrotwood these days.

 

[Greenstreet]

Damn GMO carrots.

 

[SCOTT_GROVE]

Since carrots are supposed to help with your vision, I would gather that a high quality Carrotwood board would actually allow you to SEE the tonal differences.

 

[pudgychef]

Here are two Music Man StingRay basses both with dual Humbuckers. One has an ebony board and the other has a maple board. The amp and/or interface and settings aren't specified in these videos, but there is a definite difference in tone.

but - completely different players...the largest of variables, no? I often read here how folks sound like themselves on any instrument...so changing the fingers negates the fb comparison, I reckon.

 

[TH63]

The day someone performs the feat of consistently and correctly identifying fretboard woods by listening to an instrument (without touching it or seeing it) is the day I'll believe it.

Yes, technically, that little slab of wood does contribute to the acoustic resonant properties of the instrument. But so does everything, like relative humidity, or whether you have a tuner or capo clamped to the headstock (because extra mass there does certainly impact sustain).

But will anyone ever listen to recordings and pick out, "yes, that was a Snark clamped to the headstock in 35% RH"?

It was Korg, I can't believe you fell for it.......

 

[bobdabilder]

I don't remember what i answered in the last thread other than: rosewood is harder than maple and is therefore brighter. So i'm going to go with 4 to the 5th power on this thread.

 

[bobdabilder]

petrified carrots would give that glassy mwah so many players are looking for.

Damn GMO carrots.

 

[bobdabilder]

what do the klingons have to do with it?

It was Korg, I can't believe you fell for it.......

 

[GrapeBass]

I don't remember what i answered in the last thread other than: rosewood is harder than maple and is therefore brighter. So i'm going to go with 4 to the 5th power on this thread.

Rosewood is not harder than maple (generally), it is also (typically) less dense.

 

[bobdabilder]

you're joking, right?

Rosewood is not harder than maple (generally), it is also (typically) less dense.

 

[GrapeBass]

you're joking, right?

Sorry, I meant to say that while rosewood is considered harder than maple it is more porous and resonates quite differently.

 

[bobdabilder]

and i'm out on that one.......

Sorry, I meant to say that while rosewood is considered harder than maple it is more porous and resonates quite differently.

 

[Flaked Beans]

petrified carrots would give that glassy mwah so many players are looking for.

This! ^ ^

what do the klingons have to do with it?

I'm not sure about the Klingons but humans are physically stronger than cardassians.

Rosewood is not harder than maple (generally), it is also (typically) less dense.

 

[Greenstreet]

Rosewood is not harder than maple (generally), it is also (typically) less dense.

you're joking, right?

Sorry, I meant to say that while rosewood is considered harder than maple it is more porous and resonates quite differently.

Maple has a much tighter grain structure than rosewood. It's also important to remember that maple fretboards are finished, while rosewood boards are not. The finish definitely alters the characteristics of the fretboard.