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

[Member8675309]

Interesting. The thread has been dormant for a week and the poll is basically at 50/50. The yeses had about a ten vote lead while the thread was more active. It's pretty much what I expected. I hope some day someone goes through the tremendous hassle that would be involved in the legitimate double blind trials to really answer the question. I'm not gonna do it. No one's gonna a do it, probably. Like, who cares right? All I know is black and maple is the objectivly superior aesthetic for any bass, so there we are.

And he who decides to undertake this momentous task shall be heralded through the forums of TB as the chosen one, the bringer of all knowledge.

 

[Member8675309]

Having two black and maple basses currently out of a total of four, and having had several in the past, I can completely agree!

If all four of those basses are P Basses, then I think we found our chosen one. String those bad boys up, put us to the test, end this infernal debate.

 

[MtManiac]

If all four of those basses are P Basses, then I think we found our chosen one. String those bad boys up, put us to the test, end this infernal debate.

Sadly, no - one P bass, one Dimension, one Jazz, and one Peavey patriot However, three of them are maple and alder!

 

[Member8675309]

Sadly, no - one P bass, one Dimension, one Jazz, and one Peavey patriot However, three of them are maple and alder!

Well, back to it then. Heard those Dimensions are done. Too bad, I thought they were cool basses.

 

[Gorn]

The dimensions are great. That modern player version was garbage. It swayed my opinion for years till I played the american standard one day at a guitar center. Damn fine bass. I've never played the Mexican version but it bet it's pretty good.

 

[Member8675309]

The dimensions are great. That modern player version was garbage. It swayed my opinion for years till I played the american standard one day at a guitar center. Damn fine bass. I've never played the Mexican version but it bet it's pretty good.

They look good, price is good, and they sound good. I played one at a studio once, can't remember too much about which model it was exactly, but it definitely made an impression as I still remember it where I've forgotten so many others.

 

[Greenstreet]

That analogy applies for acoustic instruments, but not for eclectic instruments. It's a different type of wave.

No, it's exactly the same kind of wave.

No - it is not.
Transverse waves and only transverse waves travel from a pickup through an electrical signal chain. You can't hear a transverse wave.

I'm beginning to understand. If there's no sound coming from your bass rig, that would go a long way towards explaining why you can't hear a difference.

 

[GIBrat51]

The question being asked is whether the choice of wood makes a difference in tone "that you can hear". I can hear it. Some others can't.

I think we all should have just stopped ^here^. Because, as far as the OP's question goes - and not the usual tangents that questions like this always drift off into - this is the only real, correct answer. Some of us can hear a difference; some of us cannot. And, some of us - like me, for example - might be able to, if we cared enough about minutiae like this to try... As for all the arguments, personal anecdotes, and acrimonious posturing about whether or not there really is a difference? The answer is simple; YES; there is a difference. Different fret board wood is a variable. And making a difference is what variables do - by definition. The only thing that's really left to argue about, then, is whether or not it should matter. And my answer to that is; well, it doesn't matter to me, but if it matters to you? Fine; more power to ya....

 

[MtManiac]

I'm beginning to understand. If there's no sound coming from your bass rig, that would go a long way towards explaining why you can't hear a difference.

You can't hear your bass when it's not plugged in to your amp?

 

[MtManiac]

The dimensions are great. That modern player version was garbage. It swayed my opinion for years till I played the american standard one day at a guitar center. Damn fine bass. I've never played the Mexican version but it bet it's pretty good.

Garbage? The necks were amazing, and it had a passive coil split! What's not to like?

 

[FrenchBassQC]

I can hear the difference between a rosewood fretboard and a maple one on the same instrument model for sure. On a J-bass I prefer a maple fretboard and a rosewood on a P-bass.

 

[Greenstreet]

You can't hear your bass when it's not plugged in to your amp?

Of course I can. I can also hear the same sound, only louder, when it's plugged in to an amp, even though you've "proven" that it can't happen, and that it's all in my head.

 

[TonyP-]

Not sure if it's in this thread or not but

 

[MtManiac]

Not sure if it's in this thread or not but

I can definitely hear a difference between those two necks; the one with maple has more highs and the one with rosewood has more pronounced low mids.

Are we making the argument that differences are attributable to fretboard material, or to the internal grain structure of the entire neck? Because the scientific documents posted here to support the "there's a difference" side are really making the case that the neck's role in the overall structure and the internal grain of the wood is what makes the difference, and whatever fretboard adds to that, it adds to that. I've agreed that two otherwise identical basses can sound different, just that the differences aren't attributable to fretboard wood. There hasn't been any science provided supporting the idea that sound waves bounce off the fretboard and change the vibration of the strings over the pickups somehow, and if that were the case, I would expect greater differences in tone when you play a jazz bass with a pickguard and then remove the pickguard.

Anyway, whoever this player is, they have great technique and feel! That really impressed me.