Does switching from rosewood to maple visually throw you off?

[Chicken Wing]

Yes, it does throw me off. But I get used to it after awhile. I don't have any maple basses right now.

 

[basted]

No problem for me

 

[mrjim123]

Interesting. I have both necks, and switching doesn't bother me; I don't even think about it. But, everybody has foibles, myself included

 

[ezstep]

I very rarely look at the fretboard when I am playing, so, no, I rarely look to see if I am playing a rosewoood or maple or ebony (my preference). Doesn't throw me at all.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Hey there bass friends! Just curious if this happens to anyone else. I’ve been a maple fretboard player for years and recently got a Lakland 44-02 with a rosewood fretboard. When I play it, I sometimes feel like I am thrown off a bit as to where the frets are. Meaning it takes a little adjustment visually to get my bearings. The maple fretboard with the black side dots are easy to see. The rosewood board with off white dots sometimes takes getting used to. It’s just a visual thing. It could also be that the 44-02, when played sitting sits a little further back than my Jazz bass with the maple neck so my positioning is off by a fret. I think I explained that clearly.

Same as you, I only look at the side dots. I agree, black dots on maple seem to have better contrast than white on rosewood. But to me, it's mainly about the size of the dots. Larger (1/8" or more) is good, I don't like tiny ones.

 

[conttador]

Hey there bass friends! Just curious if this happens to anyone else. I’ve been a maple fretboard player for years and recently got a Lakland 44-02 with a rosewood fretboard. When I play it, I sometimes feel like I am thrown off a bit as to where the frets are. Meaning it takes a little adjustment visually to get my bearings. The maple fretboard with the black side dots are easy to see. The rosewood board with off white dots sometimes takes getting used to. It’s just a visual thing. It could also be that the 44-02, when played sitting sits a little further back than my Jazz bass with the maple neck so my positioning is off by a fret. I think I explained that clearly.

Maybe it’s the scale that’s throwing you off?

 

[chris_b]

I've had both at the same time. Given a choice I'll take rosewood, but switching between maple and rosewood doesn't bother me.

 

[burgerdj]

Yep. I just got my first maple board in 25+ years of playing. It’s an adjustment for sure, particularly since the side dots are shell and almost impossible to see in pretty much all lighting conditions.

 

[FlabbyDaddy]

My issue is if the side dots are too small or indistinct against the wood. I have a dark Wenge neck, gorgeous, but with tiny dots that I’m thinking to adding stickers to. Generally rosewood or ebony vs maple in itself isn’t an issue.

I don't normally look at the neck when I play. I do use glow in the dark stickers so if I do need to see a marker I can.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMXW94H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My wife is a scrapbooker I can use her punches to make all kinds of cool fret dots.

 

[Captain Chaos]

No, but going from 24 frets to 20 does.

 

[sethlow3]

Hey there bass friends! Just curious if this happens to anyone else. I’ve been a maple fretboard player for years and recently got a Lakland 44-02 with a rosewood fretboard. When I play it, I sometimes feel like I am thrown off a bit as to where the frets are. Meaning it takes a little adjustment visually to get my bearings. The maple fretboard with the black side dots are easy to see. The rosewood board with off white dots sometimes takes getting used to. It’s just a visual thing. It could also be that the 44-02, when played sitting sits a little further back than my Jazz bass with the maple neck so my positioning is off by a fret. I think I explained that clearly.

Yes
Maple FTW!
Every solid body instrument I own has a maple fingerboard.
Threads have been done to death how it doesn’t matter to tone as much as one might think with sound clips and all…

For me, it’s a huge bonus when the stage goes completely dark and look down and see a maple bar with little black markers on it showing exactly where my hands can go. With rosewood or ebony? Not as much. With black graphite like my old Modulus Flea FBJ5? Forget about it…

 

[tlc1976]

I actually LOVE going from a 5 to 4. Way more than going from 4 to 5. It's like when batters use the weighted donut for practice swings before going to the plate, then when they pop it off, the bat feels a lot lighter for a few moments.

I like going from my 4 to 5 for similar reasons. My 5 is a pound less, and the bridge string spacing is tighter. The 4 feels like a big clunky old truck, the 5 feels like a sports car in comparison. A standard 4 has always been my least favorite bass ergonomically, but because it’s the most common bass out there, I feel I should stay proficient at it. And of course the P bass sound.

I’ve also been wondering, as many have mentioned the glow in the dark dots, how long do they keep a “charge”?

 

[Manticore]

I've never noticed the difference as it pertains to the wood used for the fingerboard. I think what might be the issue for you is the difference in the distance between the heal of the bass and the bridge saddles. When the saddles are further from the end of the bass the "reach" feels further. If the two basses are different by as little as 1/2" (13mm) you might find yourself off by a fret. I included an interesting photograph. Notice how much shorter the maple board six looks relative to the ebony board sixes in the background. All three basses have the same scale length. The difference is the saddles on the Nordy are right at the end of the bass whereas the saddles on the Alembics are a few inches away from the end of the bass. This makes the Alembics seem like they have a much, much longer scale than the Nordy.

 

[SteveBassJr]

The maple neck on my Modulus at first gave me a hard time visually. I got used to it but if I switch guitars during a set it comes back and bothers me.

 

[retslock]

I’m not a fan of maple. I did own a Stingray with a maple neck for a short time but sold it. It wasn’t the neck than made me sell it and there was no disorientation due to the pale colour. I prefer dark fretboards and always have.

 

[Ostie]

Doesn’t bother me at all.

 

[Oren Hudson]

Switching from headless to headed, and vice versa, takes me a little bit to get used to.

 

[rtav]

Nope.

 

[BlueTalon]

My issue is if the side dots are too small or indistinct against the wood. I have a dark Wenge neck, gorgeous, but with tiny dots that I’m thinking to adding stickers to. Generally rosewood or ebony vs maple in itself isn’t an issue.

Regardless of fretboard material, nice visible side markers are great.

It’s an adjustment for sure, particularly since the side dots are shell and almost impossible to see in pretty much all lighting conditions.

I have the same issue on darker stages.

Fishing lure stickers (size 2 in whatever color you want, if you're interested). My favorite for this purpose. I fold them over the top edge of the fretboard so they can be seen from above and from the front. I never get lost when I'm using these, no matter how bad the lighting gets.

 

[Jefenator]

Regardless of fretboard material, nice visible side markers are great.

And markers that are too small or camouflaged are annoying.