Ebony or rosewood...which is best?

[GrapeBass]

I started with maple fretboards as a foot but eventually gravitated to rosewood. It 'seems' to have a more warm, woody sound to 'me.' I also love the aesthetics.

My pref
Fretted : Rosewood but will entertain maple on a P Bass if I had one
Fretless: Ebony ≥ Ebonol (I have an ebonol Squier VM Jazz)

 

[chaosMK]

I like ebony and have two ebony guitars. Definitely noticed crisper fret edge with them. My Cirrus has Pau Ferro which is pretty nice and harder than Rosewood.

 

[bdgotoh]

For me it goes: Ebony > Brazilian Rosewood > other rosewoods > Maple

 

[GrapeBass]

Tonewood is largely BS, anyway. But have you ever played a piano with real ivory keys? There’s little like it. That doesn’t mean I think we should make more of them. But that also doesn’t mean I can’t marvel at how great real ivory keys feel.

Yet the tonal quality of my bass changed significantly when I switched to a rosewood fretboard from a maple. Go figure.

 

[NOVAX]

Yes.

 

[baltodoc]

I have all three. In order of preference, ebony, maple then rosewood. But I like them all!

 

[bassbenj]

Best is black paint over pine because it lets you take your bass in and out of the country without having it confiscated.

 

[tfer]

I prefer the warmth of rosewood - fretted and especially fretless.

Ebony is second for me.

Don’t like anything about maple finger/fretboards.

 

[honeyiscool]

Yet the tonal quality of my bass changed significantly when I switched to a rosewood fretboard from a maple. Go figure.

Did you just change from a maple fretboard to a rosewood fretboard? Or did you change necks? I mean, of course two necks don't sound the same. I would never argue that they do. And because of that, of course one rosewood+maple neck and one maple+maple neck will sound different. But then again, one rosewood+maple neck and another rosewood+maple neck sound different. I'm just questioning whether we overgeneralize these things because it's simple to do so, when, in reality, everything matters a lot, from method of construction, type of truss rod, and just sample variation. And "rosewood" doesn't just refer to one species of wood, regardless.

 

[GBassNorth]

On a fretted bass, if given the choice between Rosewood and Ebony I'd choose .... wenge.

My basses have...
Rosewood
Ebony
Pao Ferro
Wenge
Ebonal
Maple
Carbon Fiber
And probably some other wood as well. They all sound great.

 

[Snibborwocky]

I'll take rosewood over ebony just because it give off a much warmer vintage tone, ebony seems to be a bit crisper to my liking. side note - I absolutely hate that Fender is replacing rosewood with Pau Ferro, it just looks ugly to me.

 

[CarpeBasso]

I love my ebony Stingray 5.

 

[GrapeBass]

Did you just change from a maple fretboard to a rosewood fretboard? Or did you change necks? I mean, of course two necks don't sound the same. I would never argue that they do. And because of that, of course one rosewood+maple neck and one maple+maple neck will sound different. But then again, one rosewood+maple neck and another rosewood+maple neck sound different. I'm just questioning whether we overgeneralize these things because it's simple to do so, when, in reality, everything matters a lot, from method of construction, type of truss rod, and just sample variation. And "rosewood" doesn't just refer to one species of wood,
regardless.

Yes. the necks were changed. Both were maple and the latest has a rosewood fretboard.

 

[craig0316]

I've have all 3 as well. Can't say one sounds "better" than the other. Each bass has its own sound. And you can dial in more warmth as needed.

 

[groooooove]

obviously this is a chocolate vs vanilla issue

however,

ebony definitely could be argued to be superior. it's definitely stronger / more stable.

 

[brett adams]

i've also got all three and have never been able to tell a difference tonally between any of them.

 

[CGremlin]

My preference is for ebony - both of my StingRays have ebony boards. Macassar ebony is just beautiful as well. Having said that, I'm not *that* picky - I like rosewood and maple boards too. Anything that feels good and sounds good gets a thumbs-up for me, even if the instrument looks like a train wreck.

 

[GIBrat51]

Neither. Ebanol - preferably on an aluminum neck - is far and away the best...
But, seriously... IMO there is no "Best". Ebony has been used for fretless fingerboards for hundreds of years, but that makes it "Traditional" - not "Best". There are other woods with similar or better wear resistance, but they're not widely used for various reasons. Same thing with Rosewood - real Dalbergia Rosewood, which is banned now. Other woods work just as well. Some companies that advertise "Rosewood" fingerboards (like Rickenbacker, for instance) have only used "real" rosewood for special instruments. Both my Rick basses and my guitar have "African Rosewood" fingerboards - which is more commonly known as Bubinga... Personally, I don't really care what the fingerboard is made out of. I have basses with all kinds of fingerboards - including several Aluminum/Ebanol - necked Kramers. As long as the frets stay where they're supposed to; I don't get splinters; and it looks reasonably decent, I don't much care. I didn't buy a Rickenbacker because of it's Bubinga fingerboard; I bought it because it's a Rick. I wouldn't pass up a bass simply because of it's fingerboard, either - well, maybe if it stuck me with a splinter...

 

[mc900ftj]

I have both. Really does not matter. Learn your craft.

 

[ezstep]

I have both, plus maple. Honestly, close your eyes and you (or, at least I) cannot really tell much difference. One is neck-through, two are bolt on, two are mahogany, one is probably basswood (not sure).... They all sound very good. I know the fretboard is PART OF the overall sound, but there are many other factors contributing.