Favorite Neck / FB Wood Combos?

[Bassinga]

Wenge!!!!! Wenge forever!!!!

I'm with you on this one man! Bought a German made Warwick last year and fell in love with Wenge on Wenge!

 

[TOOL460002]

Maple/maple has been every bass I've owned since 2001 (so every nice bass, basically) because it felt the best of everything I tried. Bass teacher had a ton of basses so I got to A/B a LOT. The feel of a worn in maple neck is just so comfortable. Fast. Pretty, too. Can be.

 

[fhm555]

I've played on a number of ebony & rosewood necks, and from what I have read, it falls somewhere between the two in terms of sound and feel. My instinct is always ebony, haha, but I'm trying to do something a little different for this go around. Have definitely been looking at Wenge.

I’ve got J necks with rosewood and PF and except for (very) slight color variations, my left hand and ears can’t tell the difference.

 

[funkinbottom]

I prefer a maple neck. As far as fingerboards, I like both rosewood and maple, depending on the bass and finish, mainly for a different look.

I have a hard time believing that the fingerboard on a fretted instrument makes a lot of difference tonally, but unamplified, my maple fretless is a lot brighter than my rosewood fretless. Can’t say how different thy would be through an amp, they have different pickups

Right, that's what I'm stuck on too, though my maple/maple J is waaaay brighter than my maple ebony or maple rosewood basses... again, all different pups

I'm actually experiencing the opposite. Two basses, same size, shape and body wood. Both have maple neck, one with rosewood board, and one with maple board. Both are 31" scale and both are strung with Dunlop flats and have East preamps. To me, acoustically neither one sounds noticeably brighter or warmer. About the same really. However, plugged in and both set flat, the bass with rosewood board is brighter with more aggressive top end, where the bass with maple board is definitely the warmer of the two. The difference.... Pickups. The rosewood board bass has Nordstrand Zen Blades and maple board bass has Bartolini P2's.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Wenge feels amazing!
I have only maple on my 8 basses, but the Warwicks with wenge I had felt amazing and had a great sound.
You can pair it with a wenge fingerboard, or birdseye maple, purple heart or anything like that.

 

[Old Blastard]

It's all about the feel!! I had an Ibanez SR1400 with a wenge (and panga-panga?) neck that felt absolutely heavenly - then I briefly took ownership of a Dingwall AB1 with a wenge neck that took it to the next level. They were both insanely stable despite how thin they were. And being able to feel the gentle open pores of the wood... ah man. I'm also a sucker for dark woods! Something about it just does it for me. Ultimately I let both of those instruments go - The Dingwall because I didn't really get along with the Darkglass Tone Capsule (not super big on active basses), and the Ibanez... because I made a serious mistake!!!

I have a @Drake Custom with wenge neck and wenge fretboard and it is probably my favorite. I can't tell you why but man it is so easy to play. I have ebony fb/maple necks on my other Drakes and they're awesome, but that wenge just plays. You forget your fingers are working. It's my go-to

 

[truand85]

I really like a Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard on 1/4 sawn Maple. It's getting impossible to find but luckily a custom neck builder made one for me. Invalid Link Removed

Who's the builder?

 

[bassliner50]

True ebony FB is very nice but hard to find. I had a G&L L2000 with ebony FB. Sold it to help finance a piano.

 

[kumimajava]

Perhaps my favourite wouldbe: Rockwood FB on Rockwood neck.
After that - Rockwood on carbon/graphite...

If we're looking at 'purely natural' woods, then ebony FB on wenge or padouk necks Wenge/maple laminate necks also seem to work really nicely for me.

 

[LowActionHero]

Don't know about neck wood, but my favorite fretboard is definitely Rosewood or at least something similar. I just realized awhile back that I've only owned one maple board ever in almost 40 years of playing, my T40.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Get a load of the neck on this — “SAKURA”

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A thing of beauty but it's the Timeless Timber, for mine.

"Recovered from the depths of lakes and rivers after what sometimes amounts to hundreds of years, timeless timber hardwoods are special, rare, and highly coveted. This instrument features a clearly distinguishable strip of Timeless Timber maple as the centerpiece of the neck."
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Exceptionally old growth, recycled wood. … I have a maple cap too, in the same vein, along with my two treasured FSOs with sinker maple necks. Stable as you like — solid as a rock. And the noise is noteworthy.
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[Zak TMD]

I typically prefer the sound of a heavy/solid (back-breaking) bass, but on a lengthy prior thread here, the guys quoting physics/studies - and providing recorded audio samples - suggested that most of the talk about wood was hype. The most conclusive information seemed to suggest that the neck, not the body, was key. Here is one of the longer threads on tone woods:
Does body wood matter?

Again, I just have had the best luck with heavy basses. I learned on a 70's Jazz purchased new: very heavy. The 80's Jazz I bought (new) was very light, but sounded "thin". I have had several other basses over the years.

I defer to the experts: I am just parroting back what I read here, and noting my better luck with weight. Note: Fender originally used pine.

Now if looks matters, I lust after Ash with a clear finish, like my first bass.

Yea, totally... my two fav basses are 11 lb 7 oz (jb75 reissue, maple all the way down), and 10lb 9oz (Gripper, Swamp ash, maple, ebony - btw clear coat / antiqueish stain - check my history). Both of these basses have more sustain than my lighter ones. Subjective, probably, but the weight doesn't bother me, so my preference is for heavier basses too. But the same goes for my guitar experience - my LB standard ltd ed weighs in at 9+lb, whereas my SG is like 6, and I heavily prefer the LP for tonal reasons.

Again subjective because different construction / different pups, but my all maple JB cuts through like nothing else I've played.

 

[Zak TMD]

Both my current custom build and the one that's being completed now have multi-laminate maple necks with a Macassar ebony fretboard. The ebony is so hard and dense, it feels better than rosewood for tapping and other techniques. I've never liked maple boards, they always feel "sticky" to me.

I don't know how it changes the tone but my bass with ebony feels faster and smoother to play than one with a rosewood board. It's also held up very well after 14+ years of full-time gigging. Plus it looks really nice, and more exotic and interesting than boring old rosewood.

Yea, my preference up till now has always been ebony. My fav bass and fav guitar have ebony - I agree with your assessment for feel, just delightful and fast to play, that said, my maple fb feels pretty good too - I think one of the textural issues is the need to finish the maple, often with a glossy clear coat, which can lead to that sticky feeling.

 

[Zak TMD]

Since I noticed I diverged from the OP (too late to edit my post)...
...for me, it is about neck stability: laminated necks, reinforcement, and good truss-rod.

Having had "neck-sprout" on 2 basses recently, a "roasted" neck seem practical.

Sorry for the first off-topic post. Guess I am more tired than I realized.

This is how I'm certainly leaning after chatting with my guitarist who's got a custom build with a roasted neck / fb. Plus it looks cool.

 

[Zak TMD]

My preference is a maple neck and ebony fingerboard. I think maple is great in general as a tone wood and for stability. Honestly, I like ebony more for aesthetics on the fingerboard. I don't think it matters much for tone or feel unless going fretless.

My best sounding fretted bass has a pau ferro board but is otherwise totally maple. Does the pau ferro matter? I am not sure it does. I would argue the wood used for the fingerboard is only important to the extent that it is high quality and does not warp or create structural problems. Tone effect may be negligible.

So my conclusion is that you should go maple on the neck and then whatever makes you feel good on the fingerboard.

If I delete my 100% subjective takes, I'm kinda with you on this, though tonal argument aside, there ARE feel differences between different fb woods. Personally, I really don't love rosewood - it always feels "rougher" to me... and I'm guessing it's the larger "medium" pores (compared to say, Ebony).

 

[Zak TMD]

Fan of maple and roasted! Since you know you like maple and you don't have a roasted neck yet maybe this is the way to go...GL!

certainly leaning this way at the moment, subject to whims and stuff haha

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

This is how I'm certainly leaning after chatting with my guitarist who's got a custom build with a roasted neck / fb. Plus it looks cool.

I just have a couple of mid-level basses, but having a neck I can count on for low buzz-free action - without having to constantly adjust the truss-rod due to seasonal changes - is one of life's true pleasures for me.

My Yamaha TRBX304 with 5-piece laminated neck was driving me NUTS, with having to choose between fret-buzz and high action. After a DIY leveling, crowning and polish? Heavenly! Not a roasted neck, and it needed some filing for fret-sprout, but I figure that was a one time thing. Now, if the wood is just done drying, so the frets stay put.

BTW, ever consider stainless frets, so they last longer? Some fret-wire is pretty soft...

 

[Zak TMD]

Get a load of the neck on this — “SAKURA”

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A thing of beauty but it's the Timeless Timber, for mine.

"Recovered from the depths of lakes and rivers after what sometimes amounts to hundreds of years, timeless timber hardwoods are special, rare, and highly coveted. This instrument features a clearly distinguishable strip of Timeless Timber maple as the centerpiece of the neck."
​

Exceptionally old growth, recycled wood. … I have a maple cap too, in the same vein, along with my two treasured FSOs with sinker maple necks. Stable as you like — solid as a rock. And the noise is noteworthy.​

I was actually looking at some sinker wood for the body (they didn't have what I wanted ) but didn't even consider it for necks or maple!

 

[BigBigGuy44]

I have no preference on neck material or fretboard wood and have pretty much had everything and anything. I tend to pick the fingerboard wood based on what matches the color or aesthetics of the instrument best. Not sure if it was a coincidence or just luck of the draw, but the most unstable necks I owned were also the most heavily figured, including roasted maple.

 

[Zak TMD]

I just have a couple of mid-level basses, but having a neck I can count on for low buzz-free action - without having to constantly adjust the truss-rod due to seasonal changes - is one of life's true pleasures for me.

My Yamaha TRBX304 with 5-piece laminated neck was driving me NUTS with either fret-buzz or high action. After a DIY leveling, crowning and polish? Heavenly!

Been pretty lucky with that, my primary (the custom built Gripper) seems solid as a rock... dropped it a little bit once, and not even a ding... neck, action, etc. all fine.