Fender Precision Bass question: Does the fretboard material make any difference in sound or anything

Here we go

 

Between Rosewood or maple? I think it makes a difference. The maple is going to be brighter sounding.

 

Yes

 

No

 

Really depends who you ask. I mean different woods will CERTAINLY vibrate in different ways. But the extent to which you perceive that difference through the strings/electronics/amplification/etc gets complicated. Can you consistently pick out which is which in a blind test with so many other factors in play? But in terms of PLAYING, I think you absolutely get a tangible response from the fb wood. More about feel than sound (I think).

Maple is hard and has always felt kind of "clacky" and bright to me in a way that I really love for most situations. Rosewood feels softer and more "lush" to me, with less articulation but taking up more space. Haven't played enough pau ferro basses to generate an opinion.

Plenty of people will say that's all bs, but if it's something that feels clear to you, it makes a big difference in preferring one bass over another.

 

Short answer: "yes" with a "but", long answer: "no" with an "and".

 

And there it is.
End of thread.

 

Yes.
Especially if the bass is fretless.

 

You should pay attention to buy what you like the most!

Your bass should look and sound good to you!!!

...poor guy

greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

Sean, this is a topic that is questioned and debated perennially and ad nauseam on TalkBass:

Search Results for Query: fretboard wood | TalkBass.com

Search Results for Query: fingerboard wood | TalkBass.com

Search Results for Query: fretboard maple rosewood | TalkBass.com​

 

Jesus....is the search button broken again??

 

Many people think it does, because it does matter in a purely acoustic instrument. But wood has no effect upon a metal string vibrating in a magnetic field. Your amp plays a much bigger role than whatever the bass is made of.

 

The choice of fingerboard woods can make a huge difference psychologically. I would be surprised if anybody could successfully identify fingerboard woods consistently based on listening to sound samples. The possibilities of that fall pretty much to zero once the instrument is heard in a band setting.

I used to believe it made a huge difference, and I insisted on rosewood fingerboards. I still maintain I can hear subtle differences, but strangely, I can only correctly identify those differences if I can see the instrument.

 

This subject is.............................

Flogging a dead horse (alternatively beating a dead horse, or beating a dead dog in some parts of the Anglophone world) is an idiom that means to continue a particular endeavour is a waste of time as the outcome is already decided.



Fretboard makes no difference at all.

Buy what you think looks best.

The kind of strings that you use has the biggest effect on sound.

 

I think that with all the arguments whether there’s a difference or not, I would just go by looks and feel...

 

Have P basses with both. They all sound like P basses.

 

fretless = yes/maybe

fretted = the note is sounded between the fret in front of your finger and the bridge ... the part of the string that is vibrating over the pickups is not touching the fretboard .. !?

i would think various woods will affect the sustain ,... as some vibrate , or transfer vibrations better than others ...

 

Your tax return is the form you filled out. You don't get that back. And you can't buy a bass with it.

 

If you forget about tonal difference for a moment, I have noticed that gitars with lacquered-maple fretboard are more stable than open-grain rosewood fretboard when air humidity changes. (Less truss rod tweking require)
Now, I admit my experience is limited to having owned 20-25 guitars, but makes sense scientificaly, right?