Maple vs. Rosewood

[David Jayne]

Well, I am not sure how much the fingerboard can be considered 'structural,' or how much impact it can actually have on sound. I DO know this: it is mostly responsible for the seasonal truss rod adjustments we make. It gets longer or shorter with changes in humidity, bowing the neck. So I think its safe to say that it is somewhat structural.

 

[Mulebagger]

i was impressed that he played both tracks so closely. Even thought they sounded the same, you can see the preamp set differently on the bass. With judicial preamp usage, amp settings, and finger technique, it's easy to change the tone of your bass.

They were very close sounding to me. Both sounded nice which was the best part.

 

[bassdude51]

Perhaps this tread has been "run into the ground". Woods, Fretboards, yadda yadda!

Last one from me.

I have 2 G&L Wunkays. One is an ash body with rosewood fretboard and the other is mahogany with rosewood fretboard.

Both have flat wound strings.

The ash has Fender flats (a brighter flat wound string).

The mahogany has TI flats (a duller and warmer string).

In our book of logic about woods which of the Wunkays is the warmer bass and which is the brighter bass?

Logic says that mahogany is warmer than ash, right?

The mahogany with the duller strings is brighter than the ash with the brighter strings. Go figure. A contradiction. At least it was to me! When I bought the 'hog, I was expecting a very warm if not muddy sounding bass. Instead, it is fairly bright and well defined in sound. More so than the ash.

My experience is this..................a bass will sound anyway that it wants to no matter what kind of wood it is made of! There might be some "general guidelines" about woods and such but ultimately, only a "test drive" can really tell us how a bass will sound.

The sound of rosewood vs maple fretboard...........anyone's guess!

 

[Eublet]

Perhaps this tread has been "run into the ground". Woods, Fretboards, yadda yadda!

Last one from me.

I have 2 G&L Wunkays. One is an ash body with rosewood fretboard and the other is mahogany with rosewood fretboard.

Both have flat wound strings.

The ash has Fender flats (a brighter flat wound string).

The mahogany has TI flats (a duller and warmer string).

In our book of logic about woods which of the Wunkays is the warmer bass and which is the brighter bass?

Logic says that mahogany is warmer than ash, right?

The mahogany with the duller strings is brighter than the ash with the brighter strings. Go figure. A contradiction. At least it was to me! When I bought the 'hog, I was expecting a very warm if not muddy sounding bass. Instead, it is fairly bright and well defined in sound. More so than the ash.

My experience is this..................a bass will sound anyway that it wants to no matter what kind of wood it is made of! There might be some "general guidelines" about woods and such but ultimately, only a "test drive" can really tell us how a bass will sound.

The sound of rosewood vs maple fretboard...........anyone's guess!

I agree. I generally expect hog wood to be more throaty and growly myself, but have been surprised by it in some basses. I think I've been surprised to get unexpected tone's from many wood combinations, enough at least to know better than suggest a need a certain type of wood to get where I want to be. I buy based on looks and sound totally. I can't imagine doing what some folks do, which is saying something like "I can't play that bass because it has a rosewood board and will sound too dark for me." That's the kind of thinking I don't really understand because it just doesn't hold up if you sample a lot of basses.

 

[WoodyG3]

FWIW, Roger Sadowsky has posted a short description of his viewpoints on the various fingerboard woods on his web site. Just go to his home page and you'll see a link to it.

 

[Sugar Lime Bass]

I wonder if this question could be solved once and for all with a test:

Take one bass and and four necks (two of each - rosewood and maple) knock on the back of the neck of the bass and body and record the sound of all combinations and then analyze with a spectrometer or some type of software to see if a different tone is coming through the pick-ups or the resonance of the wood. If it does, then case closed!

I'm no expert by far, but would this work?

 

[mongo2]

I wonder if this question could be solved once and for all with a test:

Take one bass and and four necks (two of each - rosewood and maple) knock on the back of the neck of the bass and body and record the sound of all combinations and then analyze with a spectrometer or some type of software to see if a different tone is coming through the pick-ups or the resonance of the wood. If it does, then case closed!

I'm no expert by far, but would this work?

Not really. It doesn't address that fact that the tonal effect of the neck is comprised of more than just the effect of the fingerboard. There's the effect of the rest of the neck to consider as well. To many variables to definitively state that the fingerboard alone is responsible of the totality of any tonal difference exhibited during the test.

 

[Darnell Jones]

I wonder if this question could be solved once and for all with a test:

Sure it can, record a bunch of different basses. Find the people that can hear the difference. Play them the recordings WITHOUT showing them the bass. See how often the correct wood is chosen.

This type of test has been done many times on this forum and others.

 

[johnk_10]

I wonder if this question could be solved once and for all with a test:

Take one bass and and four necks (two of each - rosewood and maple) knock on the back of the neck of the bass and body and record the sound of all combinations and then analyze with a spectrometer or some type of software to see if a different tone is coming through the pick-ups or the resonance of the wood. If it does, then case closed!

I'm no expert by far, but would this work?

IMO, it actually takes about 20 each of the two types to really detect a more general 'pattern' of their tonal differences.

 

[mongo2]

Sure it can, record a bunch of different basses. Find the people that can hear the difference. Play them the recordings WITHOUT showing them the bass. See how often the correct wood is chosen.

This type of test has been done many times on this forum and others.

That's actually an invalid test since there is no way of determining the definitive cause of any tonal differences due to the fact that several basses are used and effect of the fingerboard (or any other variables) cannot be isolated.

 

[chadds]

None of my responses have been about the test. Too many variables for one. For two I've seen some of the gear folks use to listen to these tests. Whoa!

I hope no bassist uses laptop speakers, Mp3s, and or YouTube to determine the absolute validity of anything.

Now if and I say if, you've been playing a long time, decades, and have a good ear, you may be able to extrapolate what something sounds like. Then, does it sound like you want it to in your hands? Maybe, maybe not.

We all have limitations of availability to try gear, cash or even, more cash.

As has been pointed out here. You may not have great hearing. You may have damaged it by playing at 11 with guitarists using 100w each in a concrete basement for too long.

Your gear while giving you your tone may have a limited ability to reproduce the differences between basses.

With those listening limitations any declarations that this sounds like this or that are just wanting.

 

[lowendfriend]

If the wood doesn't matter then why do dead spots exist (and why do they vary in intensity and location)?

Neck and body wood matter. Fingerboard wood is is negligible.

Think of it like this.....if you have a hard maple wood neck and smear a layer of velveeta cheese on it, the velveeta will have no influence on the resonant frequency of the neck. Ok now go to parmesan cheese....same story.

Now upgrade to balsa wood....same story. Until the fingerboard stiffness >>at the material thickness applied to the neck<< is stronger/stiffer than the thick, hard neck itself, its influence on resonance is negligible.

If your were applying an 1/8 of an inch of steel for the fingerboard and attaching it with a hard epoxy or bolting it to the neck, OK then it would significantly influence the resonant frequency of the bass.

Given that we're talking a fretted bass, the only way for fingerboard wood to have an influence on tone is through the resonant frequency of the neck.

Physics, mechanics, engineering....

You want to spend money on a pretty looking fingerboard, go for it. No problem... But you can't use sound as a credible reason to spend the money.

Dead spots can result from a lot of reasons, including non-uniform strength in the primary neck material, poor witness points at the saddle or nut, bad intonation or defective strings. That is more of a system issue.

I'm not trying to offend anyone here....just trying to bring some science into the discussion.

 

[johnk_10]

Dead spots can result from a lot of reasons, including non-uniform strength in the primary neck material, poor witness points at the saddle or nut, bad intonation or defective strings. That is more of a system issue.

I'm not trying to offend anyone here....just trying to bring some science into the discussion.

IMO, dead spots only have to do with the neck's (and slightly the body's combined) resonant frequency. it has nothing to do with intonation or the witness points at the nut or bridge, and no one should be using defective strings anyway.

 

[cassius987]

I hear a tiny difference, and if that's all there is, I say forget it and go for the aesthetics you like better. Good grief--what a thing to worry about. That difference will disappear in a mix in no time.

 

[Tupac]

Maple sounds so zingy and noisy. Rosewood is warm. Also, can anyone say Fender ripoff?

 

[mongo2]

Maple sounds so zingy and noisy. Rosewood is warm.

Not necessarily.

 

[Darnell Jones]

Not really. It doesn't address that fact that the tonal effect of the neck is comprised of more than just the effect of the fingerboard. There's the effect of the rest of the neck to consider as well. To many variables to definitively state that the fingerboard alone is responsible of the totality of any tonal difference exhibited during the test.

I think we're in agreement here that you just can't hear individual parts of a bass. No matter how cool it would be to do so. I brought up all the blind tests because they always seem to be missing the people who can hear the difference picking out the woods that have these unique definitive tones when you know what the woods are before hand.

 

[georgestrings]

Neck and body wood matter. Fingerboard wood is is negligible.

Think of it like this.....if you have a hard maple wood neck and smear a layer of velveeta cheese on it, the velveeta will have no influence on the resonant frequency of the neck. Ok now go to parmesan cheese....same story.

Now upgrade to balsa wood....same story. Until the fingerboard stiffness >>at the material thickness applied to the neck<< is stronger/stiffer than the thick, hard neck itself, its influence on resonance is negligible.

If your were applying an 1/8 of an inch of steel for the fingerboard and attaching it with a hard epoxy or bolting it to the neck, OK then it would significantly influence the resonant frequency of the bass.

Given that we're talking a fretted bass, the only way for fingerboard wood to have an influence on tone is through the resonant frequency of the neck.

Physics, mechanics, engineering....

You want to spend money on a pretty looking fingerboard, go for it. No problem... But you can't use sound as a credible reason to spend the money.

Dead spots can result from a lot of reasons, including non-uniform strength in the primary neck material, poor witness points at the saddle or nut, bad intonation or defective strings. That is more of a system issue.

I'm not trying to offend anyone here....just trying to bring some science into the discussion.

IMO, you're merely restating *your opinon*, and not any "science" at all... I'm basing my thoughts/opinions on many years of playing both maple and rosewood fretboards, and currently own 5 Fenders - 3 with maple boards, 2 with rosewood boards... Thru my many years of playing Fender basses, I have noticed a fairly consistant pattern regarding this subject - to each their own, though...


- georgestrings

 

[Darnell Jones]

IMO, you're merely restating *your opinon*, and not any "science" at all... I'm basing my thoughts/opinions on many years of playing both maple and rosewood fretboards, and currently own 5 Fenders - 3 with maple boards, 2 with rosewood boards... Thru my many years of playing Fender basses, I have noticed a fairly consistant pattern regarding this subject - to each their own, though...


- georgestrings

That's not science either, you're now stating your opinion as science. Which is the basis for most of these arguments.

 

[mongo2]

In the final analysis, an instrument sounds the way it sounds. As a player/consumer, all I have to do is decide whether I like the way it sounds or not.