quick question about boards

[spots]

This might not make much sense but here goes...
Would you say that it is easier to get a maple sound out of a rosewood board or a rosewood sound out of a maple board?

Just for clarification in my head maple=bright, punchy, strong attack and rosewood=mellow, round

Is maple more versatile than rosewood or vice versa? Are neither more versatile?

I'm looking into getting a new bass and i'm considering fretboards? something that can cover all styles

Thx for any help with my weird little question...

 

[spots]

the bass will most likely be a lakland 55-02 so im basically stuck with maple or rosewood. My current bass is an sr485 strung with flatwounds and rosewood neck. I dig the sound but im kind of drawn to maple boards for aethetic purposes b/c i plan on getting standard natural finish and the maple would be matching

If it helps, my style is mainly finger style, just getting into slap now. And I like to play jazz, fusion, groove funk, and light slap

 

[RAM]

To my ears, anyway, ebony offers the best of both worlds. Ever consider that?

 

[JPJ]

In my opinion, it is probably easier to take some of the high-end snap and bite away from a maple board (roll off tone control, favor neck pickup, play near the neck, tweak preamp, etc.) than it is to add the type of snap and brightness that maple provides to a rosewood board. However, I'm not convinced that even with such tweaking that you could make maple sound like rosewood or rosewood sound like maple. I'd recommend that you examine your playing style and the type of tone that you will need from this bass. I'd guess that you're probably not right on the center of the fence....that you probably are leaning one way or another. Go with what you favor and use playing styles and tone controls on the bass/amp to compensate for when you need a different tone.

 

[spots]

well i went down to cambridge music on hemenway today and tried out their black 55-01
it was quite sweet but im still gassing for that 55-02. The 55-01 had a maple board and i was able to make it sound pretty jazzy and smooth but not as jazzy and smooth as i would like. So far I've been able to try the 44-02 and the 55-01 and these are my basic impressions
the 44-02 didn't have a distinctive overall tone. It was capable of many different sounds and tones and i really liked the versatility of the bas. I could dial in slap tones and jazz tones and even some rock and they all sounded good.
the 55-01 had its own special tone. I liked the tone. it had a little twang to it and could be tweaked to both slap and jazz styles but the distinctive tone always rang through
Overall, Im a bit torn right now... hehe
The tone of the 55-01 was distinctive and tweakable but i loved the versatility of the 44-02. And i still can't decide b/w maple and rosewood. I believe im still set of the 55-02 but idont think id be able to try one out before i buy. I could have cambridge music order me one just like i want it (natural finish 55-02) but id have to buy... Im considering calling up dan lakin and asking him for his recommendation before i make a decision but i feel that i might be wasting his valuable time with my 16 year old ness. Ok, this has been quite long and rambling for which im sorry. If anyone has any more tips on maple/rosewood or on my predicament please post em.
~spots

 

[spots]

Quite true.

Purple Heart and Cocobolo are also excellent wood for fingerboards but they have to have a finish to keep from darkening over time.

nice ideas. But we're talking lakland skylines so its basically down to maple or rosewood...
besides with my anemic budget i doubt i could afford a nice purple heart fingerboard

 

[seanm]

the bass will most likely be a lakland 55-02 so im basically stuck with maple or rosewood. My current bass is an sr485 strung with flatwounds and rosewood neck. I dig the sound but im kind of drawn to maple boards for aethetic purposes b/c i plan on getting standard natural finish and the maple would be matching

If you like the sound of the rosewood (I sure do) try: natural finish, black pickguard and rosewood fretboard. The black looks great against natural and blends into the rosewood. Great workingmans bass!