Rosewood/Maple Finger Boards - Tone difference?

[KayCee]

why? does bamboo hurt more than rosewood? i heard someone say if you're getting beaten up blindfolded you can't tell the difference.

You feel it more in the low end.

 

[Fretless5verfan]

You feel it more in the low end.

Bamboo definately cuts better too.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Bamboo definately cuts better too.

don't forget that bamboo can also sing in the wind.

 

[Fuzzbass]

That still doesn't clear anything up, as has been posted before, you take one tree, cut 10 different basses out of it. Not a single one will sound exactly like another one from the same tree. The sterlings did sound pretty damn close to each other. However following that philosophy, the difference could simply be the wood of the body.

Exactly.

I own two identical Fender Roscoe Beck V basses: alder body, maple neck, pau ferro fingerboard. Even when freshly strung with identical string sets, they sound as different as the Sterlings in the soundclips above. One's distinctly brighter than the other... or the other sounds warmer. Same difference.

I bet that in a blindfold test, 90% of us would make one or both of the following statements**:
1) The difference in tone is maple versus rosewood
2) The difference in tone is alder versus ash



**Well, the problem is that many of us already know that Fender doesn't offer any wood options on the RB5: they are all made of alder/maple/pau ferro. But it would be easy enough to find standard J-basses that were identical in woods but different in tone, and perform that same blind listening test.

 

[bigd4207]

The way I see it, if you are happy with your bass, what does it matter what it's made of. If you want a certain sound the body and pickups are what I look for in an instrument. That and bolt on/neck thru.

 

[alanbass1]

The way I see it, if you are happy with your bass, what does it matter what it's made of. If you want a certain sound the body and pickups are what I look for in an instrument. That and bolt on/neck thru.

I agree, but there's still a difference. I find it more noticeable on my guitars, but certainly there on my basses as well.

 

[Brad Johnson]

He didn't go out of context at all, just simply pointing out what many of us fee; no matter whether there is a difference or not, we're less interested in it from a scientific viewpoint and more concerned with how it affects us onstage or in the studio with regards to getting the tone we want happening.

Which is why we've brought up body wood etc, because most of us believe that, be there a difference measurable or not, it will be one of the most insignificant differences compared to the other elements that make up a bass.

And for many people, you'd be wrong for what should be but obviously isnt a very simple reason...

if you WANT what that fingerboard is giving you, it is NOT insignificant. Granted some of you really feel that trying to EQ one to sound SIMILAR to the other is enough. Knock yourselves out. I don't. I'd rather plug the one that does what I want IN. Is that really too simple for some of you?

I also agree that this has been taken out of context. That too should be obvious but no surprise, it isn't. This wasn't about what effects tone MORE, body woods or neck woods or ss vs. black screws, was it? It was about the effect on tone of the two choices.

For those that don't get it it will remain bull$#!t. For those elitists () that do, it's reality. I have no problem with people who don't get it except how positive they are that the difference is inconsequential when they don't even take into consideration the actual bass in question.

 

[Brad Johnson]

The way I see it, if you are happy with your bass, what does it matter what it's made of. If you want a certain sound the body and pickups are what I look for in an instrument. That and bolt on/neck thru.

It clearly doesn't matter... for you. It just as likely doesn't matter for anyone who ALREADY has a bass they're happy with.

Which has nothing to do with this conversation, does it?

 

[Akami]

And for many people, you'd be wrong for what should be but obviously isnt a very simple reason...

if you WANT what that fingerboard is giving you, it is NOT insignificant. Granted some of you really feel that trying to EQ one to sound SIMILAR to the other is enough. Knock yourselves out. I don't. I'd rather plug the one that does what I want IN. Is that really too simple for some of you?

I also agree that this has been taken out of context. That too should be obvious but no surprise, it isn't. This wasn't about what effects tone MORE, body woods or neck woods or ss vs. black screws, was it? It was about the effect on tone of the two choices.

For those that don't get it it will remain bull$#!t. For those elitists () that do, it's reality. I have no problem with people who don't get it except how positive they are that the difference is inconsequential when they don't even take into consideration the actual bass in question.

You feel you get something you're looking for with a particular fingerboard material then I'm glad it's available for you to buy.

Anyway, body wood affects tone more than fingerboard material and ss screws sound the same as black ones.

I also have no problem with people who feel there is a big enough difference to matter to them unless they're trying to make others feel inferior for not having the same values as them.

 

[Fretless5verfan]

And for many people, you'd be wrong for what should be but obviously isnt a very simple reason...

if you WANT what that fingerboard is giving you, it is NOT insignificant. Granted some of you really feel that trying to EQ one to sound SIMILAR to the other is enough. Knock yourselves out. I don't. I'd rather plug the one that does what I want IN. Is that really too simple for some of you?

I also agree that this has been taken out of context. That too should be obvious but no surprise, it isn't. This wasn't about what effects tone MORE, body woods or neck woods or ss vs. black screws, was it? It was about the effect on tone of the two choices.

For those that don't get it it will remain bull$#!t. For those elitists () that do, it's reality. I have no problem with people who don't get it except how positive they are that the difference is inconsequential when they don't even take into consideration the actual bass in question.

I can't believe you just called yourself an elitist :scowl:

 

[Joelc73]

All the settings on the Amps and Basses will be set flat.Volume will be the only thing used and of all the Basses that will be used the same exact Bass lines will be played on each one.

I will not be taking the test.

I haven't waded through this entire post but I just completed a similar experiment to what it sounds like JAUQO is talking about.

Albeit for different purposes, we A/B'd various wood combos on identical basses. They are all solid body with no tops and they each have identical electronics packages.

For what it's worth, you can very clearly hear the differences in swaping an Ebony board for a Rosewood board.

I won't link to the page out of respect for the CUP but the clips are up if anyone wants to hear the differences.

 

[Sadowsky]

For what it's worth, you can very clearly hear the differences in swaping an Ebony board for a Rosewood board.

Thanks Joel.

Roger

 

[Fretless5verfan]

For what it's worth, you can very clearly hear the differences in swaping an Ebony board for a Rosewood board.

Come on now...we both know the difference is comming from the finish, NOT the fretboad. Everyone knows that darker finishes sound darker and anything with red in it sounds compressed.

Seriously though, you really can clearly tell the difference, but they all sound mighty good

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Thanks Joel,
but now you may have to watch your back

 

[Eric Perry]

One small step for Moo, one giant leap for Mookind.

That line right there just made my morning!

 

[Joelc73]

Thanks Joel,
but now you may have to watch your back

... I've got my own opinion but I'm not choosing sides. I'm just offering another resource from which people can decide for themselves whether or not they hear a difference in tone.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

... I've got my own opinion but I'm not choosing sides. I'm just offering another resource from which people can decide for themselves whether or not they hear a difference in tone.

No Joel,
I knew exactly where you were coming from.

 

[Fuzzbass]

For those that don't get it it will remain bull$#!t. For those elitists () that do, it's reality. I have no problem with people who don't get it....

Jeez, Brad... your tagline used to be "As always, I could be wrong". How come you're conceding no such thing in this case? You lay claim to "reality", and everyone who disagrees "doesn't get it".

You could be wrong. You also misrepresent many of us the other side. I've never said that there's no difference between fingerboard woods. I've simply said 1) that difference is subtle, and 2) it's unpredictable. Luthiery is not chemistry.


Slightly different topic: do you agree with Roger Sadowsky that the fingerboard wood has more of an effect than body wood (all else being equal, yadda yadda)? I'm not trying to start anything ; just curious.

 

[Fuzzbass]

...we A/B'd various wood combos on identical basses. They are all solid body with no tops and they each have identical electronics packages.

For what it's worth, you can very clearly hear the differences in swaping an Ebony board for a Rosewood board.

Did you physically swap the board? Or did you swap the neck containing the board? Or are you simply comparing basses that are "identical" (emphasis on the quotes) except for fingerboard?

 

[MacGroove]

Slightly different topic: do you agree with Roger Sadowsky that the fingerboard wood has more of an effect than body wood (all else being equal, yadda yadda)? I'm not trying to start anything ; just curious.

Although all parts of the bass contribute to the basses tone, the main tonal voicing is in the neck and body, from the nut to the bridge. This is where the strings rest. IMO, this includes the fret board.