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Rosewood/Maple Finger Boards - Tone difference?

#481
bigd4207 said:
Anything that vibates, creates accoustics. Everything has it's own acoustics, to a point. The body of any acoustic instument amplifies the the vibations. But just because you -can- hear an electric unplugged, doesn't really make it acoustic because nothing is amplified, it's just the acoustics of the vibrating string to the body.
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Actually, yes, it does make it an acoustic instrument. That's precisely WHY it's an acoustic instrument. The fact that it's not that loud is merely a matter of a difference in degree, not a difference in kind.

If an EBG were not an acoustic instrument, it would make absolutely no difference whether it were made of reinforced concrete, Lexan, or bubinga. Anybody want to argue that those three would all sound the same?
 
#484
Richard Lindsey said:
Actually, yes, it does make it an acoustic instrument. That's precisely WHY it's an acoustic instrument. The fact that it's not that loud is merely a matter of a difference in degree, not a difference in kind.

If an EBG were not an acoustic instrument, it would make absolutely no difference whether it were made of reinforced concrete, Lexan, or bubinga. Anybody want to argue that those three would all sound the same?
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Actually, NO. Dude take a d@mn EBG and an ABG. Notice any difference? The acoustic is ACOUSTICALLY AMPLIFIED. You have to add electricity to an EBG to get the same volume, period. That right there is the difference of acoustic instruments. Just because something has acoustics doesn't make it acoustic. Any speaker has acoustics, you telling me that a speaker that is fueled by electricity is putting out acoustic sound? Don't think so. The ACOUSTICS of everything that makes a bass contributes to tone, some less than others, but in no way makes it an acoustic instrument. You simply don't get the full sound out of an EBG unless it is plugged in, then you have all the electronics drowning the acoustics.
 
#487
bigd4207 said:
Actually, NO. Dude take a d@mn EBG and an ABG. Notice any difference?
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Dude, I own a d@mn EBG and a d@mn ABG, and I play both regularly. Also classical guitar and electric guitar. Been doing it for years. I'd wager I'm *at least* as familiar with the differences as you are. There's nothing you can tell me about them. I know what "acoustic" means; my comment still stands.
 
#489
Fuzzbass said:
FWIW I believe that strings and body should be considered one mechanical entity. And yes, that vibrating entity happens to create sound waves that are recognizable in pitch and timbre.

But all that's beside the point: as noted above, the sound produced by an EBG is mostly an artifact. Some of us use it to gauge the quality of that instrument's amplified tone -- this is of dubious reliability, IME -- but anyone who uses acoustics alone to judge an EBG is a fool, unless he doesn't mind replacing electronics (or perhaps that's the intent: when purchasing an MIM Fender, for example).
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Considering no one has hinted at judging a bass on acoustics alone... what was your point?

When we start mic'ing our EBG's or playing 'em unplugged at coffee house gigs, we can call 'em acoustic. As it is now, few but us EBGers (when rehearsing at home) have ever heard the *sound* of an EBG.
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I have no idea where you're pulling that idea from. You seriously think that most people have not played their basses unplugged? Wow.
 
#491
bigd4207 said:
Actually, NO. Dude take a d@mn EBG and an ABG. Notice any difference? The acoustic is ACOUSTICALLY AMPLIFIED. You have to add electricity to an EBG to get the same volume, period. That right there is the difference of acoustic instruments. Just because something has acoustics doesn't make it acoustic. Any speaker has acoustics, you telling me that a speaker that is fueled by electricity is putting out acoustic sound?
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Well, I'll admit you've piqued my curiousity. What kind of non-acoustic sound does a speaker produce?

I'm also marvelling at how you're trying to compare a speaker to an EBG.

Don't think so. The ACOUSTICS of everything that makes a bass contributes to tone, some less than others, but in no way makes it an acoustic instrument. You simply don't get the full sound out of an EBG unless it is plugged in, then you have all the electronics drowning the acoustics.
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I'll probably have to think really, really hard to blow that premise out of the water, no wait...

I plug a bass I've played unplugged in and it now sounds like it did unplugged, just louder. It can and does happen.

Is it drowning out the acoustic sound...

or reproducing it?

Take your time.
 
#492
Fuzzbass said:
An electric solid-body bass has acoustic properties, but those acoustic properties are not used to create music: pickups sense the oscillation of the string, not the sound produced by that string. Sure, there's some relationship between the two, and sure, I can rehearse with my bass unplugged, and tune my bass unplugged. But that is not significant:
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It's significant if you don't have an amp and need to shed on something... or just need to do it quietly.

I have no idea why you're stuck on this relative volume thing.

the bottom line is that I will never ever record or gig with my bass unplugged, and I'm not aware of anyone else doing so.
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Which has zip to do with whether or not you can hear an EBG, ever. I'm sitting here playing one of mine unplugged right now:eek:

It's a huge stretch to call an electric solidbody bass an acoustic instrument just because it makes sound with pitch.
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Nowhere near as huge a stretch as calling the sound an EBG makes unplugged "noise". That would be the player's fault, not the instrument;)

On the flip side of the coin, it's a huge stretch to call a double bass an electric instrument just because some of them have pickups!
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IS anyone doing this? No. In fact the only logic that might allow something this flawed is... yours:D

You're talking about plugs, gigging and recording, we're talking about SOUND.

It's simple: double basses were designed to be used without amplifcation. Solidbody bass guitars were not.
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That does not mean they don't produce a usable and or recognizable sound... first.
:bassist:
 
#494
Richard Lindsey said:
Actually, yes, it does make it an acoustic instrument. That's precisely WHY it's an acoustic instrument. The fact that it's not that loud is merely a matter of a difference in degree, not a difference in kind.

If an EBG were not an acoustic instrument, it would make absolutely no difference whether it were made of reinforced concrete, Lexan, or bubinga. Anybody want to argue that those three would all sound the same?
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So far, no... which is pretty curious considering it would be true if the EBG wasn't primarily acoustic.

:bassist:
 
#499
All my basses since I started playing have had a dark colored fingerboard (ebony,rosewood) but I never owned one with a maple board.

Whenever I pickup a bass that has maple, it feels weird to me when I look at the fingerboard and play. Does anybody else feel this way, or do I need to stop confusing myself, and get out there and play more? :p Wish I didn't have this psycological barrier though. How do you do it?
 

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