Rosewood or maple fretboard?

[jbhaugh]

Just pick whichever one you like the look of. It doesn’t matter.

 

[sawzalot]

The bottom line is you buy the bass that sounds good and plays good. If you can't play them, buy the one that you like the looks of best.

 

[Mvilmany]

I much prefer the look at feel of rosewood, especially Brazilian Rosewood, but say goodbye to that. I do find it harder to see where I am on the board in dark lighting with a rosewood board.

 

[TinyE]

maple!

 

[Claymore]

And one other thing, I prefer the look of a maple neck on a white bass. My Olympic White Jazz has white binding on the neck, white pickups, white pickguard, and white strat-type control knobs. But if I got the same sound out of it with a rosewood fingerboard, I'd be fine with that:
View attachment 4065337

That is really sharp. I like that.

 

[BlueTalon]

I much prefer the look at feel of rosewood, especially Brazilian Rosewood, but say goodbye to that. I do find it harder to see where I am on the board in dark lighting with a rosewood board.

Fishing lure stickers.

 

[coyote1]

An early guitar of mine had a maple fretboard, and due to the finish my fingers would get stuck on it. Didn’t have that issue with rosewood or ebony.... nowadays I of course know the issue is with the finish that was used on that instrument. Nonetheless, the ‘bias’ I learned from it has stuck. I’ve never purchased an instrument with a maple fingerboard since lol

 

[brother21]

It must be the dopamine feedback loop that keeps these threads alive.

 

[LoTone]

I don't mean to be rude but, since you are a beginner, you will most likely not pick up the subtle acquired taste differences between maple vs rosewood.

Get the one that looks good to you.

Personally, aesthetically, I always choose maple over rosewood.

 

[mikeyjm2]

My solution was fishing lure stickers.

That's a really excellent idea. My dumb question: can you buy the lure stickers separately? I have quite a few lures around, but I'd hate to de-sticker them as I use them fairly regularly.

 

[BlueTalon]

That's a really excellent idea. My dumb question: can you buy the lure stickers separately? I have quite a few lures around, but I'd hate to de-sticker them as I use them fairly regularly.

You certainly can.
Try here and here. (The images on that second site look really dull, but the stickers themselves are brilliant.)

 

[beatdatthang]

I have basses with Maple, Rosewood, Ebony, and Wenge fretboards. It’s 99% looks, maybe 1% difference in tone or feel. As an admitted beginner, buy what looks best to you. I can all but guarantee you won’t notice any difference in the way the bass sounds or plays.

 

[Michael Jewels]

I actually bought my first instrument with a maple board in 40 years yesterday. Should be delivered to the store soon. A Schecter CV5.