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Rosewood vs. Maple vs. Ebony? Help me choose.
- Thread starter OhulahanBass
- Start date
- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,609
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- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
Ok, ok - I'm gonna get myself in trouble here. I'm gonna get flamed for the rest of my life, but here goes. You want your answer - get ebony, period. Just about every upscale bass maker uses ebony as it's premium fingerboard option. Sadowsky, Alembic..etc. It's a special wood for special basses & I always order it if it is an option. Also, the world seems to be running out of good ebony, so you may want to get it while you can. IMHO, IME blah blah blah ...Now if you don't mind, I'm hungry.
[url=http://www.freesmileys.org][/URL]
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- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,609
- 18,664
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
I cannot believe the amount of mis-information is on this subject.
Ebony is bright-er then rosewood with strong fundamental.
Rosewood is softer dampened highs, (warmer)
Maple bright not oily bright without the ebony fundamental.
Ebony is bright-er then rosewood with strong fundamental.
Rosewood is softer dampened highs, (warmer)
Maple bright not oily bright without the ebony fundamental.
- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,609
- 18,664
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
Let me add as I skimmed through this thread.
Of course body wood, amplification, ect make a difference.
However that is now what was asked at the start of this thread.
If one thinks that part of the string vibration that fret is attached to (or your finger the point of a fretless) makes no difference in how a string sounds then thats fine...
I feel it does.
Of course body wood, amplification, ect make a difference.
However that is now what was asked at the start of this thread.
If one thinks that part of the string vibration that fret is attached to (or your finger the point of a fretless) makes no difference in how a string sounds then thats fine...
I feel it does.
I think that part of the "difference" between fretboards woods comes from the fact that the fretboard is also a structural part of the neck. Ebony and rosewood are stronger woods than maple and will make the neck a little stiffer. The fretboard wood also interacts with the rest of the neck when the neck vibrates.
No offense intended here, but I have heard this kind of talk about the feel of fretboard wood before and I don't get it. The string rests on the fret, and your finger on the string. I never really "feel" the fretboard at all. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe it has to do with playing style, but I can't feel any difference at all between different fretboard materials. It's not a big deal, but I'm just curious what differences you feel?
Fair enough it is probably a style thing since I use a lot of slides and bends sometimes I do contact and feel the board.
Rosewood feels more abrasive and not as smooth. Hell you can see that on any bass.
Ebony is the smoothest of the three I have laid hands on.
Jim
pick ebony.im just saying that only cause i know barely any basses that have ebony fretboards.why is that anyway??
why do you never see them on basses?
why do you never see them on basses?
He speak the truth.
I would go with the Ebony. One thing about rosewood is there are soooo many types out there, some are pretty bright, others very dark (sounding). So consider that if you go with rosewood.
Warmoth necks tend to have a lot of oomph to them in the tone and the weight department because of the steel bars embedded into the necks.
As has been said, your instrument is the sum of the parts it is made from. I have had clunker necks that I put on clunker bodies with crap pickups and what do you know, suddenly those orphaned loser parts sound good. Since all the wood is different and no two instruments have the same pieces of wood it's always a crap shoot.
But once you get a drummer in the room most of it doesn't matter... though I can think of 1 or 2 basses I own that really kill... and one that was just terrible sounding (which I sold). The other dozen or so basses did the job and nobody complained.
Go into a guitar center and compare a Lakland 5502 with maple fingerboard with one with rosewood. If you don't hear the difference, you have serious problems. I say 5502, because both versions have ash body, so this is a real A/B. In case of Fenders rosewood goes with alder body normally and maple goes with ash.
IME fingerboard wood makes bigger difference in tone than bodywood.
Regarding rosewood: Brazilian rosewood is harder than maple or ebony, while Indian rosewood is softer than maple or ebony.
For me maple works best in live situations and Indian rosewood works best in the studio.
IME fingerboard wood makes bigger difference in tone than bodywood.
Regarding rosewood: Brazilian rosewood is harder than maple or ebony, while Indian rosewood is softer than maple or ebony.
For me maple works best in live situations and Indian rosewood works best in the studio.
Sorry, but that's not a valid "A/B" test for the effects of fingerboard wood type on tone.
There are many other variables introduced by the simple fact that two different basses were used. The only thing conclusive that can be determined by such "A/B" testing is 2 basses of the same type from the same manufacturer sound different. It doesn't point to any single reason as to why they sound different.
Maybe it's my English, but I don't get the point. I am running a bass store here, I know almost every main brand. There is a huge difference between maple and rosewood boards. It might be not subtle for a non-bass player, but I believe every bass player should hear the difference in tone. Live or recordings whatsoever. If fingerboard does not make any difference, let's make all fingerboards from a cheap wood, or even from plastic.
And I brought up 5502 as a good reference, because rosewood board really gives them a significantly darker tone.
If you believe wood makes a difference then that would be impossible.
According to this chart:
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/sLongley/Misc/Wood-Hardness-Chart.pdf
All rosewoods (1780 - 2800) are harder than hard maple(1450)
Since you're throwing credentials, I've played and gigged bass for nearly 40 years, repaired and built them for almost as long. I've also worked as Test Engineer for the last 22 years and as department head for 4 years so I'm familiar with what constitutes a valid test. A/B-ing two different instruments to prove a tonal diffenence due only to fingerbaord wood type isn't a valid test. It proves nothing in regard to fingerboard wood choice.
Your test also doesn't explain the fact that I own several basses with rosewood fingerboards that sound brighter than either my solid maple necks or my maple necks with maple fingerboards.
- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,609
- 18,664
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
Thanks for Acknowledgment Resin.
BTW: How do you like that MC 5-fin bonzer (I have 3 of them and love them) Ops sorry wrong forum.
Anyways
I to have built about 15 basses and done so switching around parts back in the day...They almost all work very well IMHO (one combos don't) I remember one very clearly (All walnut body, Fretted Moses, and Fralins) Way different frettless then it was a jem, with the same parts.
On average a parts bass (to me) is usually well above average.
A couple are just exceptional and the best I have played/heard.
They are talking about stiffness I believe not actual hardness. If you look at the definition of janka hardness it says "the force required to embed a .444 inch steel ball " I don't see how this would have any effect on the percieved feel by a musician, but stiffness would definitely affect the feel. (... and no stiffness and hardness are DEFINITELY not correlated. Not even a little bit.) So the original quote is only guilty of semantic problems. Certainly ebony is stiffer than maple or rosewood. As far as the other 2 I am not sure, but my GUESS is that they are closer to each other in stiffness than either one is to ebony.
Wrong. "And the truth shall set ye free:"
Link Removed
hardness and stiffness are 2 different things. Hardness would affect how easily you can dent the fingerboard. Stiffness would affect many bassists perception of the solidness of the bassneck.
Carvin's necks for instance always feel very stiff like a graphite neck. There might be other factors but certainly the thick ebony board is one.
though hadness probably does have some minimal effect on sound (this sould seem impossible to test) I would imagine stiffness to be much more influential.
And this is a little off topic, and is realted to the fact that stiffness and hardness do not correlate at all. Some stiff woods are not suited for fingerboards because they are not hard enough to hold frets in place. Some hard woods are not used because they are not stiff enough to support the neck (may eventually warp.) In short just because a wood can be bent easily doesn't mean it can be dented easily and vice versa.
Furthermore if you guys are going to go look for numbers... look for stiffness not hardness
Now I'm likely to get flamed but in my experience 95% or more of your audiences are never going to hear the sonic difference between a rosewood board, a maple board and an ebony board. There are so many other factors in the signal chain between the strings hitting the fingerboard and the listener's ear that the point is really moot. Studio may be a different story but even then I'm not so sure. I would even argue that something like whether the board has a glossy finish vs. unfinished would have more of an impact on the sound than the material per se. I am not saying that different woods do not have different inherent sonic qualities -- they do -- but what I'm saying is that those qualities really don't translate to listeners in the real world that often.
If one of those options definitely sounds better to your ear, then go for it... but really I would rank feel and looks both above sound as a consideration. Disclosure - I have played a bass with a maple fingerboard for 28 years and the next (2nd) bass I get will have a rosewood board but that's primarily cause I want to have one of each. Also cause my next bass will be some sort of reddish or yellowish sunburst and I think rosewood necks look better on those.
If one of those options definitely sounds better to your ear, then go for it... but really I would rank feel and looks both above sound as a consideration. Disclosure - I have played a bass with a maple fingerboard for 28 years and the next (2nd) bass I get will have a rosewood board but that's primarily cause I want to have one of each. Also cause my next bass will be some sort of reddish or yellowish sunburst and I think rosewood necks look better on those.
