Musicman20 Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) Ive had rosewood board basses for years. I got a little tired of them a few years back, and thought maple would be better for 'me'. Obviously, everyone is different, and it seems the majority on here prefer maple. Something about the aesthetics of a dark board, and that smooth soft finish just works for me. Plus, if you want it to sound more agressive, use your EQ or stainless strings! I am not saying I wont flirt with maple in the future, and ive got a Telecaster guitar with maple that feels and sounds great, but im pretty certain after years of messing about, im a rosewood guy. Edited October 12, 2010 by Musicman20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 You are getting old, aren't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) I have been a die hard maple fan for years but recently have found a love for rosewood. Maybe it's an age thing? EDIT. WoT beat me to it! Edited October 12, 2010 by paul h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I really dont think it has much noticable difference on sound (I've got a maple fingerboard P bass and it's the darkest sounding bass I've ever owned!) but that's up for debate. I'm not sure which I prefer looks wise, I was very much a maple person, but rosewood is starting to win me over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokl Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 What about ebony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I'm an ebony man! Looks so delicious and deep you can get a really nice bright, responsive sound if you get your EQ just right. Tuckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Rosewood through an SVT. There is no other way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 The following utterances are opinions, not facts. For me it's purely an aesthetic choice. It depends on the bass. I think a maple board looks ridiculous on a Les Paul bass, for instance. Rosewood would be too dark for my black Gibson G-3 with black pickguard and matching black headstock, the black/maple combination is a classic. I couldn't give a monkey's about the tonal differences. I'm not saying they don't exist, I just think that they're lost in the statistical underflow of the situation and it's all about how far you'd like to take the pedantry. You could argue that two outwardly identical basses from the same manufacturer will sound different because the pieces of wood aren't exact clones of each other, there will be tiny variances in the coil windings in the pickups, perhaps the chemical properties of one of the solder joints is slightly different, altering its electrical conductivity and hence altering the sound. Do you think the player can feasibly play the same piece of music in EXACTLY the same way each time? We're not robots! I don't care about all that, as long as the bass feels good to play, has a nice sound which I enjoy listening to (or can be moulded into a nice sound with either bass or amp controls) and looks good (to me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 [quote name='Wil' post='985490' date='Oct 12 2010, 10:50 AM']I really dont think it has much noticable difference on sound ... but [b]that's up for debate[/b].[/quote] Come on then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 [quote name='neepheid' post='985499' date='Oct 12 2010, 11:00 AM']The following utterances are opinions, not facts.[/quote] FWIW, I agree. Apart from preferring maple with black. Ebony with black is the way forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 [quote name='BottomEndian' post='985502' date='Oct 12 2010, 11:02 AM']FWIW, I agree. Apart from preferring maple with black. Ebony with black is the way forward. [/quote] None more black, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 [quote name='neepheid' post='985506' date='Oct 12 2010, 11:05 AM']None more black, eh? [/quote] Precisely. As an aside, properly black ebony is apparently getting quite rare now, and correspondingly expensive. It'll be a proper luxury option soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 Its more a 'feel' and aesthetics difference with me. I had a 3EQ Natural/Maple Ray which looked stunning! I also had a 3EQ Black/Rosewood Ray which didnt, IMO, look as exciting as the grain on the Natural was stunning. But, everytime I picked up the Black/Rosewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 hmm thinking through ebony getting scarcer, do you think maple is more forest friendly than rosewood?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I have three basses with maple fingerboards, they all sound really different when played acoustically so I'm not convinced by the 'maple sounds like X and rosewood sounds like Y'. For me its mostly down to looks, the difference in tone is pretty minimal and is generally down to the design, construction and finish of the bass rather than the wood on the fingerboard. That said, I didn't set out to buy a bass with a maple board, its just that the basses that I played and liked just happened to have them. Rosewood is just as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I prefer maple (sonically and aesthetically) but it is of such a negligible importance to me that I've ended up with more r/w necks than maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Maple looks nicer in general, IMV, but you still need the rest of the bass to compliment it. I have a blonde bass, with fancy maple and I thought I also wanted one like it plus it sounds great....but I find more and more I am going with the solid coloured RW as it just has that something else. Not really defined what that is, I just like it. RW HAS to be blocked and bound though, IMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 My 2 Mexicans are RW & look/feel/sound lovely but my '51 P is one piece Maple & that for me looks/feels/sounds that bit better. My new '57 P is one piece Maple too & that is even sweeter! I haven't tried a 'stuck on' Maple board though, I suppose that would be more comparable to a 'stuck on RW than a one piece neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I can't say I've ever noticed the two woods sounding especially different, I prefer rosewood though purely because my fingers sweat a lot and glossy maple boards get sticky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 I think the EBMM maple boards are nice due to the one piece of maple for the neck/board, not separate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) [quote name='neepheid' post='985499' date='Oct 12 2010, 11:00 AM']The following utterances are opinions, not facts.[/quote] Whereas the following utterances are facts, not opinions. The look of rosewood plus blocks/binding is the sex. But maple just sounds funk-eh and that's that. Edited October 12, 2010 by LawrenceH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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