basstech Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Is it just me - or does maple seem to sound better?? - Gonna buy a 2012 American Jazz Deluxe but jury is out on the neck issue.. JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethfriend Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 don't know about sounding better but looks and feels better to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 It's all down to taste. Certainly doesn't make a 'better' bass. Doesn't hold frets as well as rosewood, from a builders perspective, and it does get dirtier, quicker. It seems to be more popular than rw in my experience. Of course, macassar ebony has to be my favourite fb wood of all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Rosewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 See... I would go with Maple, but will admit it's an aesthetic choice over anything more fundamental. My current collection seems predicated upon Black or dark basses with Maple fretboards, and it's a look I certainly like - and it does no harm to an already quality instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1335220398' post='1627656'] Rosewood. [/quote]good lad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I generally prefer the look of maple, but even then it depends on the colour scheme. I personally think that the sonic differences between the maple and rosewood are pretty minimal compared to fundamental issues like design, build quality, strings, eq, playing style. When it comes to a Fender just go into a shop and try all of them until you find one that looks great and plays great. Or if you are ordering blind just order the one you think looks the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I'm always swapping necks on my Jazz and it does make a big difference to the sound. I think I prefer the warmer sound rosewood gives me but I prefer the look of maple. Catch 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 This is something I've thought about on occasion. On a fretted bass does it have a major impact on the tone? Surely the fret wire will have more of an influence. I've heard it said that maple gives a warmer/brighter tone than Rosewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashevans09 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I can't personally find much different in tone between the two, but feel wise I definitely prefer maple over anything else. Feels more slick. That said, it could all be in my head. I have basses I love with both, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I think the influence on tone is extremely minimal - much less than strings, pickups, pick or fingers, playing near bridge or neck, amp settings etc., they all beat fingerboard wood. But I still think rosewood looks and feels better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 both my current basses have rosewood boards I have had a maple board but rosewood IMO looks better, feels better and sounds better - or maybe that's just in the mind I'd like to try an ebony board as I think that possibly looks better than rosewood but as it's harder it should be brighter....but isn't it heavy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I sort of reckon the maple is better association comes from all the cheap basses for a fair period having rosewood boars. It isn't so much the case any more. I like purpleheart fingerboards. I find a board I can oil satisfying, an my maple board basses don't get so much play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I think maple looks better, but that rosewood feels better. Personally I have no idea of one sounds better than the other because there are so many things on a bass that will change the sound more than the fretboard material! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 [quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1335221120' post='1627678'] I generally prefer the look of maple, but even then it depends on the colour scheme. I personally think that the sonic differences between the maple and rosewood are pretty minimal compared to fundamental issues like design, build quality, strings, eq, playing style. When it comes to a Fender just go into a shop and try all of them until you find one that looks great and plays great. Or if you are ordering blind just order the one you think looks the best. [/quote] [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1335222392' post='1627698'] I think the influence on tone is extremely minimal - much less than strings, pickups, pick or fingers, playing near bridge or neck, amp settings etc., they all beat fingerboard wood. But I still think rosewood looks and feels better. [/quote] +1 to both of these posts. There can be big enough differences on different examples to swamp any variation in tone caused by the fingerboard. If the different feel doesn't bother you (it isn't huge anyway), go for looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Rosewood looks much cooler when it is heavily worn, maple tends to look horrible when it is worn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Maple. I can't play rosewood boards. But it has to be one-piece maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I think maple tends to have a slight snap and creaminess to the upper mids that rosewood doesn`t have. That said, I`ve never swapped the necks on any bass, so it may have been the body of the bass, or the windings on the pickups that gave that. Still, it`s been there on all 3 basses I`ve had with maple necks, and never been there on any with rosewood or ebony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Don't care. I have rosewood, maple, wenge and ebony fretboards and, for me, the shape of the neck as a whole matters more than what the frets have been hammered into. Once it sounds good, feels good and looks good I just don't care what it is and all are perfectly capable of meeting those criteria. Most people can't tell one from the other with their eyes closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I think Maple looks a hell of a lot better, unless it's fretless. Sound-wise, i don't think there's really much difference, it's mostly from an aesthetic point of view to me. Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 [quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1335253105' post='1627844'] Don't care. I have rosewood, maple, wenge and ebony fretboards and, for me, the shape of the neck as a whole matters more than what the frets have been hammered into. Once it sounds good, feels good and looks good I just don't care what it is and all are perfectly capable of meeting those criteria. Most people can't tell one from the other with their eyes closed. [/quote] This with knobs on! I've also played ebonol and graphite necks/boards and would totally agree with this comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Surely the construction and finishing differences between Fender necks with rosewood and maple boards is just as important (if not more so) than the type of wood the frets are attached to? IIRC necks with maple boards are actually all one piece with the truss rod fitted from behind, hence the skunk stripe and are then lacquered to prevent the from looking dirty. Necks with rosewood fingerboards are obviously two pieces of wood glued together and the fingerboard is not lacquered since it doesn't show the dirt as badly. I would have thought that the fact that the neck with the rosewood fingerboard is made of two different bits of wood glued together has far more effect on the sound that the type of wood used for the fingerboard. Has anyone made a bass with a rosewood neck and a maple fingerboard to compare and contrast? From an aesthetics PoV the choice is entirely subjective. Personally I don't like necks that are a different colour to the body of the bass because IMO they look cheap and nasty, so to me the only acceptable Fender finish is all maple on a plain light coloured body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Does maple sound better? Let's see. Maple - makes me think of syrup which makes me think of pancakes. Rosewood - roses smell nice and make me think of romance. Ebony - the colour of Snow White's hair and any black Gibson. Wenge - the first thing that comes into mind is a wedgie, then wedging something in place which sounds like a bodge job to me. So no, not all fingerboard woods sound good to me Humour aside, I don't care what wood the fingerboard is made of. I consider any effect on the sound to be minimal to the point of not worrying about it. As an aesthetic choice the only thing I object to is anaemic looking maple - get a bit of tint in that lacquer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 [quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1335223066' post='1627708'] both my current basses have rosewood boards I have had a maple board but rosewood IMO looks better, feels better and sounds better - or maybe that's just in the mind I'd like to try an ebony board as I think that possibly looks better than rosewood but as it's harder it should be brighter....but isn't it heavy? [/quote] I have a fretless ebony board on a Warmoth P neck and it's not obnoxiously heavy. The board is such a small part of the neck the difference in density between various woods shouldn't amount to much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Yeah I am a maple lover, me. It doesn't just sound better to me, it feels better at the touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.