jay249 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I will stick to my ''dumb'' guns and add this... Balderdash! Particularly where frets are concerned, A/B tests are all well and good but i'd much prefer to see one where someone records 10 identical basslines, with the wood random throughout, and we can see how much those people who think it matters can really ''hear''! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 people keep comparing this to wood and graphite they do make a difference in my opinion, as that part of the structure of the bass, effect tension tone playability and loads of factors. i also think the lacuered fretboards make a difference too. but i stick my guns and says that unlacqured rosewood and maple boards have pretty much no difference in tone, its all about electronics, scale, and the main mass material of the bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='202347' date='May 19 2008, 06:13 PM']I'll relent and say... If it [i]does[/i] make a difference, it's [i]minute[/i] compared to other factors.[/quote] ...there's the correct answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 ......so it's basically the look rather than the tone difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I think it does make a difference, by the laws of physics it really has to. However I think that the difference that people say/think it makes is greatly disproportionate to how big a role it actually plays in the sound, particularly in electric instruments. I happen to have those clips from talkbass saved and labelled if anyone would like to have a test on here. Am I right in remembering that it was the same test bass just with a swapped neck? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 [quote name='Jase' post='202630' date='May 20 2008, 09:35 AM']......so it's basically the look rather than the tone difference?[/quote] There's a slight difference in the way they play, too - more noticeable on a g*itar though. If you use side-to-side vibrato, a rosewood board is generally rougher than a maple board and less smooth doing the side-to-side (or string bending generally). I've had one bass with a maple fretboard, a Hayman 40/40, and that sounded really dull. Of course that would have been the fretboard and not the five year old flatwound Rotosounds then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakenewmanbass Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 (edited) Well, just like other compounds, basses have properties, which are generally defined by internal factors ie materials, electronics etc etc. It follows, by definition, that there is variance in what different properties in their compound form (a bass) exhibit. Otherwise every bass would sound the same. The degrees to which the variance in said properties is measurable is where this discussion has its genesis. Consider those facts naysayers and now tell me that an ebony fingerboard on a double bass exhibits the same properties (sound) as a sh*tty little piece of pine painted black. If you can prove your case within a given time frame of (lets be generous) a million years. Assuming that we have both been cryogenically preserved and brought back from the dead when all mankinds ailments have been resolved, and I will dance naked in the court of whichever pope has been ressurected by similar means. Edited May 20, 2008 by jakesbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pkomor Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 hehe ^^ [quote name='Stewart' post='202311' date='May 19 2008, 05:41 PM']I'd have thought that the lacquer finish over the entire fretboard and frets (invariably used with maple 'boards) might have as much influence as the wood itself...[/quote] I dont think my 'ray has a lacquer finish, it seems natural! i think what we need is a test..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 [quote]Fretlesses are a different matter, but I can imagine that two materials of equal hardness and stiffness would be indistinguishable. I remember reading somewhere about a guy who was making fingerboards from glass and granite... would be interesting.[/quote] Speaking of glass fingerboards, Ned Evett is the supporting act for Satriani's concert in Nottingham tonight, which I am seriously stoked about. Anybody else going? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 [quote name='dlloyd' post='203658' date='May 21 2008, 12:36 PM']Fretlesses are a different matter, but I can imagine that two materials of equal hardness and stiffness would be indistinguishable. I remember reading somewhere about a guy who was making fingerboards from glass and granite... would be interesting.[/quote] I was easily able to tell the difference, soundwise, between my Graphite necked fretless Jazz and RW fretless Jazz. With flats on both I could never 'tame' the zing out of the graphite. The RW was always much warmer and easier to get the mwah sound on. On fretted basses - never been able to tell the difference. My RW necked P bass is mellower than the maple necked Ray but that's bugger all to do with the neck.....IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkypenguin Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 You can certainly tell the difference if the fretboard/neck is composite. modulus and status basses both have a certain clarity that the wooden neck/fretboard seems to lack. As for the rosewood/maple fretboard argument, put two same spec stingrays, one maple one rosewood, through a back to back test and make up your own mind. i find you can tell the difference, for what its worth, the maple being slightly brighter and having a little more punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 People keep talking about necks rather than fretboards, which is what the question was regarding. I'm sure that different neck materials would make a more noticable difference (depending on how different they are, of course) than the fretboard, but I'm equally sure that the fretboard will make some difference. Stands to logic, as someone has already said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMART Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 (edited) Just to throw something else but somewhat fundamental into the hat to dispel the myths about 'tone' woods is that THE biggest single influencer and source or any instruments tone and sound are the pickup and strings, everything else is to be honest peripheral and a lot of marketing speak has been created (and it's fun and sounds great!) about all of this. Remember to that the make of amplification and its voicing can also make its mark on your tone unless you use an amplification that truly is a transparent as you can get, then it will be your instrument that will shine through... Just some thoughts... Ciao Ian Edited May 31, 2008 by SMART Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Honestly I believe it may make quite a difference. Many people here have stated that the strings don't touch the fretboard. However... The frets are mounted on the fretboard Fretboard has different ridgity, strength and other properties Vibrations go from fret -> fretboard -> neck aswell as nut -> neck and bridge -> body -> neck These vibrations add up to a resultant vibration which ultimately will colour the sound, however we dont know how much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foal30 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I've thought for quite a while that the common descriptors for Rosewood and Maple should be around the other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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