Maple or rosewood fretboard for Fender American P Bass

[sk8]

I buying a Fender MIA P soon and don't know which fretboard to choose. I've currently got rosewood on my other bass but wondered waht are the advantages, disadvantages between them if any

Thanks in advance

Edited November 15, 2007 by sk8

[dave_bass5]

I believe the Maple fretboard's give a brighter sound but dont quote me on that.
Although i dont own a one i think they look nicer than rosewood fretboards. I just havnet been able to find a bass i could afford and like with one.

[sk8]

i've got rosewood on my current bass but the maple does look better on the Ps

[The Burpster]

IMHO..... Maple looks better, feels better and is more versatile as it generally produces a brighter tone.... Its lower mainatainance tooo as it is generally varnished.

HOWEVER and this is a big however a bright rosewood board can be brigther than a dull maple board/neck.... see where I'm coming from?

In the looks dept, I prefer blonde!

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='The Burpster' post='88796' date='Nov 15 2007, 09:07 AM']IMHO..... Maple looks better, feels better and is more versatile as it generally produces a brighter tone.... Its lower mainatainance tooo as it is generally varnished.

HOWEVER and this is a big however a bright rosewood board can be brigther than a dull maple board/neck.... see where I'm coming from?

In the looks dept, I prefer blonde! [/quote]

A tight grained rosewood 'can' be bright but you'll tend to find that maple is brighter.

I had the chance to try a maple, rosewood and ebony board on a custom Jazz bass that I was having built. I had a couple of weeks with each so I had time to assess them but not so long that I forgot what the others sounded like and there is a difference in tone between them, (very) broadly speaking maple is bright, rosewood mellow and ebony between the two. HOWEVER... a big caveat is that body woods and pups (among other things) will have an influence on the degree to which this is true.

With all other things being equal on your P bass, the maple should be brighter than the rosewood.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I prefer the more mellow sound of a rosewood board with a P, but I have a US P with maple a MIJ P with maple and a "frankenstein" fretless with ebony. My Maple necked P is very bright even with TI flats, but that could just as equally be due to the heavy ash body and original 80s pickup. I'm thinking of putting a Wizard thumper in to warm up the tone a bit.

Because of the finish applied to maple it is a more expensive job to get a refret on a maple board - not that this would worry you on a new bass of course.

[steve]

maple, like everyone ('cept JLP) above said.

[wateroftyne]

I don't know if the maple/rosewood thing is as clear-cut as it seems.

Assuming we're talking about fretted necks, the strings never touch the fretboard - should the wood make that much difference?

Edited November 15, 2007 by wateroftyne

[Old Horse Murphy]

I've got a rosewood neck on my Fender Precision and it's lovely.

As a rule though I prefer maple fingerboards on most basses apart from Fenders where (to me) they feel too heavily lacquered and varnished. Most Fenders I've ever had have been Rosewood boards as a result.

The maple boards on my Stingray and Laklands are wonderful and I generally prefer the look of maple boards too, but there are certain finishes where I think Rosewood looks better (Sunburst for instance).

So in summary, I don't know.

Edited November 15, 2007 by Old Horse Murphy

[s_u_y_*]

Me being the vain guy I am ( ) I say get a maple board if the body colour is dark, and a rosewood board if the body is light. For me, the constrast is appealing. Though I will say that black/black/rosewood combo does look pretty nice as an exception. For sunburst, both maple and rosewood work because it has both light and dark. This is just my taste, but there is logic to my madness.

[jwbassman]

Maple gets my vote too...

Something like this [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8471"]My recently purchased US Fender Precision[/url]

[Old Horse Murphy]

Here are my 2. Both very different, but both (in my eyes) equally as lovely.

Honestly I prefer the colour scheme of the Lakland, but the Fender is just something special.

All completely subjective I guess.

Edited November 15, 2007 by Old Horse Murphy

[The Burpster]

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='88842' date='Nov 15 2007, 10:45 AM']So in summary, I don't know.[/quote]

OHM, thats the best laugh I've had in ages......

[sk8]

i found that the most useful comment of all

[Mr. Foxen]

I've not had much maple time, but when I did, I disliked the feeling of lacquer under my fingers. I prefer rosewood, lower maintainance, easier to refret, so worry about wearing through, I can cheerfully file the fret ends, this is mostly considerations cause I a bodger, so if you are getting a nice bass its proably not very applicable, unless you like steel stings on nickel frets and play in such a way that will wear them out and require a refret.

[sk8]

the laquer issue does worry me in the feel of the bass

[wateroftyne]

Here's my two...



The rosewood is far warmer, but how much of that is down to the wood is a mystery to me...

[David Nimrod]

Heavily laquered Maple feels unpleasant to me...

A Rosewood fretboard just seems more 'organic'

As to the sound, there are just so many factors,

The fingerboard is more of an aesthetic choice...

Just my 2 cents of course ;-)

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='88918' date='Nov 15 2007, 01:19 PM']Here's my two...



The rosewood is far warmer, but how much of that is down to the wood is a mystery to me...[/quote]

Whip the necks off and swap them over and you have an instant answer as to whether it makes any difference. Bring em both when we go down to DW's and we can do a test

[sk8]

i'm going to have to stick with rosewood i think as its what i know

[sk8]

but the maple looks better on the colour i want

[Old Horse Murphy]

[quote name='sk8' post='89011' date='Nov 15 2007, 04:41 PM']but the maple looks better on the colour i want [/quote]

Waht colour scheme are you looking for?

[sk8]

the cola red one - it doesn't quite look right with the rosewood board

[SJA]

maple is a bit snappier.
the fingerboard does have an effect on the tone because the nut (on Fenders) and every fret sits on it- it lies between the neck and the support for the end of the vibrating string length.

good for a really cutting edge- eg. the tones of JJ Burnel (although I think Rattus Norvegicus and No more heroes was a rosewood P, and maple on Black & white, The Raven and La Folie), John Entwistle on Live at leeds, Derek Forbes, Steve Harris, Tony Butler.

good for slap.

I think rosewood damps the highs and high mids slightly, which gives a warmer sound, and more forgiving of string-fret contact when plucking.

a problem with maple is that over time with heavy use, sweat will soak into the neck at the fret slots, and where the lacquer gets worn down, and the neck will look a bit grubby, whereas you wouldn't notice on rosewood.

Edited November 15, 2007 by SJA

[lonestar]

In my limited experience find that rosewood boards have lots more middle and warmth where as maple is definitely brighter sounding.

Edited November 15, 2007 by lonestar