[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1381225268' post='2235914']
I don't think that anyone is saying that woods in themselves have no real effect.
What I am saying is that there are simply too many variables involved to be able to say with 100% confidence that the change in sound is down to a single factor such as the kind of wood used for the fingerboard.
For a start every piece of wood is different - even two pieces cut from the same tree.
Then the traditional Fender style neck is made in an entirely different way depending on whether it has a maple or rosewood fingerboard. IMO construction has just as much impact on the sound as the wood used.
I get the impression that when most people are comparing the differences in sound between a bass with a rosewood fingerboard and a bass with a maple fingerboard they are talking about 2 completely different basses. If we are lucky they might both be from the same manufacturer (most likely Fender) and hopefully if that is the case they are the same model, but other than that they probably have nothing else in common. Maybe not even made in the same year, let alone from the same batch of timber.
If you believe that a certain wood gives the sound over and above any of the other variables in the construction, then that's your prerogative. I treat the bass has a whole thing and not a collection of its individual parts. It either works as a whole for me in terms of looks playability and sound or it doesn't. These days there are some many basses available that it makes little sense to get hung up in individual features. Look at the whole instrument. Either it suits you or it doesn't.
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I had DR Strings on my bass for a good while, always had a very bright zingy sound. Then I changed them for Tomastik Infeld strings & got a more mellow tone, hardly any zings in sight. Now I have D'Addario chromes & it's kinda inbetween the previous 2.
My fretboard is rosewood & before I put the TI strings on, I oiled the wood. Could that be what gave it a more mellow tone? Maybe it needs another oil?