Lozz196 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) As the above, re Maple Necks. Am sure this has been covered before, but I have three US Fender Precisions, and my maple-necked bass is far "toppier" than the other two, and seems to have less bottom end as a result. All three are standard spec, no different pickups/bridges/strings etc. Has anyone else found this? Quick edit - I mean maple neck with maple fretboard, as oppose to maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Edited March 28, 2011 by Lozz196 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I thought that all Fender necks were maple? ;-) On a more serious note is it the woods or the construction? AFAIK the necks with maple fingerboards are made from a single piece. Would they sound different if they had a separate maple fingerboard glued on? Also since on the fretted bass the string don't actually touch the fingerboard would it make any difference where the second piece of wood was? For instance would a neck with the rosewood portion at the back instead of at the front sound different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I think a lot of it comes down to whether or not it's finished, the tone seems to be topier on my finished fingerboard than the un-finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I've been involved in this one too many times so I'm gonna butt out. Suffice is to say I know there's definitely something to it but there are far more influential factors over tone to consider before fingerboard materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly deluxe Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Neck materials and size make a difference in tone in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Lozz196' post='1179143' date='Mar 28 2011, 09:21 AM']....As the above, re Maple Necks. Am sure this has been covered before, but I have three US Fender Precisions, and my maple-necked bass is far "toppier" than the other two, and seems to have less bottom end as a result....[/quote] You are right. Maple fretboards have a brighter tone. Bolt on or through neck makes a difference as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Lozz196' post='1179143' date='Mar 28 2011, 09:21 AM']As the above, re Maple Necks. Am sure this has been covered before, but I have three US Fender Precisions, and my maple-necked bass is far "toppier" than the other two, and seems to have less bottom end as a result. All three are standard spec, no different pickups/bridges/strings etc. Has anyone else found this? Quick edit - I mean maple neck with maple fretboard, as oppose to maple neck with rosewood fretboard.[/quote] Body wood plays a significant part too so are all three basses made of the same wood family usually used on P basses....ash (swamp), alder, basswood / lime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 My maple is brighter all round but I think a fair few other things are factors as well. As with all things..it is the bass that you play that is the determining factor....not so much the spec as so many things can come into play, IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Johnston' post='1179245' date='Mar 28 2011, 10:51 AM']You need to go on talkbass. There was a nice thread on there Alder vs Lumber or something[/quote] It was alder vs lumber, very interesting thread though. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lumber-bass-vs-alder-bass-can-you-tell-difference-743932/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lum...ference-743932/[/url] There's many factors that could affect it, do they weigh the same? Denser woods (even if it's the same type of wood) can change the sound, different finishes etc could all potentially change the tone slightly. Maple fretboards are supposed to have a slightly toppier sound so it might be that, but I'm of the school of thought that wood is one of the least important factors of the sound of a bass, it's the final touch that can make the difference between it sounding almost perfect and perfect. Edited March 28, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Maple may well make a difference, but importantly, for me anyway, is that they look the bizz especialy when they've got that lovely golden honey hue. mmm. Apologies for the shallow reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I would guess that to make a direct comparison you'd have to use one bass, so that all things were constant, then switch the neck over to a maple one. Of course to do this you'd need a [s]plank[/s] Fender or Fender-alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Big_Stu' post='1179454' date='Mar 28 2011, 01:33 PM']I would guess that to make a direct comparison you'd have to use one bass, so that all things were constant, then switch the neck over to a maple one. Of course to do this you'd need a [s]plank[/s] Fender or Fender-alike. [/quote] Even then potentially the necks could be quite different in terms of grain and density. Someone must've had a fretboard changed from rosewood to maple (or vice versa) at some point and be able to comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Lozz196' post='1179143' date='Mar 28 2011, 10:21 AM']As the above, re Maple Necks. Am sure this has been covered before, but I have three US Fender Precisions, and my maple-necked bass is far "toppier" than the other two, and seems to have less bottom end as a result. All three are standard spec, no different pickups/bridges/strings etc. Has anyone else found this? Quick edit - I mean maple neck with maple fretboard, as oppose to maple neck with rosewood fretboard.[/quote] Why don't you try swapping the maple neck onto one of your darker sounding Ps and seeing whether it makes such a difference when you're comparing just the neck rather than a maple board [i]with[/i] a different body and possibly different magnets/windings/capacitors? All you need is 5 minutes with a cross head screwdriver and you might just be able to answer the big question for allot of people on here. It would be even better if you could get someone else to change the necks over and play them to you unseen so you're listening without prejudice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='henry norton' post='1179588' date='Mar 28 2011, 03:03 PM']Why don't you try swapping the maple neck onto one of your darker sounding Ps and seeing whether it makes such a difference when you're comparing just the neck rather than a maple board [i]with[/i] a different body and possibly different magnets/windings/capacitors? All you need is 5 minutes with a cross head screwdriver and you might just be able to answer the big question for allot of people on here. It would be even better if you could get someone else to change the necks over and play them to you unseen so you're listening without prejudice [/quote] Did a neck swap on a couple of Highway One Strats last week (took about 10 minutes), the all maple neck always sounds slightly brighter than the one with a rosewood board whichever body it's on. Also one of my Status S2s has a maple board (on a graphite neck) and it seems to have more projection acoustically than the all graphite necks, although it's harder to hear the difference when plugged in. But as has been said before the density of the wood and the finish are all going to affect the tone somewhat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Mentioned it on another thread, but I'm in the process of ordering a Wenge neck with an Ebony board from Warmoth for my P. If that doesn't fundamentally change the tone, nothing will. I shall report back, but don't hold your breath, I ain't ordered it yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Don't like Maple fingyboards. Prefer ebknee. Dono Y. Juss do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I've swapped maple and rosewood necks. The 'maple sound' that I've always associated with maple went with the neck. Doesn't remove all variables (neck density, fret profile) and really depends on your playing style and setup how much of a difference it makes, but I'm satisfied that it's real and pretty consistent. I'd agree with what Wayne said though and suspect that the difference would be greatly reduced if the rosewood was given a hard finish. Obviously switching between a jazz and a p makes more difference than the neck finish but it still makes enough of a difference to me to make it a factor in choosing a bass! Having said that the sound is what matters and if I got a great rosewood jazz that sounds to my ears like a 'typical' maple then I'd be perfectly happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Wouldn't it be amazing if this subject had never come up!? I will buck the trend here and say the tonal difference is so minimal... we're talking different shades of the same colour. I can play the two fingerboards and hear the difference but personally (& I appreciate there must be breeds of dog that will say otherwise) I can't tell what the fretboard is when I listen to a recording! I used to favour maple exclusively, I then had a rosewood kick. Then I bought an Ebony board... now I've learnt that each & every bass has it's plus points. It's no longer the deal clencher it used to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
270degrees Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Sorry for the OT, but that thread (linked to above) is fantastic. I got that Z was the odd-one out but I didn't guess as to which bass it was. As it happens, it was the sound I liked least, too. It also supports what a luthier recently said to me when I went to see him about a custom neck: that the wood doesn't matter. Which is good as now I can get the looks *and* the tone I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawtooth Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I thought this was an extremely interesting comparison by Dave Marks in a Frudua Guitars bass demo. Take two identical Frudua GFJ 34" scale 5-string basses. Both with Alder bodies, same woods and specs, only the fretboard wood changes. One with maple, the other with rosewood ... ... that is until I noticed the small, top, rearmost knob is in a different position for each bass. Investigating futher, it turns out this is a tone knob for the passive circuit. Turned up for the maple ...... and you guessed it, highs rolled off for the rosewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Sawtooth' post='1179903' date='Mar 28 2011, 07:26 PM']I thought this was an extremely interesting comparison by Dave Marks in a Frudua Guitars bass demo. Take two identical Frudua GFJ 34" scale 5-string basses. Both with Alder bodies, same woods and specs, only the fretboard wood changes. One with maple, the other with rosewood ... ... that is until I noticed the small, top, rearmost knob is in a different position for each bass. Investigating futher, it turns out this is a tone knob for the passive circuit. Turned up for the maple ...... and you guessed it, highs rolled off for the rosewood. [/quote] heh, well spotted! that kind of comparison always amuse me, even when not trying to mislead. I mean, they are two different instruments! There are a lot more differences than just that bit of wood stuck to the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawtooth Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 [quote name='mcnach' post='1179922' date='Mar 28 2011, 07:50 PM']heh, well spotted! [/quote] Elementary, my dear Watson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 [quote name='famstd' post='1231242' date='May 14 2011, 06:56 PM']I thought the Maple was a bit brighter, until I changed to Nylon strings. [b]I'm more convinced strings are more of the factor than the Fretboard wood.[/b] I do like the look and feel of Maple myself. [/quote] I doubt there's a bassist alive (or dead) who would argue with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Good thread, shows how difficult it is to listen without prejudice. I still think difference in sound is more to do with players reacting differently to different instruments. For example most players would like playing the latest US standard Jazz more than playing a Squier Affinity Jazz. They believe it's a better instrument so tend to play better or at least think it sounds better. The solid hardware, nicely rolled fret edges and 'Made in the USA' transfer will only bolster these opinions - likewise when everyone is saying maple is brighter players will either dig in more, play higher up the board and nearer the bridge or just kid themselves they can tell the difference for fear of being labelled tone and timbre deaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I'd be very surprised if I could tell the difference in a blind test but I still prefer rosewood because for me it's looks better when I'm not blind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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