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Maple or rosewood neck/fretboard?


basstech
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[quote name='garethfriend' timestamp='1335283440' post='1628617']
anyone find they can see the strings and dots better against a maple board in low light conditions? if only they genetically engineered glow in the dark tonewoods...
[/quote]
Yes yes yes! having played maple necks since forever, my first gig on a RW scared the s**t out of me because not only could I not hear myself properly (I could just feel the boom off the house PA) I couldn't see the side dots. Added to that it was a Thunderbird and I'm used to Fenders so the positioning was way off for me! I leant over the front in one song that was high up the fretboard to see that i was playing a semitone out!!

These days I have a white bound maple neck, belt and braces!! Although with my new rig I never have trouble hearing myself any more :)

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1335284173' post='1628631']
i was playing a semitone out!!
[/quote]

I wouldn't worry about it...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewTJWKeGLAY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewTJWKeGLAY[/url]

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[quote name='GremlinAndy' timestamp='1335281725' post='1628572']
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/8976-dave-vader/"][color=#282828]Dave Vader[/color][/url]
Wow really? A rosewood neck with maple board? I had no idea they were common. I don't think I ever saw one. If they are only common on budget basses, do you reckon it's because the comination isn't good.

[/quote]

read the post again - he's talking about maple necks with separate maple boards using the same construction as maple/rw necks as opposed to maple one piece

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[quote name='Gordon 'Thudmaster' May' timestamp='1335290899' post='1628793']
How many Violin's, Cello's, D/basses etc, have you seen with maple boards?
R/w boards are the only way to go!!
[/quote]
How many violins, cellos, double basses etc have you seen with rosewood fingerboards? Aren't they are commonly ebony - except when they are cheap and are black stained maple?

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[quote name='GregBass' timestamp='1335338404' post='1629348']
Remember - ain't no such thing as a bum note in jazz. It's just a really clever minor 9th harmony.
[/quote]

I prefer to call them "chromatic passing notes" :D

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[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1335288236' post='1628734']
read the post again - he's talking about maple necks with separate maple boards using the same construction as maple/rw necks as opposed to maple one piece
[/quote]

He's right you know, I am.
But now I want a rosewood neck with a maple board, it just sounds a bit cool (though probably shockingly heavy)
:)

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[quote name='GregBass' timestamp='1335338404' post='1629348']
Remember - ain't no such thing as a bum note in jazz. It's just a really clever minor 9th harmony.
[/quote]

That would certainly make me crazy...tragic beyond belief. The audience should have asked for a refund.

Personally, I like the feel of rosewood or ebony over maple.

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Not bothered by the fretboard material on a bass. It does actually have a bit of effect on guitar - if you're doing string bends and you've got quite an open-grained rosewood fretboard, it's somewhat rather less smooth to do than on a maple fretboard. As I only do string bends once every six months or so, that's not a major factor for me.

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[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1335270653' post='1628335']
Is this comparing two basses that are identical other than the fingerboard wood? Not being antagonistic by the way, just curious as I'm leaning more towards the angle that it's the complete bass that makes the tone. But that's just me trying to simplify things perhaps! :)
[/quote]
[quote name='GremlinAndy' timestamp='1335273438' post='1628403']
I have a fender P with 2 "identical" necks. One Rosewood and one Maple. (well, as identical as these will get if you get my drift.)
I used to always buy Maple necks (for looks) and thought there wasn't much difference, and that even if there was I wouldn't be able to notice enough to care.

I swapped necks around and found that there *is* quite an audible difference.
The Maple is brighter and more aggressive sounding, maybe more *brittle* or *glassy* and the Rosewood is warmer and gives what[i] I think[/i] of as the more vintage tone. It sits much better in the mix of my current band. So now I'm converted to Rosewood because I just like that sound better for my current situation.

I've rehearsed with both of them and the maple doesn't sound worse, per-se. Just slightly different ...a bit more "up front".

I hope that partly answers your question... (and bear in mind that these things are subjective, you may just disagree with my opinion, it doesn't make either of us wrong... The only way anyone *really* knows is to try it yourself and form your own opinion. :)
[/quote]

First, i would say that playing mainly fretless, i think that you hear the differences much better with these "naked" fingerboards.... i like naked bodies too, but that's another subject.... :D

Let's come back to basses.

Secondly, on a fretted bass : the Music Man Stingray is a good example of how you "color" the sound with a maple neck or rosewood one. Maple for slapping, percussion sound and rosewood for warner tone.
For ebony, yes it is harder but gives you more mwha sound than maple. I both have a ebony and maple fretless.
Ebony bears roundwounds strings better than rosewood.

That's what i felt during my years of playing.

Of course i agree, the sound comes from the hole instrument. That's why designing a instrument is a huge challenge. :)

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  • 1 year later...

[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1393630837' post='2382925']
Once you take your bass to a gig, run it up to gig volume levels, add a drummer, a guitarist or two, maybe a keyboard player, and stick this through your average pa... (Not forgetting boomy stages, weird shaped venues and a couple of hundred people,) could anyone tell whether it was maple, rosewood or concrete ?
[/quote]
This absolutely!

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[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1393630837' post='2382925']
Once you take your bass to a gig, run it up to gig volume levels, add a drummer, a guitarist or two, maybe a keyboard player, and stick this through your average pa... (Not forgetting boomy stages, weird shaped venues and a couple of hundred people,) could anyone tell whether it was maple, rosewood or concrete ?
[/quote]
Nope.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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