Audio challenge: which is rosewood, which is maple

[strummer]

I will guess that if you weigh the two necks the RW neck is heavier. Sounds that way anyway.
Coming late to this thread I read the answers, but honestly that's what I would have guessed too. The #2 clip is a little more open in the bass region.
But in a band setting, the difference would be for the player to hear only I think.

Arin, do you still have the clips you made? They'd make a great addition to this thread!

 

[jlepre]

Maple all the way for me. I could hear the difference slightly, but I can hear it even more when I am playing in my band. I own both maple and RW so I have tried this in my band using my wireless.

 

[mammoth]

as an aside, its interesting to see the majority seem to prefer the aesthetics of maple??

don't get me wrong, i think maple works great but the rosewood plank makes me tingle

 

[oli@bass]

Lookswise, I prefer the rosewood board with matching headstock, especially on the more fancy colours, and the maple board on more classic colours (black, sunburst, candy red, natural). I currently own only one maple board Ray.

Soundwise... I did like the #2 soundclip a bit better, but I still think it's hard to tell whether the difference was really due to the wood of the fretboard or just the overally package, and it's probably completely lost in a live setting -- so I wouldn't settle on a preference because of these clips.

That said, the three basses I currently dig most soundwise are:
- 2006 Lava Pearl SR 4 HS with rosewood fretboard
- 2006 30th Anniv SR 4 H lined fretless with pau ferro fretboard
- 1996 20th Anniv SR 4 H with maple fretboard


... but that can change any day

 

[Frantic Slayer]

im guessing:
1 is maple
2 is rosewood

 

[sloshep]

Thanks for the clips. I could tell the difference, but it was alot more subtle than I thought it would be.