Question for the EBMM designers

[scottbass71]

I was pondering (very frightening I know!!) why don't they make fretless basses out of Maple ?
I know EB use Pau Ferro but have seen a few 70s F$%nders with Maple boards
and I know of one Pre-eb ( on Ebay) that had a maple.

Is it sound wise or density of the wood ?

Also last Q what is used for the line markings on the EB lined fretlesses

thanks

scott

 

[Aussie Mark]

I don't think there's any engineering reason for not using maple necks for fretless basses. I suspect that the hardness of the maple might not give the warm tone that many fretless players seek. Having said that, you are correct that Fender did make some maple fretless Precisions (and they look great).

 

[Figjam]

I tihnk the brightness of the MM electronics + fretless maple would be, less than desirable.

 

[Psycho Ward]

I think it would be a fire hazard, friction+maple, very dangerous!

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

High finish maintenance.

 

[scottbass71]

Thanks guys for all the replys
Yeah mark I must admit Pbasses with maple boards do look good - pity they sound bad!!!

 

[bassmonkeee]

Thanks guys for all the replys
Yeah mark I must admit Pbasses with maple boards do look good - pity they sound bad!!!

I dunno. My old 76 fretless PBass sounded pretty damn good. It was pretty to look at, too.

That said, I sold it when I got my fretless Bongo since I knew it would never get played live, again.

 

[scottbass71]

Yeah I have played a few and one sounded good and 3 sounded average

 

[Figjam]

I had a fretless Sx p bass, maple fingerboard,sounded okay but not great.

 

[smallequestrian]

The conventional reasoning is that maple wears down quicker than Pau Ferro or Ebony. Also it does add some brightness which probably balances out nicely the sound of a P pickup.

 

[bovinehost]

I had a fretless Sx p bass, maple fingerboard

Jeez, man, keep that stuff down.

You're exposing your soft white underbelly.

 

[Dr Stankface]

Jeez, man, keep that stuff down.

You're exposing your soft white underbelly.

Andrew

 

[Golem]

I've got a LightWave Saber [so sue them ...] with a Maple FB, and the LightWave system is very-very krispee and kleen in tone. It's so skwinky kleen that they added this switch, I call it the "P-Bass Switch", to make it sound more 'mainstream' when needed. I play Acousticores on it, so the maple is only subjected to very light pressure [although they are RWs].

Too bad Jaco didn't just happen to have a maple fretboard when he set the precedent. Epoxy on maple? Yowza. I have an extra finish coat on my LightWave [not epoxy tho'] so I have some sense of that result.

As to maple being harder and brighter than rosewood, isn't the pua ferro on my Ray a harder brighter version of rosewood? It stays quite shiny and barely scuffs at all. Sounds plenty hot, even with a BassLines PU and preamp [me likey].

 

[Big Poppa]

maple isnt hard enought to stand up to long term use

 

[scottbass71]

Thanks chief
and thanks to everyone else for your insight and input

 

[Father Gino]

Those Maple basses do look kewl. Maybe just because they're fairly rare.

If you want to make your fretless MM look cool, put black strings on an unlined board with a dark body like blue pearl (?) What's the real dark metallic blue that almost looks black in some light? anyway, that looks pretty cool to me.