rosewood or maple board, wich do you refer?

[sanderhermans]

Which of the two do you prefer? And is there a noticable difference on basses that are exactly the same spec.?

Personally i find maple to be more snappy and high and rosewood softer with less attack. But i never testet 2 basses that are exactly the same (accept fingerboard)
For the look i prefer maple.
Anny soundfiles that compare the two out there?

 

[ksandvik]

Supposedly rosewood has more midrange and maple is more scoped. But if you tinker with the amp and pedal settings including cab setups and pickups it all disappears in the mix.

 

[uOpt]

I like one-piece maple necks better but prefer rosewood fretboards.

In all seriousness, most of the time rosewood fretboard is brighter than one-piece maple. Might be a bit different if the maple fretboard is a separate board and the truss rod is front-inserted.

 

[JayDawg]

I like both but prefer rosewood on most of my basses and guitars. Ebony and pau ferro is also pretty awesome too.

 

[bdgotoh]

Rosewood is my most reliable fave, it sounds great on any bass. Ebony sounds great on certain basses, and maple is my least favorite due to the hassle of keeping it clean and I usually don't like the tone on basses.

 

[tunaman4u2]

Maple, more aggression when needed. Rosewood for warmth which I can usually get enough of.

 

[Soulkeeper]

Rosewood all the way. I have owned only one instrument with an all-maple neck (an SR5) but I couldn't bond with it, so I passed it on after a few months. I blame the neck.

But to be honest I am not sure that I would be able to determine if a neck was RW or maple in a blind test. Psychology is some weird stuff.

 

[Meypelnek]

I had the chance to compare two Stingrays (2011 with rosewood board and 2013 with maple board) over a few weeks. In my opinion the maple board Ray has a more aggressive, snappy sound, more "bonk" and slightly more attack. The rosewood board Ray has a more ballanced, focused tone. After all I tend to prefer rosewood.

Honestly, I've been looking for a mapleboard Sterling for month now, just to find out that I prefer both tone and look(!) of rosewood board basses. Unless it is a (satin or lacquer) finished flammed or bird's eye maple board I will always go for rosewood in the future.

And as already mentioned cleaning of unfinished (oiled/waxed) maple boards is hassle compared to a little lemon oil treatment of the rosewood.

Cheers

 

[Meypelnek]

Rosewood all the way. I have owned only one instrument with an all-maple neck (an SR5) but I couldn't bond with it, so I passed it on after a few months. I blame the neck.

Brief question: What is an all-maple neck? A one piece neck where the fretboard is not glued on top?

 

[Tollywood]

Brief question: What is an all-maple neck? A one piece neck where the fretboard is not glued on top?

Hello. An all-maple neck is a maple neck with a maple fretboard. The fretboard is glued on top after they install a trussrod. In order to get a one-piece maple neck and fretboard, you'd have to rout out a line for the truss rod and then glue in a skunk stripe of wood to fill the channel.

I prefer ebony fretboards, followed by rosewood.

 

[Holdsg]

like the look of maple, but the tone and playability (and upkeep) of rosewood, the darker the better! I've had a few with ebony as well, a classic look with tone more like maple than rosewood. Pau Ferro/Morado/Bolivian Rosewood (all names for the same species) is fine too, but as I like darker wood, its not my preferred fretboard.

 

[pete bass]

Gentlemen prefer blondes

 

[Thornton Davis]

When it comes to EBMM basses, Rosewood only!

TD

 

[Freddels]

I like one-piece maple necks better but prefer rosewood fretboards.

In all seriousness, most of the time rosewood fretboard is brighter than one-piece maple. Might be a bit different if the maple fretboard is a separate board and the truss rod is front-inserted.

It's tough to find one-piece maple neck/fretboards these days.

For me, I like the look of maple fb's but for some reason I have more rosewood or ebony fb's on my basses.

 

[uOpt]

It's tough to find one-piece maple neck/fretboards these days.

How so? AVRI, Fender 50s, MIJ/CIJ Fender reissues. All have it.

 

[sanderhermans]

I also feel that maple is primairily chosen for the look, and with a finished birdseye it looks great too! Refretting is a hasle with finished boards... So rosewood is propably tone and maintenance wise the smarter choice. On the other hand i can never get over a beautifull maple birdseye neck.
One thing i dont really like is the rear inserted trus rod, just ruins the back of the neck for me... So i'm glad that isn't a musicman thing.