wood combination neck and fretboard

M

Matthiaz

Jun 19, 2020
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#1
Hello, I wanted to build a custom short scale 5 string jazz Bass, but I am having a hard time deciding between neck material.

option 1: maple neck with rosewood fretboard
option 2: mahogany neck with maple fretboard

I like the sound of the "option 1" but I don't like its feel and look.

I never played a mahogany neck with maple fretboard and my question is if "option 2 " wood combination will sound like "option 1"? (The mahogany will compensate the fretboard material difference in terms of overtone absorption?)
 
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#2
There are many, many, many factors that contribute to tone and feel. Neck and fingerboard material alone are not enough to go on for anyone to give you any sort of comprehensive answer, IMO.

Not trying to be contrary, just speaking from personal experience.
 
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#3
Oh boy, you are likely in for a whole range of opinions on this so here's mine: both will sound like a jazz bass!

While two necks made as described in your options above may sound slightly different, predicting in advance how each would sound based only on the wood species seems unlikely. I would recommend you build what you want and I suspect you will be happy with the tone.
 
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#5
Yes, how the structure of the neck affects the final sound of a bass is a complicated subject. I've written many pages about it here on TalkBass, and there is a lot of disagreement and argument about it.

A real quick summary: The overall stiffness of the neck is what plays a part in shaping the sound of a bass. A stiff neck bass will sound different than a soft neck bass. Neck stiffness doesn't affect the overall EQ curve much; it mostly affects bottom end frequency range, low end clarity, and the attack curve. The finer points of Tone, which many players don't notice or care about.

The stiffness of the neck is determined by: The dimensions of the parts, the internal reinforcement, and the choice of wood species. The wood species alone cannot determine the stiffness. By adjusting the dimensions and reinforcements, you can build a very stiff mahogany neck, or a very soft maple neck. Or anything in between.

You really can't make blanket statements about what a maple/rosewood will sound like versus a mahogany/maple neck. There are other variables which can reverse the results.

With that said:
If you built those two necks, maple/rosewood and mahogany/maple, to exactly the same Fender-spec dimensions, same depth, same fingerboard thickness, same Fender truss rod, etc, the maple/rosewood neck would be somewhat stiffer than the mahogany/maple neck. Not dramatically, but somewhat.

With everything else on the bass equal, the maple/rosewood neck bass would have a little more bottom end frequency range and clarity. Not a louder bottom end, just clearer. The mahogany/maple neck bass would be more "wooly" on the bottom, and would have more pop in the beginning of the notes; a steeper attack curve.
 
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#6
Bruce Johnson said:
Yes, how the structure of the neck affects the final sound of a bass is a complicated subject. I've written many pages about it here on TalkBass, and there is a lot of disagreement and argument about it.

A real quick summary: The overall stiffness of the neck is what plays a part in shaping the sound of a bass. A stiff neck bass will sound different than a soft neck bass. Neck stiffness doesn't affect the overall EQ curve much; it mostly affects bottom end frequency range, low end clarity, and the attack curve. The finer points of Tone, which many players don't notice or care about.

The stiffness of the neck is determined by: The dimensions of the parts, the internal reinforcement, and the choice of wood species. The wood species alone cannot determine the stiffness. By adjusting the dimensions and reinforcements, you can build a very stiff mahogany neck, or a very soft maple neck. Or anything in between.

You really can't make blanket statements about what a maple/rosewood will sound like versus a mahogany/maple neck. There are other variables which can reverse the results.

With that said:
If you built those two necks, maple/rosewood and mahogany/maple, to exactly the same Fender-spec dimensions, same depth, same fingerboard thickness, same Fender truss rod, etc, the maple/rosewood neck would be somewhat stiffer than the mahogany/maple neck. Not dramatically, but somewhat.

With everything else on the bass equal, the maple/rosewood neck bass would have a little more bottom end frequency range and clarity. Not a louder bottom end, just clearer. The mahogany/maple neck bass would be more "wooly" on the bottom, and would have more pop in the beginning of the notes; a steeper attack curve.
Click to expand...

thanks. this helped a lot. I will go with maple/rosewood :)
 
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