Hey folks! Same bass, same strings, same setup, same pickups, pickup height, the works. The only thing different is the fretboard material. Under a microscope, there are definitely some differences, but in a mix or live, those subtleties fly out the window. Personally, I'd be happy with either. Which would you go with?
Always love seeing videos like these and especially when people argue over the results too hahahah Maple will always have a slightly brighter tone, but imo, not enough to make a difference that simply boosting your hi-mid's or treble wouldn't. Killer vid as always, homie!
When I went to lutherie school we had to learn and examine different tone woods. The bass I made back then was a mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, and maple body and 36" scale. Punk rock never sounded so good. For acoustics the wood makes all the difference. In this demonstration you can definitely hear the difference. The rosewood had a much warmer sound and the maple sounds rather tinny. I'm going to have to go with rosewood.
Great video as always. Obviously I'm only echoing others comments but, the difference between the two is very minute. Easily something that could be dialed in with a small twist of a knob, or two. Pretty much imperceptible in the context of a band. Another interesting thing to note is, the individual pieces of wood do influence things, not just the type. The bass channel just did a video with identical basses from a few years or so apart, and the tone was much easier to differentiate. With that said, I've got two basses that are identical besides color, and one is definitely darker than the other. Another factor that I've noticed is sometimes the finish(gloss or matte) can impact tone as well. I've got multiple of the same model, with different paintjobs (color and gloss/matte, and the gloss ones always have some more snap/zing to them. Ultimately, it's something that can be fixed in mixing if recording, or just turning a knob or two in a live/practice scenario.
If I HAD to chose...Rosewood. Both are nice to have in the arsenal though. Not going to lie, that burst has become a dream bass of mine since discovering your channel. Also, WIDE freaking rips, man. Been listening like crazy over the past month.
Man...im eyeing up one of those Miami blue with maple P American Pro II. Hownis the color in person, it seems like a very difficult color to consistently photograph as all the pics seem to vary wildly. Also thank you for pick playing some punk rock riffs! Right up my alley...
Looks awesome! I actually made a post on the Talk Bass forum about exactly that subject if you search for it. I color corrected the photos to try to make them look like how the color actually looks in person. Thanks for checking out the video!
@ZachWish I'm between an Olympic white/rosewood or Miami blue/maple. White always looks amazing on stage with lights, but my custom Ingrpdi bass is a nitro white PJ yellowing beautifully. Can bee seen in our party-pop-punk cover band The Run Amoks videos. I gotta track down that Talk Bass post to see color corrected! A fun color in a band like ours is always fuckin'rad too! Top Shelf content as always my dude...
I’ve always preferred maple simply because it’s easier for me to see the fretboard and the dot markers on a dark stage. Once you add your amp, pedals, and the rest of the band, any perceived variances in tone between the two fretboard materials becomes inconsequential. Even in these isolated examples, I either hear no difference or any slight difference I can hear I cannot consistently attribute to one bass over the other.
I think any differences arising from the fretboard wood will be swamped by the EQ on the guitar and amp plus all the passive components in the signal chain 🤔
I'm torn... I might trade in my Gibson Thunderbird for the pbass with the maple kneck and fretboard. I used to have an American Standard pbass. Any idea how these compare? I miss the pbass sound and feel. These Thunderbird bridges are the worst.
The difference is the potentiometer values. Unless you removed all the electronics and moved them into the other bass, then that is what the difference anyone is hearing.
I have to agree with this, electronics play a major role! I’m hard-pressed to say it’s the woods especially since the tolerances on CTS pots that fender uses are usually +/- 10 or 20%, with higher resistances yielding more brightness. I wouldn’t doubt it if the volume pot on the maple bass had a higher value of resistance.
That's true and all good until you just play slap or with a pick when the bass is Unplugged. That's when you tell the real difference. Forget the electronics. Maple vs Rosewood is a forever battle but those of us who have Good ears can really hear the Maple is brighter. It's just naturally a brighter sounding wood. Real battle would be Maple vs Ebony.
I think the difference is 99.9% appearance. To me, a P bass has a maple fretboard. The Olympic white American pro 2 five string only comes with rosewood fretboard as far as I can tell. It looks good… I dunno… I can’t make up my mind, 4 or 5 Probably go 4 string maple board, Olympic white.
TSE BOD into the SVT Amp Sim. Kind of that classic punk p bass tone thing of a SansAmp directly into a SVT to scoop the mids a bit, add some grind and top end. Thanks for checking out the video!
In my opinion with roundwounds there is only a slight difference with the maple being a little brighter, I think there is more difference with flatwounds the rosewood seems to be a lot warmer, that being said I play a maple with rounds ...and you nailed the Rancid.
At first, the maple sounded brighter. Then I scrolled away and whenever I thought the tone was brighter, it was actually the rosewood. Somebody should do a double-blind A/B test of some sort.
Excellent demo. For my ears, headphones and speakers the rosewood is just slightly more punchy and fat. Especially with the tone turned all the way up in this demo. Can you EQ it equal... yes, I am sure you can. Also any unwanted stuff like buzz or fret click is noticeably more present on the maple when he digs in fingerstyle or with a pick. Not so much on the rosewood. I'll be ordering rosewood on mine. Nice job.
Finished vs unfinished!!! Unfinished will always be more mellow, dark, and warm. A rosewood board finished like a maple will sound like a maple. Right?
Rosewood is more mellow, maple is bit brighter. Maple will probably be les forgiving but it comes down to how well you play and in a song it will be impossible for most people to tell.
There's almost no difference. I guess if you try really hard, you can hear some kind of 0.1% difference in small nuances, but when I close my eyes and just listen, I cannot tell which one is which. I like the look of the maple neck more, though.
Been a session and touring bassist for 50 years. Owned tons of both. Zero sound difference. None. Individual feel differences but no sonic difference at all.
What dumbarses in the comments don't understand is that even a slightly different angle of pick attack, that is so minute to be completely unnoticeable, will change the frequency response of the note being played to make each take sound different. This makes any comparison completely pointless. Pick the one you like the look of best and EQ to taste.
I'd say not looking helps you.... The tone gets a bit duller with the rosewood. Certainly when playing you can tell (yes I have just swapped a rosewood for a maple neck on a precision and I have pics)! All the little things add up especially with gain.
To me it’s a coin toss, more aesthetics than tone as you really can’t tell the difference and you can adjust the tone more dramatically with the tone knob.
I prefere maple or (not in this case) ebony fingerboard only for tactile reasons: i prefere the feeling under my fingers. Stop. Then think about fender: they put maple or rosewood only to match better with the body colour. So, the sound is not important
This kinda puts to shame those who say the sound is 99% pickups. Such hogwash. The attack is clearly punchier and you hear fewer overtones with the maple.
This video is really annoying me. I really thought I could tell the difference in most instances, and in most video tests, I could, even without looking. This one I barely can tell. The frequency response is so close to me. It seems like more of the frequencies hit faster on the maple, but I'm barely catching it even across playing styles. I was really surprised by this.
I am normally a rosewood kind of guy, but in this case I don't see any differences. Also I don't like how maple grows old, it gets more ugly that a rosewood fingerboard
Rosewood preference because Maplewood adds upper harmonics, which isn't what I'm seeking to implement with a bass. The punch with Rosewood solidifies the low end with more grit, more character.
Hey folks! Same bass, same strings, same setup, same pickups, pickup height, the works. The only thing different is the fretboard material. Under a microscope, there are definitely some differences, but in a mix or live, those subtleties fly out the window. Personally, I'd be happy with either. Which would you go with?
Either sounds great. The blue one with the awesome yellow tinted neck appeals to me more visually.
Maple!
Rosewood forever!
Maple for the LOOKS!
If people gave as much energy to practice as they do to debating fretboard material I think it would be a better use of time.
Always love seeing videos like these and especially when people argue over the results too hahahah Maple will always have a slightly brighter tone, but imo, not enough to make a difference that simply boosting your hi-mid's or treble wouldn't. Killer vid as always, homie!
Hah! Agreed 100%. Thanks so much for checking out the vid Patrick. Love your stuff!
Great test. The maple is slightly brighter. I agree with the previous commentor, in a live mix, you couldn't tell the difference.
Great comparison video.
Exactly what I was looking for.
Whatever type of fretboard wood, Precision basses ROCK!
When I went to lutherie school we had to learn and examine different tone woods. The bass I made back then was a mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, and maple body and 36" scale. Punk rock never sounded so good. For acoustics the wood makes all the difference. In this demonstration you can definitely hear the difference. The rosewood had a much warmer sound and the maple sounds rather tinny. I'm going to have to go with rosewood.
Both sound great but a tort pickguard would definitely sound warmer.
😂
WELL DONE! Thanks so much for posting this For me, rosewood all the way! I notice that it's a little less bright.
Great video as always. Obviously I'm only echoing others comments but, the difference between the two is very minute. Easily something that could be dialed in with a small twist of a knob, or two. Pretty much imperceptible in the context of a band.
Another interesting thing to note is, the individual pieces of wood do influence things, not just the type. The bass channel just did a video with identical basses from a few years or so apart, and the tone was much easier to differentiate.
With that said, I've got two basses that are identical besides color, and one is definitely darker than the other. Another factor that I've noticed is sometimes the finish(gloss or matte) can impact tone as well. I've got multiple of the same model, with different paintjobs (color and gloss/matte, and the gloss ones always have some more snap/zing to them.
Ultimately, it's something that can be fixed in mixing if recording, or just turning a knob or two in a live/practice scenario.
Thanks for a great video, I think I want one of each!
I took the best of both worlds, rosewood on my pro 1 and maple on the pro 2. Love ‘‘em both … 🎸🎶👍
Both fretwoods are great, but I've just always loved the maple fretboards.
Damn both sounded amazing
My 10 year old's conclusion, "The darker one is deeper and the lighter one is higher"
awesome comparrison love the look of rosewood but that maple pokes out just right... both sounded killer
Thanks so much James!
Couldn't of said it any better
I prefer the clarity of the maple it feels a bit more alive. Nothing so different that an eq tweak wouldn’t fix
Thanks so much, this vid was a huge help for me!! The maple is distinctly brighter, still deciding tho 🤔
That rosewood bass sounds AWESOME
As I red somewhere Leo Fender used to choose woods considering price and availability
Surprised that there‘s only a very subtle difference if any
would be cool to see a comparison with two basses of each wood
Rosewood for motown, soul and jazz, Maple for funky/disco, punk and rock. This is my way
i play metal on my fender ultra p bass with rosewood fretboard... im prolly weird...
Yes that’s it you’ve described it well 😅👍
This is the way
Great video!!
excellent comparison! thank you!
and very nice that you can actually play! not to be taken for granted in demos haah
Interesting. I hear the rosewood as rounder with more lows and a little scooped. The maple sounds like it had less bass and more high mids.
Same here! Thanks for checking out the video.
Same but it is so subtle!
Turn up the Bass and low mid with a maple neck and its a great freaking time. Super punchy but rounded.
The best.
@@CrummyVCR I'm with you!
Maple works very well in a live situation particularly with Precision due to most venues adding their own response in the lows and low mids.
When you close your eyes the difference is so much clearer
I've heard Journey to the End of the East Bay too many times to not hear the warmth the rosewood adds
If I HAD to chose...Rosewood. Both are nice to have in the arsenal though. Not going to lie, that burst has become a dream bass of mine since discovering your channel. Also, WIDE freaking rips, man. Been listening like crazy over the past month.
Thanks so much! Really appreciate it.
Man...im eyeing up one of those Miami blue with maple P American Pro II. Hownis the color in person, it seems like a very difficult color to consistently photograph as all the pics seem to vary wildly. Also thank you for pick playing some punk rock riffs! Right up my alley...
Looks awesome! I actually made a post on the Talk Bass forum about exactly that subject if you search for it. I color corrected the photos to try to make them look like how the color actually looks in person. Thanks for checking out the video!
@ZachWish I'm between an Olympic white/rosewood or Miami blue/maple. White always looks amazing on stage with lights, but my custom Ingrpdi bass is a nitro white PJ yellowing beautifully. Can bee seen in our party-pop-punk cover band The Run Amoks videos. I gotta track down that Talk Bass post to see color corrected! A fun color in a band like ours is always fuckin'rad too! Top Shelf content as always my dude...
I’ve always preferred maple simply because it’s easier for me to see the fretboard and the dot markers on a dark stage. Once you add your amp, pedals, and the rest of the band, any perceived variances in tone between the two fretboard materials becomes inconsequential.
Even in these isolated examples, I either hear no difference or any slight difference I can hear I cannot consistently attribute to one bass over the other.
Rosewood for the looks but maple for the sound, i like a brighter tinny sound. I also use a .88 Dunlop Ultex pick for extra twang 👌
Great video! Maple you can hear its brighter with more mids with a little sparkle on the highs. rosewood is more woody, rounder with a warmer tone
If I couldn’t see them, I wouldn’t know which was which…and maybe not know if you were even switching at all
I’ll take one of each
I think any differences arising from the fretboard wood will be swamped by the EQ on the guitar and amp plus all the passive components in the signal chain 🤔
I'm torn... I might trade in my Gibson Thunderbird for the pbass with the maple kneck and fretboard. I used to have an American Standard pbass. Any idea how these compare? I miss the pbass sound and feel. These Thunderbird bridges are the worst.
The difference is the potentiometer values. Unless you removed all the electronics and moved them into the other bass, then that is what the difference anyone is hearing.
I have to agree with this, electronics play a major role! I’m hard-pressed to say it’s the woods especially since the tolerances on CTS pots that fender uses are usually +/- 10 or 20%, with higher resistances yielding more brightness. I wouldn’t doubt it if the volume pot on the maple bass had a higher value of resistance.
That's true and all good until you just play slap or with a pick when the bass is Unplugged. That's when you tell the real difference. Forget the electronics. Maple vs Rosewood is a forever battle but those of us who have Good ears can really hear the Maple is brighter. It's just naturally a brighter sounding wood. Real battle would be Maple vs Ebony.
@@x7stringinJSCx yeaaahh but how often are you playing an electric bass unplugged? it has nothing to do w good ears, just common sense.
Thanks for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like the look of rosewood however the maple is a bit more alive and snappy
Nice~ maple one sounds little bit tight than rosewood.
I think there’s no sounding difference, but you can perceive the attack of the maple in your body when you play
I think the difference is 99.9% appearance. To me, a P bass has a maple fretboard. The Olympic white American pro 2 five string only comes with rosewood fretboard as far as I can tell. It looks good… I dunno… I can’t make up my mind, 4 or 5
Probably go 4 string maple board, Olympic white.
Really just depends on what neck looks better with the color scheme
Yo, Turnstile! 🤙
Maple fretboards always give that immediate and natural high-mids rich attack that is missing with rosewood. Subtle, but definitely there.
Do you use the the TSE BOD before the SVT amp sim or just the TSE alone?
TSE BOD into the SVT Amp Sim. Kind of that classic punk p bass tone thing of a SansAmp directly into a SVT to scoop the mids a bit, add some grind and top end. Thanks for checking out the video!
maple one sounds a tiny bit more scooped
In my opinion with roundwounds there is only a slight difference with the maple being a little brighter, I think there is more difference with flatwounds the rosewood seems to be a lot warmer, that being said I play a maple with rounds ...and you nailed the Rancid.
I love my maple P but I have to admit, the Rosewood neck in this video sounds better. A little more clarity to my ears.
The difference is miniscule and definitely doesn't come from the fretboard.
Drive Like Jehu. Very nice.
At first, the maple sounded brighter. Then I scrolled away and whenever I thought the tone was brighter, it was actually the rosewood.
Somebody should do a double-blind A/B test of some sort.
maple for punk, rosewood for all
rosewood p-bass with the tone rolled all the way off and flats. This is the way
P BASS 👍👍👍👍
Much less of a difference than I was expecting. Pick whichever one you think looks better.
Excellent demo. For my ears, headphones and speakers the rosewood is just slightly more punchy and fat. Especially with the tone turned all the way up in this demo. Can you EQ it equal... yes, I am sure you can. Also any unwanted stuff like buzz or fret click is noticeably more present on the maple when he digs in fingerstyle or with a pick. Not so much on the rosewood. I'll be ordering rosewood on mine. Nice job.
Finished vs unfinished!!! Unfinished will always be more mellow, dark, and warm. A rosewood board finished like a maple will sound like a maple. Right?
no difference to me, they just sound soooooo lush !!
Rosewood is more mellow, maple is bit brighter. Maple will probably be les forgiving but it comes down to how well you play and in a song it will be impossible for most people to tell.
Maple sounds just a tad bit louder
Nothing that can't be worked on in a mix
I do think rosewood looks better
There's almost no difference. I guess if you try really hard, you can hear some kind of 0.1% difference in small nuances, but when I close my eyes and just listen, I cannot tell which one is which. I like the look of the maple neck more, though.
Minimal difference between a full maple and a mixed rosewood/maple fingerboard+neck. The full maple still sounds better, fuller and louder.
Been a session and touring bassist for 50 years. Owned tons of both. Zero sound difference. None. Individual feel differences but no sonic difference at all.
That's a bold faced lie
If you leave the video playing and scroll to read the comments, I would bet that no one can tell the difference every single time without mistake
Important thing to think of here is: The Maple board has a finish on it while the Rosewood doesn't.
What dumbarses in the comments don't understand is that even a slightly different angle of pick attack, that is so minute to be completely unnoticeable, will change the frequency response of the note being played to make each take sound different. This makes any comparison completely pointless. Pick the one you like the look of best and EQ to taste.
MAPLE
Anyone who thinks that fret board material make ABSOLUTELY ANY tonal differences is a dope.
One is blue and one is grey
Next to zero difference less so in a band context. people are insane
I really think the diferences in the fretboard have more impact in the sound than the type of wood.
Honesty…they sound exactly the same. Especially if you aren’t looking at the screen. 🙈
I'd say not looking helps you.... The tone gets a bit duller with the rosewood. Certainly when playing you can tell (yes I have just swapped a rosewood for a maple neck on a precision and I have pics)! All the little things add up especially with gain.
Maple fretboard sounds brighter
To me it’s a coin toss, more aesthetics than tone as you really can’t tell the difference and you can adjust the tone more dramatically with the tone knob.
I prefere maple or (not in this case) ebony fingerboard only for tactile reasons: i prefere the feeling under my fingers. Stop. Then think about fender: they put maple or rosewood only to match better with the body colour. So, the sound is not important
This kinda puts to shame those who say the sound is 99% pickups. Such hogwash. The attack is clearly punchier and you hear fewer overtones with the maple.
Maple guy here...every time ......
A more complete test would be buying the exact same model (with same specs) to see if there's a difference due to manufacturing.
This video is really annoying me. I really thought I could tell the difference in most instances, and in most video tests, I could, even without looking. This one I barely can tell. The frequency response is so close to me. It seems like more of the frequencies hit faster on the maple, but I'm barely catching it even across playing styles. I was really surprised by this.
the gloss finish has a bigger impact on the sound than the wood
I am normally a rosewood kind of guy, but in this case I don't see any differences.
Also I don't like how maple grows old, it gets more ugly that a rosewood fingerboard
rosewood more tight sound
rosewood soaks up the sweat ..
What a brighter tone, use a pick. Mellower, fingers.
That’s the biggest difference. Right?
Probably the most boomer of all arguments regarding string instruments. Whatever “differences” in tone can be simply eq’d in or out so who tf cares?
Maple más profundidad y definición.
Rosewood is dark wood so that means the tone must be darker.
🙄
Maple one is better
For me, no difference.
I can´t hear any difference.
Rosewood preference because Maplewood adds upper harmonics, which isn't what I'm seeking to implement with a bass. The punch with Rosewood solidifies the low end with more grit, more character.
i prefeer maple