maple board Precisions

[Chris P.]

Hi there,

I want to write an article about Precisions with maple fingerboards. Of course the sound's very spikey and I guess that's the reason they're used by bands like The Ramones, The Who and The Jam. What's your opinion about maple vs. rosewood and the artists playing them?

[uwe]

Maple boards give you more snap and attack and of course the first electric bass had one so it's also something a bit for the purists among us. I like the maple board on my Fender Sting - it goes well with the singcoil I think -, but when I bought myself a Stingray I made a conscious decision for a rosewood board one, a maple board would have been too much snap and bite for me with the active MM pup. Of course, there are enough people out there that don't consider a non-maple board Stingray a "real Stingray".

Uwe

[Dave W]

To my ears the "spike" of maple is pronounced upper mids, while rosewood is more even through the whole tonal range. Like everything else, just a matter of preference. Given a choice, I'll always take rosewood.

[Dave W]

Of course, there are enough people out there that don't consider a non-maple board Stingray a "real Stingray".

Fools! 

[rockinrayduke]

I just got this maple board ASAT after not having a maple neck for quite a while (think my last one was a translucent teal Stingray a few years back) and even with flats you can hear the snap. Plus it looks cool.

[godofthunder]

 I have always been a rosewood fan, but maple has its charms. I recently got a '74 P with a maple board and love it. My Jimmy Lea bass also has a maple board. Rosewood will always be my fav though.

[rahock]

I go for a deep dark sound, but I usually prefer the feel and tone of maple . I just roll back the treble control. I don't dislike rosewood , but if I'm doing side by side comparisons, I'll usually end up  with maple. I've got a 70 P that came with a rosewood neck and I changed it to maple, a 51 P RI that's maple an Earthwood ABG that's maple and an Olympia ABG that's rosewood.

Rick

[SKATE RAT]

i  prefer both the sound and feel of maple.i had a aftermarket neck with an ebony board on my P bass for years and that was also great.but i've never really liked rosewood so much.not really sure why.

[ilan]

To me, fretboard material is the single most important variable in a bass's sound. More than the old ash vs. alder debate. For many years I was big on 70's maple board P's, but now I prefer rosewood boards for the tone. I still like the feel of the lacquered fretboard, but with the rosewood board I can get the sound I hear in my head when I think classic Fender P.

[leftybass]

I got this SX bass 'cause I'm a Roger Waters fan.

[godofthunder]

  Nice SX ! I am a big fan of these lots of bass for very little dough.

[edmonstg]

Over the 40 years I've been working with Fender basses, I've had on the gig more than 30 of these instruments, mostly rosewood, but in the last five years my No. 1 call has been a maple board 1/59 gold guard, which is hands down, the best Fender P I have ever played. Extraordinary tone, huge punchy bottom-end, sweet mids, with plenty of growl and crispy highs that cut through just the way I like 'um. This bass is so percussive it's like a kick drum with notes.

George

[Dave W]

That just goes to show that there can be exceptions to your general preferences that will pleasantly surprise you.

[Chris P.]

I took the 50s P out yesterday. The sound quality of this vid is very poor, especially the bass sound:(

[uwe]

Needs TBird overdubbing like all your vids!