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Post subject: Maple and Rosewood Fretboards - 2 Piece Necks vs. '57 P-Bass
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:06 pm
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I just got off the phone with Fender support and was surprised to find out that with the exception of the '57 P-Bass Custom, all other bass guitars have a two piece neck, a fret board of either maple or rosewood and the neck to which it is bonded. The '57 P-Bass is a one piece neck of maple with the frets installed directly into the neck not a seperate fret board. I understand the reason behind this as being easier to perform the fret work on a seperate board then on the actual neck. At any rate this surprised me because I though all Maple necks were one piece with frets applied directly to the neck.

I just purchased a American Standard Jass Black, White Pick Guard with a Maple Fret Board, because I wanted to get a MIA Fender as close to the MIJ Geddy Lee bass as I could. I havn't received the base yet because it is on back order, my dealer told me a couple of weeks.

So if both rosewood and maple fret boards are bonded to the neck that throw out my understanding of a one piece maple neck and I began asking why would one select rosewood over maple and vice versa. Both fret boards will have a glue line and must have some resonant impact on the instrument vs. a one piece neck/fret board. Unfortunately when I went to the two dealers in my area, every bass they had on display had a rosewood fret board. It was crazy I went to the first looked at all the basses and turned around and went to the other dealer. He had one Lakeland with a Maple fret board everything else was rosewood. This is like 50 bass guitars total that had rosewood fretboards. So I wasn't able to play one against the other and determine what sonic differences exist. Do the maples sell faster then the rosewood or do the rosewoods have the higher selling rate?

So I am sticking with the maple based on my love for Geddy Lee's sound and I am sticking with the MIA Fender Jazz because Geddy relies on Fender as do plenty of other professionals.

But here is my question, fretboards - rosewood or maple? I am very interested in any and all comments? In addition, I believe there is a misconception out their that maple fretboards are integral with the maple neck, they are not except on the '57 P-Bass.


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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:32 pm
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Actually, one of the main reasons the American Standard basses with maple boards are 2 piece is because of the graphite support rods. They are on either side of the trussrod, and have to be inserted from the frett side of the neck. Normally for one piece maple necks, the trussrod is inserted by the back of the neck and is later filled in with rosewood. It is not possible to do this with the graphite.

Trust me on this one: the graphite support rods are easily worth any loss in resonance (which I believe is minimal).

Also, it really is true that the maple is brighter. It has a little more bite too it, but it's not harsh. Also the gloss finish on front of the maple boards on the american standard feels great. I've got one myself, and I prefer the feel to rosewood easily.


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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:16 pm
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That is interesting about the truss rod. And the fret board makes sense now. I really appreciate the input. You guys made my evening.


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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:30 pm
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If the American Standard necks have glossy fretboards, why American Deluxes didn't had this feature?

Personally, I liked the American Deluxe basses having the upgrades the Standards had (glossy fretboards, HMV bridge, thinner undercoat on the bodies and Hipshot lightweight vintage-style tuners), still retaining the essential features such as the SCN pickups, locking strap buttons, abalone fretboard markers, select tonewoods, 5-bolt fixing and active 18V electronics). I also wish a return of the ash body option, as well as fretless and 5-string versions for both P and J-Basses).


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