Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

I think..wood tone....eh........the tone................nevermind!
I'll just go to rehersal and PLAY my guitar and write a hit song so as to
retire and get all the honeys. But please, continue the debate. I'm sure the chicks are reading this as we speak. And when I get my grammy for "Album of the year" I'll say I'm sorry and return my award and admit I used a guitar made out of Pine. D@mmit.

I for one am getting a bit tired of people popping into a thread to tell us they are too cool and hip to be interested in the thread, and using it instead as an opportunity to show us their nose hairs and declare us all hopeless nerds and geeks.

If the topic doesn't interest you, please do as the rest of us do and stay out of it. Notice how we don't butt into your favorite forums about how to write bubblegum hit songs for K-Disney to bed down 13-year olds.

This forum and the company that sponsors it are devoted to, as Evan once put it, "tone solutions". If you are too easily bored to investigate the subtleties and secrets of great guitar tone, then the Duncan Forum is just not the place for you.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Good to see so many rush to Yoda's defense...:clap:

Common sense, folks. Take a step back and realize what you are saying. Whoever made the comment that there would be as great a difference between different examples of the same strain of wood makes a great point. Looks like that was Frank. Good point.

If any of you want to believe that you have superhuman senses, fine with me. But when I read a ridiculous comment that brazilian rosewood fretboards are "more complex sounding":lmao: :eyecrazy: than indian I'm going to hoist this flag every time:bsflag:

I guess you'll be getting a tired hoisting arm then. Yes, it's true that two samples of the very same kind of wood can sound very different, as can two PAF pickups. That doesn't mean that there isn't such a thing as a distinct tone that PAF pickups have vs. other humbuckers, or that the typical/average piece of Indian rosewood doesn't have a distinct sound vs. the average piece of Brazilian.

No-one is claiming to have superhuman sense either -- if anything, they're saying you should be able to tell the difference too.

 

[ranalli]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

I hear a bigger difference in ebony vs rosewood fingerboards than Gibson vs Fender scale length.

And that difference is fairly large IMO. Large enough that pickups like the Distortion and JB I do not like combined with ebony fingerboards.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Good to see so many rush to Yoda's defense...:clap:
.....

Lew needs no defense, nor do I see it as necessary. If you have a problem with "yoda", then it´s your problem.

One issue is that you assume that obody except for yourself is remotely capable of doing scientific experiments to attain valid results. The other problem that you can´t accept is that not everybody is you and has your crappy ears (I can be insulting and provocative as well, as you have generally been since your first post in this thread... yeah, insult someone in the first sentence, that´ll make them listen )

Until you can prove to the multiple people that have said they can hear it that they can´t, maybe you should just do what you claimed to do before and agree to disagree instead of continuing to provoke and meking an ass of yourself with comments such as the one quoted..... Lew is nobody´s god or leader, and it´s certainly not any sort of devotion to HIM that would make people voice their opinions here.... If anything it´s devotion to tone.

BTW, I recommend an automatic flagpole, because you´ll need it if you want to avoid forearm injury.

*Through with thread*

 

[jpage]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Well, geez Zerberus, if you're leaving why carry on?

I didn't start the name calling here. That was yoda. Remember?

There is no changing someone's mind once they convince themselves of something. That's why creative writers are such important employees for pickup companies. And replacement body/neck companies. And string companies. Their mission is to convice guitarists that phrases like "complex tone" actually mean something.

Don't drink the kool aid--you'll be richer in the end.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

..I didn't start the name calling here. That was yoda. Remember?

For your benefit and our amusement, here the discussion in question, post for post in chronological order. I don´t think you´ll be able to read it and not realize that you´re the one that came out all guns blazing. If not, no skin off my back.

The diff can be subtle but there is a diff. Rosewood gives a guitar a slightly warmer tone with more complex mids compared to maple. And Brazilian Rosewood sounds more complex than Indian.

I started off on rosewood Gibsons, then started craving 50's maple neck/fingerboard Fenders...now I'm starting to like rosewood fingerboards more again.

Lew

I know you have Yoda as your avatar, but let's not start believing it...

No way any human can tell the difference between a brazilian rosewood and an indian rosewood fretboard. Not possible. Of course, I'm sure you could be relating your experiences with guitars that happened to have brazilian rosewood fretboards, but to insinuate that the differences you noticed from these instruments was the tonal properties of the fretboard is ludicrous.

There is quite a diff...and this particular human can hear that diff. It's the same diff most people can hear between a fine acoustic guitar made of Brazilian Rosewood and one made of Indian Rosewood. However, I cannot play basketball nearly as well as Larry Byrd...

Lew

Quite a diff, eh? You crack me up. We are talking about FRETBOARD WOOD. I would believe much quicker that you were Larry Bird's (I think that's who you meant) separated siamese twin Lance from the planet Saturn before I will believe you can hear "complexities of tone" in fretboard wood.

Don't judge others by your own limitations or lack of talent... ...like I said, I can't play basketball as well as Larry Byrd and what he could do on the court I would find impossible to do.

But I can hear subtle things that others don't hear at first...until they know what to listen for. Then most people can hear those same things.

Would you hear them? Maybe not.

Lew

We're going to have to agree to disagree that what you claim to be able to do is impossible. I would bet my house if a fair test could be set up, but there is no way that could happen, could it?

Which is, as I said before, convenient. You can still believe that you are Yoda and claim to have "spidey-sense".

And it's BIRD, not BYRD, for God's sake. If you are going to make that silly parallel not once but twice, get the guy's name right at least.

You're right about the spelling...Dyck head.

One of you stayed calm and normal until the point where it started to annoy him, and then retaliated.

Lew chose Yoda as an avatar, not a name. his name is written above that in Hindu-Arabic characters. If I called you teddy bear all day becasue of the teddy bear around JPs leg it would probably piss you off, too. especially if i did it in a snide fashion like you did here....

There is no changing someone's mind once they convince themselves of something. That's why creative writers are such important employees for pickup companies. And replacement body/neck companies. And string companies. Their mission is to convice guitarists that phrases like "complex tone" actually mean something.

Don't drink the kool aid--you'll be richer in the end.

Some people can see a conspiracy or the devil in anything... but like you said, there´s no changing someonés mind once they convince themselves of something. SO (and seriously, think about this): Why are you still trying?

Good bye and good luck with the rest of your life.

 

[jpage]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Well I agree that I did stay calm until not only did he annoy me, he called me a name. My tolerance for childish behavior and immaturity should be lauded.

Do I think I'm going to change Lew's beliefs on this matter? No. But I do think that I may get through to one or two young players who have yet to sink into the myopic wasteland that is cork sniffitus. My God, if more players would spend 1/10 of the time practicing as they do replacing pickups there would be alot more good guitar players out there.

But mainly, this conversation keeps me sane here at work. As soon as no one replies, I will lose interest.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

My God, if more players would spend 1/10 of the time practicing as they do replacing pickups there would be alot more good guitar players out there.

With all due respect, please, not this "everybody here should practice more" crap again. You and everybody who says that make it sound like replacing pickups and talking about it is all any of us do all day.

At my very worst, I was never doing it more than once a month and that only takes an hour when I'm in slow motion or having unforeseen problems. That leaves PLENTY of time to practice and gig -- as I do.

If you come to a forum about replacement pickups, chances are that the people here will be talking about replacing pickups 95% of the time. What a shock. If you insist on extrapolating from that that everyone here has no life because they are replacing pickups 95% of the time and therefore have no time to practice, then it's time for a course on logic to get some perspective.

 

[jpage]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

You're a 41 year old gigging musician so you would definitely not fall into the "young players" I spoke about. The "young players" I speak of are the ones who spend $250 on a pickup because after reading these boards they are lead to believe that a pickup is a much more important cog in a player's chain than it really is. Obviously (only an hour to replace a pickup--damn I'm slow) you are more experienced than these folks.

But the more important (or as "important" as this discussion could be...) point is that sometimes we read or hear something so much that is becomes "true" in our minds. We convince ourselves that brazilian rosewood fretboards actually make our electric guitars sound better. Or that those Antiquity pickups will be an "upgrade" over those awful "stock" Gibsons.

When the sad truth is that when a/b'd side by side not a one of us (OK, maybe one) could tell a damn bit of difference.

 

[big_black]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Or that those Antiquity pickups will be an "upgrade" over those awful "stock" Gibsons.

When the sad truth is that when a/b'd side by side not a one of us (OK, maybe one) could tell a damn bit of difference.

Wow...

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Okay, fair enough, but what does any of that have to do with lack of practice time? Most of these kids you're talking about have someone else put the pickups in anyway and nowadays have more than one guitar so they can still practice while the other one is in the tech's hands.

I don't claim to be able to tell Indian from Brazilian, but the last few Burstbuckers I've had I could easily tell apart from a Seth Lover or Alnico 2 Pro -- and certainly from the pickups I make in my own little shop. And so could you.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Or that those Antiquity pickups will be an "upgrade" over those awful "stock" Gibsons.

When the sad truth is that when a/b'd side by side not a one of us (OK, maybe one) could tell a damn bit of difference.

If that was the case i doubt there would be a market for them. I may not be able to distinguish between Brazilian and Indian rosewood by ear, but i can certainly tell a huge difference between my Dean's stock pups and the current SDs i had put in there recently, and i love the results. I personally don't let me swapping out pickups or any other gear related thing get in the way of my progression as a musician. In the end im here getting the best out of what i have and if i need something else, i got my ears, and a great bunch of people on here who can help me get what i want. I know you have your opinions, but could you please be a bit more respectful?

 

[xicodelico]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

fretboard wood has an influence on tone (at least to my ears) but it's not so drastic as some tone gurus are suggesting.

I saw in your photos that you got a FCB-1010 midi I got one too with the Gmx 212 So how the hell do I program the wah pedal? Can you make it?

 

[MarkyMarkRox]

Re: Do fretboard woods really matter that much?

Haha ok...since being the thread starter I would have to say I get the idea. Thanks guys.