What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

.......It is an amplified instrument...logically the wood has impact...and one cannot put it to percanteges...
Or a POS Squier will sound the same a CS guitar with the same hardware applied......
It really does not.....
Or a strat with humbuckers would be like a LP.....erm well....no....
And so on.....

Plastic/carbon/ and so on fretboards are a horror soundwise......nothing, it is dead and all that....by its very nature too.

Oh well the never ending discussion of the last decades.....

 

[Zhaggy]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

Actually when you inspect the strings when pressed, they don't actually touch the fretboard, unless you press 'em very very hard, which doesn't happen when you play. So I am not sure whether a rubber fretboard will impact the sound significantly. Rubber saddles certainly will, cause that's where the strings sit. No sustain at all, probably the string won't even ring out.

My conclusion is, wood matters but not as much as the popular belief, only about 20 percent of the overall sound.

Certainly a blind test is required to end this debate.

And you are exactly who? And Frank doesn't probably even know what he's talking about. He's not a professional in this business or anything.

You honestly think that by just "looking" at the frets and how they don't touch directly the fretboard that there is no difference in what the fretboard is made of. Come on, really?

Ok, make a guitar out of rubber and tell us how close it is to a wooden guitar. I dare you.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

Actually when you inspect the strings when pressed, they don't actually touch the fretboard, unless you press 'em very very hard, which doesn't happen when you play. So I am not sure whether a rubber fretboard will impact the sound significantly. Rubber saddles certainly will, cause that's where the strings sit. No sustain at all, probably the string won't even ring out.

The string doesn't have to touch the fretboard. The fret is embedded into it. By your logic rubber saddles would kill the tone, but metal saddles in a rubber bridge wouldn't. Hey for that matter a rubber arch top on a Les Paul wouldn't matter so long as it was Mahogany underneath. Come on man, think it through...

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

It is the think part that ends it....

 

[uOpt]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

BTW, from my non-scientific observation the fret size has a bigger impact on sound than the specifics of the fretboard wood. Chew on that, haters

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

I think you are a joke as well. Nato is a type of wood and I can't recall a Charvel acoustic with a plastic neck.

This ones for you.

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

If I pick an open string with reasonable attack and lightly place a finger on the neck, I feel vibration. If the neck is vibrating, then the nut is vibrating. If the the nut is vibrating this will have some effect on the strings vibration, this goes round and round. Basic physics of an integrated system.

I theorize that there may be a small % of the population whose ears are not capable of perceiving the difference.

Lookup paper mache guitar. These types of debates are as old as the guitar itself.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

By that logic, the body wood matters even less, because the strings never touch the body.

They're anchored to the body. Strings aren't hovering around in space above the guitar, they're firmly attached to it at both ends, and any woods inbetween play a part in the vibreations that are transferred to the PU's.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

The string doesn't have to touch the fretboard. The fret is embedded into it. By your logic rubber saddles would kill the tone, but metal saddles in a rubber bridge wouldn't. Hey for that matter a rubber arch top on a Les Paul wouldn't matter so long as it was Mahogany underneath. Come on man, think it through...

Thank you.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

^ God, I wish I could sig that.

:blush: Aw, shucks...

Just cop the second chorus. Those words could apply to every thread in here!

 

[dominus]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

They're anchored to the body. Strings aren't hovering around in space above the guitar, they're firmly attached to it at both ends, and any woods inbetween play a part in the vibreations that are transferred to the PU's.

Right, but they're anchored via metal, not the body wood.

I was just making a statement about the absurdity of the claim of the OP.

I will be swapping a few maple necks in the next few weeks onto some of my Strats to see what I think about the tone. I've always used rosewood necks, but I've used PLENTY of different body woods and pickups, and I can hear differences among all of it. (Through amp modelers no less!)

 

[BEACHBUM]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

[QUOTE%

 

[Grindspine]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

I have several guitars with different kind of woods, they all have SD or Dimarzio and sound crap played through a Boss SD-1, but sound majestic through a Digitech Grunge. Obviously, woods don't matter here.

Now I know for sure that you're a troll; saying a Grunge pedal sounds majestic... :smack:

For what it is worth, I have about three friends who have been musicians or worked in local music for years and we can tell some pretty specific differences in equipment.

We have done cable shootouts and can tell a difference in brightness between Horizon braided, Monster P500 Rock, Monster Jazz, and Evidence cables. If so much as cable shielding and capacitance can make an audible difference in comparatively similar length cables, then saying that only the player, pickups, and amp matter is a bunch of garbage.

Simply, quality built guitars with the same pickups, player, and amp settings, will sound a bit different with two different fretboards. Rosewood is more rounded to my ears, while maple is brighter. Ebony is definitely "snappier" (to my ears, not so much thinner, just not as warm and balanced) than rosewood.

All of these woods have their place, but it is a matter of preference in sound, feel, and asthetics.

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

Well, nobody can argue against the individually relative nature of perception.

Peace out.

 

[BEACHBUM]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

This is sooo wrong! Im guessing beachbum is using digital amps.
Granted, on modern guitars with tight articulate high gain amps, the tone is pretty one dimensional, and you arent going to get much variance , but with a high end classic style Les Paul, Strat , or Tele guitar, or a special made guitar, or an old guitar, the difference is enormous. Great duncan pickups will quickly shut you up about how there is no difference in neck tonewoods, but only through a responsive organic tube amp with classic tone.

Well, you would be guessing wrong. As the law professor told his students, "never ask a question you don't know the answer to". And yes, the Tele is running Seymour Duncan Alnico II's. By the way there is no call for statements like "shut you up". I can see that you're passionate about your tone wood theories but stuff like that is never helpful.

We can argue all day about whether you see the sky as grayish blue or I see it as greenish blue. Rather than get in a huff because BEACHBUM doesn't agree with you why don't you just do something at least semi objective, test your own beliefs and then stop worrying about what others believe.

Here's my last build. Tried it with an early 90's MIM maple board and a vintage Fullerton made American rosewood. I went with the rosewood because I like the look and the playability was better. If there would have been a tonal difference I would have made a different choice but to my ears they sound exactly alike.

 

[BEACHBUM]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

So why are you here then?

I'm here because I can never resist a good dog and pony show. Why are you here?

 

[zontar]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

The main thing here, is do you like the way the guitar sounds?

 

[AniML]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

How about fur? Does that affect tone?

 

[Mincer]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

Hmm, I have guitars out of carbon fiber, graphite and really expensive rainforest woods, and there are good ones in the bunch and bad ones. I look at sound and ergonomics (for my body) first. After that I might care about what it is made out of, but probably not.

 

[verbotenco]

Re: What if fretboard wood doesn't matter?

So do you really think Steve Vai's guitar like the one below sound crappy cause it's made of acrylic not wood?