I challenge anyone to A/B rosewood vs ebony

[skydog]

Of course the test must be witnessed and blindfolded. Everything else other than fingerboard must be identical and the results must be conclusive.

[tulk1]

What brought this on?

[rjsanders]

Of course the test must be witnessed and blindfolded. Everything else other than fingerboard must be identical and the results must be conclusive.

 

can't think of how to make everything else identical. you can get close, maybe, but not close enough to detect those diffs consistently. myself, i've leaned toward ebony in the past. african blackwood is a rosewood and i could tell the difference (maybe even blindfolded) on a Chapin (bolt-on neck) with rosewood, blackwood, and ebony...in that case blackwod usually won out for me. usually it's a matter of immediacy of attack. i like it real quick...

 

[GuitArtMan]

Tall frets almost completely remove the feel of the fingerboard from the picture anyway.

[pcovers]

Of course the test must be witnessed and blindfolded. Everything else other than fingerboard must be identical and the results must be conclusive.

The problem is there is no two guitars identical even if they are identical. Wood differences, even within the same species, has potential for tonal affect. Even if the RW sound different than the ebony you could not be certain the difference heard was because of the fretboard.

[rjsanders]

Rick Turner told me he sees & hears the neck as the "tone engine" where it all starts. and each neck can be very different, even if it's the same carve and same kind of wood. that being the case (not all luthiers may agree), you'd have to use the same neck on the same guitar & w/different fretboards to get everything else identical. kinda blows the blindfold test, given the time it'd take to swap in different 'boards and do multiple passes of the test...

 

anyway, i've passed blindfold tests of a similar guitar with different fretboards. in a quiet room with a very high-quality amp w/the same guy playing the same thing as close to the same way as he could.

 

[Kuz]

The problem is there is no two guitars identical even if they are identical. Wood differences, even within the same species, has potential for tonal affect. Even if the RW sound different than the ebony you could not be certain the difference heard was because of the fretboard.

 

Bingo!

[skydog]

What brought this on?

The post where someone had ordered a 555 w/ a 335 neck due to sonic differences in the fretboards. If in fact someone can accomplish this, my hat is off to them! I wish my ears were that attuned.

[Kuz]

That was probably me. But no way in hell I ordered a 335 neck ! I think you meant I ordered a 555 with a 535 neck.

 

Yes my ears can/could tell the difference between the warmth of Mahogany neck & Rosewood fretboard vs the bite & note definition of a Maple neck (standard at the time for 555s) & ebony fretboard.

 

Now the 555s come standard with a Mahogany neck & Ebony fretboard. This would be hard to tell the difference, but I prefer the old tried & true Mahogany/RW combo for tone & feel as well.

 

Look at this pic. Did I make a mistake?

 

[rjsanders]

[rjsanders]

The post where someone had ordered a 555 w/ a 335 neck due to sonic differences in the fretboards. If in fact someone can accomplish this, my hat is off to them! I wish my ears were that attuned.

 

the guys who are really good at tap-tuning, or Bill Chapin - now *that's* bat ears!

 

& then there's all those wacky stories about Eric Johnson and certain capacitors, etc....

 

[Steiner]

We could put this to task. I have a 575 with the rosewood, mahogany combo and a 575 with the maple, ebony combo.

 

Of course, only one has bound F-holes which obviously attenuates the top and would confound the experimental factors.

 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be fitted for a new suit.

[tulk1]

The post where someone had ordered a 555 w/ a 335 neck due to sonic differences in the fretboards. If in fact someone can accomplish this, my hat is off to them! I wish my ears were that attuned.

Aha!! And as Kuz has confessed, yes, I do believe that was him - rascally ol' guitar picker that he is. Not so sure my old ears could tell the difference in a blind test. I might be able to tell by feel. Now, I can tell the difference if I know I'm playing one or the other. And when I ordered my Millie NFH I asked for dark Rosewood as opposed to Ebony for the "warmth". But that is from years of playing guitars with Ebony boards. And realizing I liked Rosewood just as much.

Now, when it comes to wiring up the pots and the grounding wire, I have to have ...............

[smurph1]

The post where someone had ordered a 555 w/ a 335 neck due to sonic differences in the fretboards. If in fact someone can accomplish this, my hat is off to them! I wish my ears were that attuned.

I agree..My ears are picky, but they ain't THAT picky!!

[SofaPlayer]

Kuz, I hardly ever feel envy when looking at guitar porn. But I really really love your guitar. I don't doubt it for a minute that my ears could hear the difference. The good thing is: Maple / ebony doesn't sound bad at all and if you don't have the possibility to compare, it's fine as it is.

[Kuz]

Kuz, I hardly ever feel envy when looking at guitar porn. But I really really love your guitar. I don't doubt it for a minute that my ears could hear the difference. The good thing is: Maple / ebony doesn't sound bad at all and if you don't have the possibility to compare, it's fine as it is.

 

I actually had a maple neck/ebony fret board 555 and a '65 335 at the same time. You could hear the difference. I first sold the '65 335 (Trapeze tail piece, if it was a stoptail I probably never would have sold her). I used some of this money to get the Cust 555. So I did have both and could hear/feel a difference.

 

I guess I have good ears, but can't play for sh!tz!

[Mikenov]

I have both now. A 535 and a 555. I dig the bite of the 555. Just like I dig the bite of a tele bridge pickup. I generally dig the FULL power and immediate wack of the neck pickups on all of my guitar. I understand and appreciate neck pickups but somehow feel they don't come to the surface enough in a mix. Everytime I start a song out on the neck I end up on the bridge for some reason. Do you think this somehow parallels the whole maple-ebony combo VS the mahogony-Rosewood? The neck pickup is just a smoother, mellower sound. Rouder I guess I would describe it. I dig the bite of maple and Ebony and the bridge pickup for sure. And there is no doubt in my mind I hear the difference between the two guitars and their wood. I could tell immediately when I plugged in that 555. It's a different guitar. And despite it being a MUCH thicker neck and heavier guitar, It played lighter than the 535. Usually my heavier guitars have more low end. Not this one. It's the wood for sure.

[SofaPlayer]

How do they compare when played through the neck pickup? Less bottom end (but still enough I hope) and a more dynamic attack with the 555, but how about the woodiness and warmth of the tone? Huge difference to your ears?

 

And Steiner, how's your new suit?

[Steiner]

And Steiner, how's your new suit?

 

 

Fits me to a T; statistically speaking...

[Mikenov]

More dynamic attack with the 555 and slightly less bottom end. It's the attack that is the real difference. It's snappy I guess I would say. I have the 555 in for a set up and fret level right now. Once it's done and the pickups are adjusted a bit it might be totally different. I CAN'T wait to get this back... I love the tone of that guitar.

[High Flying Bird]

I have two 535s one with ebony and one with rosewood fingerboards. The ebony plays faster and brighter..... in my most humble opinion.

[GuitArtMan]

The post where someone had ordered a 555 w/ a 335 neck due to sonic differences in the fretboards. If in fact someone can accomplish this, my hat is off to them! I wish my ears were that attuned.

Definitely a difference:

555 was (I think they've changed the formula now) maple neck with ebony board. Bright with sharp attack - a little edgey when distorted.

535 mahogonay neck with rosewood board. Warm, smooth with a softer attack - warm and smooth when distorted.

[pro-fusion]

I just did this test last night, almost literally. I replaced the stock neck on my Jackson Fusion HH (rosewood) with a neck from a Fusion Pro (ebony). The tonal difference was substantial. I like the edge that ebony fretboards give--and no, that's not a myth. It's been universally true of every type of guitar I've ever played that had both ebony and rosewood available.

 

Obviously, different necks of the same woods will give different sounds, regardless, but more in terms of overall resonance than in EQ profile.

[skydog]

Well, based on the consensus here, I guess it is plausible to detect the difference. When did Heritage change over to the mahogany necked 555? The website still lists the 555 as having a maple 1 pc neck.

[Gitfiddler]

Well, based on the consensus here, I guess it is plausible to detect the difference. When did Heritage change over to the mahogany necked 555? The website still lists the 555 as having a maple 1 pc neck.

 

 

I believe it was between '06 and '07 they switched over to one piece Mahogany necks on H-555's. However, they still will make a multi-lam neck if custom ordered that way.

 

Here's a back-side shot of my '07 555 that shows the 1 pc Mahog neck.