[Vizcaster]

I would've expected by now somebody would rehash the standard answer about the tone. Your mileage may vary, but in theory at least the maple is softer yet heavier than rosewood. Think of lead (heavy and soft) compared to honeycomb carbon fiber (hard and porous and light). There will be a difference in tone, but actually the difference can be outweighed by a combination of all the other factors: tonewood of the body, weight of the tuning machines, material in the nut and saddles, and don't forget the pickups which make a huge difference.

So what is this theoretical difference in tone? I have come to expect that a maple fingerboard would sound brighter overall with lots of treble, whereas a rosewood fingerboard has more "meat" to the tone that seems like there's more midrange or bass. At the same time the rosewood has snap so the percussiveness of the pick attack is still there. Maple necked guitars might have a more characteristic Strat or Tele tone, whereas the rosewood has a bigger sound that has less of a fingerprint. Don't hate me for saying that, I'm sure there are plenty of twangers who get great tone from a rosewood board, but being conservative I'd say my idea of a Fender is something with a maple neck (not following my own rules, of course, I have both).

Practically speaking, the factors of feel and aesthetics are really important and the tone is merely a consideration to be aware of. In the end I like a maple board for moderate gain bluesy stuff and a rosewood board when I'm getting into the real crunch zone on the distortion palette.

Of course the most important distinction is when you explain, "Yes dear, I already have three of those, but they don't have a xxxxxx fingerboard so I need this new one, too."