Neck woods.

[Telecaster?]

hi i was just wondering, because rosewood is hard to get in my area, is there really much a difference between rosewood and maple?

i know some ppl have told me that rosewood sounds more 'rock n rolly', but is it that much of a difference?

thanks

[ramblinmike]

IMO, it feels different but thats it. plenty of rock 'n' roll has been played on both

[mexpress]

I like maple. I think it's prettier.

I think a lot of neck finish mumbo jumbo really boils down to aesthetic appeal.

REMEMBER: In my opinion, unless you are amping through serious vintage/high-quality tube amps or something, you're not going to pick up on differences caused by wood types in the fretboard. People tend to forget that the STRING and the metal fretwire is what the magnets pick up more so than the wood underneath everything.

[Bickert Fan]

I agree with mexpress. In typical cases the hardness of fretboard woods goes: Rosewood, Maple, and Ebony. I play jazz exclusively and the overwhelming opinion is that maple is too bright of a sound with ebony being the standard followed by rosewood.

I run a typical jazz setup (Clarus 1R/RE Twin 8 ) with the only effect being 20% verb. This setup was designed for acoustic bass and guitar. But many have found that, with the right guitar, it's equally amazing.

I play a tele with a one piece maple neck. It's just the best clean sound I have ever heard without using an actual archtop (L5, 335, etc.). Conventional wisdom says that my maple fretboard is too bright for jazz. But I'll put this Fender against any 335 for a clean, warm tone.

I have been playing for over 20 years and have had about 20 different guitars of varying necks, bodies, and pickups over the years. If I honestly thought that fretboard material made that much of a difference I would have swapped this neck out of my tele.

Because the frets are ultimately in contact with the fretboard there is probably some difference in sound. But I have not noticed it to a degree that makes me want one or the other. I think the variances in the piece of wood used to make the freboard are probably more broad than simple wich type of wood is used. There are some solid-as-steel pieces of rosewood and there are some soft-as-doo-doo maple. It's trial and error if you're really looking for a specific sound. But that's half the fun of buying a guitar isn't it? It's like Willy Wonka's chocolate bars. You keep getting them. This Fender tele is my "golden ticket" and a keeper.

Ted Greene, an underrated Tele player, called the telecaster a "tone wonderpup." I agree. I think we all do here.

Hail, hail Fender!