Fretboards: Maple vs Rosewood

[blueyonder]

I know I'm probably just asking for a good kicking for this one, but before everyone starts doling out the abuse, let me explain myself first. I did do a search and found at least four prior threads asking this very question, the last one being in March 2007. Seeing as it's almost the end of 2009 (nearly 3 years) I would reckon we've gained a lot of new members on the boards, including myself, and I was curious what everyone's preference is (of course, I'm going to assume maple for tradition's sake) and why.

Now, my personal preference is for maple and here's why. I had been playing acoustic and classical guitar and taking lessons for a few years. In 1979, a friend of mine wanted to start a band and asked if I'd be interested in possibly playing rhythm guitar. I'd always been interested in possibly moving on to playing electric guitar someday, but knew practically nothing about them from a technical standpoint. I knew what model most of my rock heroes played, but I didn't know much about them beyond that. So, being the independent minded lad that I was, I went with my mom (who had agreed to go halfsies with me on the cost of an electric) to the music store in the next town over. I wanted to play a variety of them and decide which one I liked best, regardless of whatever it was that the superstars of the day were playing. I went through just about every guitar in the store, including a black Tele with a maple neck and fretboard, the only one in the store like that with the exception of a couple of Strats. I tried a few other guitars after that, and came straight back to the Tele. The shape of the neck and the texture of the fretboard felt really good, and overall it just fit me. I found that on a clean setting I could play "Blackbird" and snippets of Baroque tunes almost as well as I could on my Takamine classical, and it sounded pretty good. I tried a few bar chords with the gain turned up and it sounded nice and a bit raunchy, and I thought "Perfect!". So that's what I left the store with. So, anyway, that was my first encounter and the beginning of a lifelong affection for the Telecaster (and probably a little more background than necessary, but oh well).

So, let the beatings begin.

[BigDaddyLH]

[x] Ebony

[hannigan]

I just can not choose, yesterday it was maple today rosewood , not sure why but I play more delicately when on a maple neck.
No real preference .
I do prefer the look of maple.

[boris bubbanov]

[ x ] wood.

I'm real choosy. I like my fretboards made out of wood; no substitutions.

[Milone]

Maple....thats one of the reasons I got a tele in the first place....love the feel, look and how it ages with time..

[blueyonder]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

[x] Ebony

LOL, it figures the first reply I get would be for the option that I didn't include in the poll.
Ebony fretboards are somewhat rare on Fender Teles though, aren't they?

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by blueyonder

LOL, it figures the first reply I get would be for the option that I didn't include in the poll.
Ebony fretboards are somewhat rare on Fender Teles though, aren't they?

There's the Jim Root Artist Series


Any it's easy to custom order. I'm hankering for an ebony on mahogany Tele neck from USACG.

[sonserve]

My Tele and Strat are Maple. I used to think MAPLE ONLY! Then I got my Precision with Rosewood cause it was a really good deal. Guess what? It' don't matter a bit.
FWIW.

[KevinB]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

[ x ] wood.

I'm real choosy. I like my fretboards made out of wood; no substitutions.

So, no love for Martin's use of micarta then Boris? No, none here either

But whether it's maple or rosewood means little to me. And actually I rather like my Rickenbacker's lacquered bubinga board!

[blueyonder]

Have to admit I'm a little surprised by the lack of preference by some of the posters. I've found some rosewood fretboards to be just a bit more coarse (for lack of a better word) than maple. Maybe it's just me.

[Kornelius]

Maple for my tele, but rosewood for my other guitars; both are good for me but i prefer the aspect of maple on a blond tele with blackguard, and i like the rosewood on my guild.

[blueyonder]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

There's the Jim Root Artist Series

Yeah, after you posted your reply I did a search, and that seemed to be the only "standard issue" model I could find with it in the stores. I would assume that their have been others in the past, and custom orders are way beyond my financial reach, so I guess that's why I didn't consider them. Guess I'll add it to the poll. (OK, now I just need to figure out how to edit the poll).

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by blueyonder

Yeah, after you posted your reply I did a search, and that seemed to be the only "standard issue" model I could find with it in the stores. I would assume that their have been others in the past, and custom orders are way beyond my financial reach, so I guess that's why I didn't consider them. Guess I'll add it to the poll.

Once you go black ...

[telepunch]

FWIW, the Jim Root comes in maple as well...

Personally, for playing I don't care which. Aesthetically, I like the wood to contrast the body, so dark bodies get maple light bodies get rosewood. I prefer ebony, cocobolo, bubinga, or wenge to the standard rosewood or maple.

[edwardjeffrey]

I've polled my guitars and the results are:3 rosewood 4maple

[jazztele]

Originally Posted by Kornelius

Maple for my tele, but rosewood for my other guitars.

yeah, me too, for the most part. I do like my rosewood boarded MIM '72 custom.

[stephent2]

Not a fan of ebony FBs, but I like maple and rosewood equally.

I'll admit a fondness for brazilian rosewood and Pau Ferro as well.

[djphelan01]

I happen to like maple. I don't know why I just prefer maple on my Fender style guitars. I had 2 strats one with maple and the other with RW. They played about the same and I couldn't tell much difference in sound but I always played the maple so I sold the RW strat.

[Headshot]

I like both, but have been leaning towards rosewood lately. Yet, my next 2 project guitars are getting Maple....go figure....

[woodman]

the purpleheart board on my current player is the best i've ever used. it has the slick feel of rosewood but is much tighter-grained.

[Telemarkman]

Since my fingertips have callouses (doesn't yours?), I can't feel much difference except under very humid conditions, where I find maple to be somewhat sticky.

For me aesthetics is the biggest difference, and in most cases I prefer maple.

But I like rosewood best for some finishes, like white and white blonde with a white pickguard.

For the time being I have one of each!

[bo]

I like maple on my Teles. For other guitars I'm open to suggestions.

[morgankelly]

I prefer rosewood fretboards. I like the feel better. The maple fretboards I've played have had a nice smoothness but I've always felt more "at home" playing rosewoods; probably due to my background with strats (all have had rosewood). However, a large percentage of my vote is based on aesthetics. I like the darker fretboard on most body colors. If I had a 50's telecaster, sure it would be maple. Anything else, I'm with the rosewoods.

[blueyonder]

Originally Posted by Telemarkman

Since my fingertips have callouses (doesn't yours?), I can't feel much difference except under very humid conditions, where I find maple to be somewhat sticky.

Yeah, I have callouses, just not quite as pronounced as they used to be - just getting back into playing after 5+ of not touching a guitar, so I'm feeling a bit of the pain of someone just starting out. Kind of amazing how they've never completely gone away, though. The hardest part is the muscle memory, but I'm starting to have more of those "Oh, yeah, I remember that now" moments.

But, where the coarseness I was referring to comes in is usually on cheaper rosewood fretboards. I have a low end SG that's seen better days and I usually notice it most when I'm bending strings. Like I said, maybe it's just me.

[ThreeChorder]

I love maple on teles and strats, but not on my Martins :)

[Strat God]

I sold all my guitars with rosewood or ebony boards. I know it sounds stupid, but the bottom line is that I CAN'T SEE the dark boards on stage with gig lighting. Probably just my old eyes, but I can see maple boards with black dots in any environment but I get lost on dark boards.

[telepunch]

Originally Posted by stephent2

Not a fan of ebony FBs, but I like maple and rosewood equally.

I'll admit a fondness for brazilian rosewood and Pau Ferro as well.

that's the one i was forgetting

[jkingma]

Just between the choices presented I have to say I like the look of Maple more, but I like the feel of Rosewood more.

However, I recently bought a board of Cocobolo that is big enough for me to get 10 fretboards out of it and I have to say I prefer it over either one.

[Tele Fan]

Maple on Teles and Ebony on the Gretsch

[guitarzan13]

Maple tastes better....

[Gothma]

Just today ordered a Midnight Wine Standard Tele and to my surprise was given the choice of Rosewood or Maple fretboard. I think the Rosewood would be to dark with that colour body so I've gone for the Maple. Currently I have an LP and a Strat with Rosewood and a Tele clone with Maple so it'll even up the collection as well.

The wife seems to think that I'll be able to sell one of the others now......... Silly Girl

Andy R

[theegspot]

Depends on the guitar for me. For a Tele...maple. Traditionally I like rosewood. I also have a Parker with a carbon-fiber/glass composite fretboard. Now THAT is amazing to play on.

[ADK Teleman]

I prefer maple...but I won't turn my nose on a tele or strat that has rosewood..:)

[gezza]

Great topic,

I started out with maple, but now dis-like it. Very bright and can be sticky on hot days.

I prefer Ebony, just as bright as Maple, very smooth to play.

Rosewood is my second choice.

I have PRS - Ebony, Strat - Ebony, Tele - Rosewood, I play the Tele least of all. Love the Strat with Ebony.

Gezza.

[Tim Armstrong]

I strongly preferred maple... until I played a rosewood board Tele!

That's when I discovered that I can't detect any significant difference when I'm actually playing!

Tim

[Sea Devil]

I have one old Tele with a rosewood board that's practically scalloped from the years of playing, and I love it to death. But I like maple, too. I also have a partscaster with an ebony fretboard and it's perfect with the guitar's other features. It all depends.

[tcarp]

I'm not very good nor am I a long time player, so I'm unqualified to wax poetic about the virtues of maple vs. rosewood or vice versa. For me, it boils down to cosmetics. I'm so superficial.

I'm still in the process of finishing my first partscaster and it's getting a Musikraft maple neck which has been finished with Mohawk amber toner and multiple coats of clear nitro. It came out great.

I also have a '69 RI Thinline in mahogany which I really love, and I'm seriously considering getting a Musikraft Rosewood neck with the same specs as the factory neck for no other reason than the rosewood looks soooo damn tasty on the 'hog body. I mocked up a virtual thinline like mine on the Kiskae site and I'm sold on the appearance.

Of course that'll leave me with an extra neck, so I'll be forced to build another partscaster.

Tom

[IPLAYLOUD]

Maryann.

[1977CJ5]

My #1 (72 Thinline RI MIM) has maple. But I still prefer rosewood. Maybe it's my playing skills or lack of, but I find rosewood to be more forgiving. Seems like I hear every little thing on maple, especially if I'm doing some fast jazz type chording. Rosewood seems to not amplify my mistakes so much...

[nvilletele]

I find that maple tastes great but rosewood is less filling . . . or was it the other way round?

I used to feel that a tele called for maple while a strat needed rosewood. But I've come to realize that there is no simple answer . . . I had been favoring maple overall, but lately rosewood has grown on me considerably (no, please dont ask me exactly where the wood is growing).

In the end, I suppose I too feel it somewhat comes down to looks . . . some guitars look better with the darker fretboard, others not. My black nashville with a rosewood board would not look as appealing in maple, and frankly I love the way it plays too.

So I have no answer . . . both taste great, and neither are filling.