rosewood vs. maple fretboard

[KaTaan]

I dig those clay dots

Steve

[Michaell]

Rosewood provides me more "grip" on the neck when I bend strings. I like having to "tug" more. I like rosewood for that.

Maple is a bit more " slippery" as some have said. Heavier gauges make this
less of a phenomena.

Maple fingerboards add to the "brightness" of the tone.

Both are good and a matter of reference. Cosmetically I love the look of a birds eye maple neck on a Strat!

[Nick JD]

I hate them both because Leo's motives for using Rosewood were not due to feel, look or cost - it was because players didn't want their guitars to look relic'ed when the finish on the maple wore off.

Oh the irony. Oh the sweet, sweet irony. Now people pay thousands more to have exactly what Leo tried to avoid.

Hear that? It's Leo rolling over again.

[teleman1991]

I own a rosewood tele and a maple tele, they both contrast beautifully in looks and in sound. But really i think the ROSEWOOD VS MAPLE is a little silly really, its all individual to that particular guitars looks sound and feel.

[Joe Chaney]

Originally Posted by sonicland

I just picked up a G&L ASAT Tribute and it has a maple fretboard glued onto a maple neck.

oh, i always assumed that there would be no point in doing it like that, but there must be, does anyone know an advantage to having the maple board glued on a maple neck?

[3 Chord]

A glued on maple cap allows the neck to have the truss installed without the typical rosewood filler strip on the back. It is routed from the front.

Also, I am no guitar builder but if opposing grain is used on the cap it may provide some structrual advantage too but I don't know.

[jwz]

What feels best to me; maple on a Fender - rosewood on anything else with a shorter scale.
But let's not forget our neighbor from another planet: Graphite!

[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."

[stevedenver]

fwiw
1 i dont believe there is a significant difference in tone-you and others may feel strongly otherwise

2 i bought my favorite blackguard clone with a maple board, and its been great these 6 years-all my other guitars, including my other teles are rosewood or ebony-( 'cept have one strat with a maple board too)

3 i wish now my boutique blackguard clone had a rosewood board-not sure why-aesthetics or feel-i think feel

i suggest this is more about what you like (for whatever reason)

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by stevedenver

fwiw
1 i dont believe there is a significant difference in tone-you and others may feel strongly otherwise

There is a difference in tone for me and here's why.....I find it easier to play a rosewood fretboard, so I tend to fret more cleanly. That gives me a better tone.

My conclusion: While there may be a tonal difference between maple and rosewood, the difference may not be caused by the wood.

Jim

[rogerzilla]

Originally Posted by erikro

Hi all,

This has probably been beat to death elsewhere. I am new to electric guitars. On my acoustics it has always been rosewwod or ebony. My question is, other than feel and appearance is there a difference?

Thanks,
Erik

It's harder to see the treble strings on a pale maple fretboard! Rosewood will look better in 10 years' time; maple looks better now. Fret levelling and crowning jobs are cheaper for a rosewood board because it needs less protection (no lacquer to damage, and a bit of lemon oil makes it as good as new).

I like both.

[tpaul]

It's a well-known fact that if you start out playing maple necks and then switch to rosewood, your wife/girlfriend will leave you, your dog will die, and your truck will break down.

Whereas, if you start out playing darkwood necks and then switch to maple, you get a new wife/girlfriend, a new dog, and a new truck.

And if you have always played a maple neck and don't ever plan to switch, you don't need anything new, all your old stuff still works just fine, thank you.

Don't ask me what happens if you always played darkwood necks and always will. It ain't pretty.

[tboy]

Rosewood sounds better when the power company is burning natural gas. When they switch to coal, the sound gets too dark for my taste. The strange thing is, I hear this difference even when the guitar is not plugged into an amp.

[frogger]

Maple adds snap and sparkle, rosewood adds a bit more warmth and feels more organic. I prefer maple for my Tele's and rosewood for Strats. One is not better than the other just different. It seems I can see the maple board better but I'm half blind anyway heehaw. I would love to play a brazzy rosewood Strat just to see what all the hype is about.

[GlennLewis]

I once stated the same smells like flowers vs. tastes like syrup answer, but now that I've studied the subject from a scientific perspective, I can state that maple is brighter and rosewood is darker.... looking. Brightness as defined by the reflectivity of certain wavelengths of light.

From the sound perspective there ain't a hoot of difference.

And I reserve the right to change my mind about that again in the future.....

[smitty54017]

It's been theorized that solid maple fretboards are less touchy when it comes to humidity (or lack thereof). I can neither confirm nor deny this theory however.

[Derek S]

I like both. I go by the all round feel of the individual guitar.

[boris bubbanov]

I wonder to what degree, if and when maple and rosewood boards sound different, it is simply because of the coating applied to the maple boards.

I have a plan. I will grainfill and nitro a rosewood board on one of my Squier Tele necks, after having first ascertained that it sounds the same as its sister necks of the same model. They'll be compared afterward, see what happens.

I have this maple necked AV52 FSR that was shipped down here from North Georgia recently. The fret sprout wasn't bad, isn't bad, but it is taking longer to subside, much longer than unfinished rosewood fretsprout has in the past.