Maple fretboard or Rosewood?

I just play and haven't got a clue as to what my technique is or isn't. But I assure you that my fingertips come in contact with the frets. How many members on here complain about how "narrow and tall" frets feel like they're running their fingers over a washboard? I'm pretty sure I've read that analogy more than once. Fingertips, no matter how calloused, are not rigid and will smoosh on the strings, causing contact with frets when sliding up or down the fretboard. If you don't feel the frets at all then I would say YOU are the one with the "wacko technique"... imo.

 

I used to be a die-hard maple guy, buy in the last few years I have learnt how to appreciate the rosewood 'boards and I can safely say that today I have no preference.

A good telecaster (or strat, or P/Jazz bass or whatever) is a good telecaster!

 

Posts where people don’t realize fingertips are not hard surfaces that don’t hang over the string and start getting preachy about technique and touching the board imminent.

 

It's a preference thing. I like frets that are just tall enough so that I can still feel the fretboard. I found that with really tall frets my fingertips would get uncomfortable. This is with over 40 years of playing. I have fingertips that have been hardened many moons ago.

 

I although I prefer the look of Rosewood Fretboards I feel the most comfortable with the Maple Neck of my Mexico Standard Tele

 

Scallop that bad boy and answer none of the above.

 

Maple for me. I’m a blackguard devotee, so it’s all about that look. Although, a ‘60s style Tele with a rosewood board and the right paint job can really look sharp.

 

Aesthetically each looks good against particular body colors (love my rosewood neck on a Sonic Blue strat, love my maple neck on a blonde tele, hate the idea of a black tele with rosewood neck and have never actually seen one). I think they sound different, but that is probably my imagination and the tonal difference can probably be mitigated by the Tone knob. I will say Rosewood is much easier and pleasurable to work on. Refretting a maple neck is tedious and stressful while pretty much anything you would do to a rosewood neck can be easily fixed.

Now that I think about it, I guess the Joe Strummer tele was a black guitar with rosewood, right? Yuck.

 

I'm not a big fan of "narrow and tall" either for precisely that reason. I probably do more sliding than bending, so I don't like the narrow & tall compared to the smaller "vintage" size that you find on some Fender products.

 

Telecasters are the only guitars where I prefer maple. Everything else has rosewood or ebony. Couldn't give you a reason why.

 

I like both. As long as a rosewood board isn’t too dry or open grained I don’t detect much difference when playing. Some benefits of rosewood boards are you can roll the edges and from all I’ve seen rosewood boards can be easier to refret or repair.

 

edited, not constructive.

 

For me it sort of depends on the finish. Certain finishes just speak to me with maple or rosewood. I'm less concerned with the perceived level of sound characteristics different woods have since I always tend to sound a certain way after I'm done w the amp EQ.

 

I go for looks and feel, which for me means rosewood. I don't like having a finish on the fretboard. Ebony, pau ferro and roasted maple are also nice less standard options

 

I agree. Maple is a great neck material. I have two Teles with one piece necks and they have a very balanced sound and feel. I also have an electric with a mahogany fret board which to me plays almost like a maple board. I have never had the opportunity to play a to piece maple neck on any electric I have ever played so I cannot speak to them as I can the other two combinations I mentioned.

However, I am a strong advocate of getting what you like and everybody is different. I knew what I was looking for and I got what I wanted all three times I have bought a new or new-too-me electric.

 

Really? I actually prefer to have a finish on the fretboard and the neck because it keeps my nails from digging up the wood and it is easier to clean the sweat and grease off...at least to me. I don't really hear a tonal difference. Although that is just me. As I said before, get what you like and want.

 

I've owned a bunch, I have a guitar with an Ebony board and a guitar with a Chechen (Carribean Rosewood/Poison Blackwood/Whatever) board right now.

Just ordered a guitar with Pau Ferro.

My preferences are basically:
- What goes with the color of the rest of the guitar - some colors just look better with Maple, others look better with a dark wood board.
- Whatever has a nice smooth satiny feel - some maple glossy necks and/or boards feel stickier, but good ones don't

 

Here is a test


Have a nice weekend

 

Since I'm not a supernatural undead creature of the night I don't seem to have any trouble leaving clawmarks in the fretboard... what kind of claws do you have that you're digging up rosewood/ebony/pau ferro, etc.. These are not woods that are particularly easy to cut with saws or sand with sandpaper.

Oh yah, I cut my fingernails too.