Maple or Rosewood

[mimmo]

Rosewood for me.
View attachment 1400491

What is this beauty?

 

[mimmo]

I have a very small guitar collection and honestly I appreciate many different woods.
My Tele has a maple fretboard, my Classical Ovation has ebony, My Gibson J-45 has rosewood and my Adamas has walnut. I love all of them.

 

[msalama]

Maple or Rosewood

Or rather, coated versus natural? Both work for me persay, but all my Teles are gloss maple and I'm used to it. Some loathe gloss poly necks for a reason, but I'm good with 'em since I've got dry skin and they've never felt sticky to me.

 

[Wrighty]

Which do you prefer on a Tele. I like both equally depending on color . On a Stratocaster I definitely like rosewood better but certain colors of Tele’s look good with either/or. Like 3 color sunburst, I think it looks great with either but I couldn’t imagine a butterscotch blonde with a rosewood board. I just got a 3 color sunburst with a dark chocolaty color pau ferro fretboard and I think it’s beautiful but I had a Player Plus in the same color with maple and it was just as beautiful. Not something that’s overly important but it was just something I had on my mind.

My first Tele, a MIM, had a mapel neck. Every Fender I bought after that, over 20 years, had the same. Then, last year, I played my teacher’s Strat with a rosewood neck. My first RW was shortly after when I bought my Mod Shop Tele. Maybe the memory of that Strat lingered, maybe I was attracted to the block fret markers or, most likely, I just felt like a change. I have to say it’s getting the most playing time at the moment, but I don’t think that’s just because it’s got a RW neck. Not sure what I may or may not get next………..if GAS strikes it’ll probably be for a specific guitar.

What is obvious is that very few mention preferring actually playing either. It’s purely subjective and, seemingly, based mainly on aesthetics. Can we move on now

 

[El Tele Lobo]

My first Tele, a MIM, had a mapel neck. Every Fender I bought after that, over 20 years, had the same. Then, last year, I played my teacher’s Strat with a rosewood neck. My first RW was shortly after when I bought my Mod Shop Tele. Maybe the memory of that Strat lingered, maybe I was attracted to the block fret markers or, most likely, I just felt like a change. I have to say it’s getting the most playing time at the moment, but I don’t think that’s just because it’s got a RW neck. Not sure what I may or may not get next………..if GAS strikes it’ll probably be for a specific guitar.

What is obvious is that very few mention preferring actually playing either. It’s purely subjective and, seemingly, based mainly on aesthetics. Can we move on now

Yes...I suppose. But vote in my poll first, please...for research purposes. This pressing and urgent question might possibly come up again in the future. Maybe...

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

I've always had a preference for maple fretboards. That said I have 3 parts Teles and a parts Esquire and my favorite of the bunch has a rosewood board.

 

[unixfish]

Striped Ebony.
Rosewood.
Pao Ferro.
Roasted Maple, or that artificial dark board (what is it called again?)
Then, if all else fails, Maple.

I though I wanted maple in the past. I got a Baja Tele, and I liked it, but after a few years I realized I preferred rosewood or a darker board. I now have an AP-II with rosewood.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

or that artificial dark board (what is it called again?)

Richlite?

 

[unixfish]

Richlite?

There you go! Richlite! That may be above Pao Ferro in my list.

 

[unixfish]

...and I really like Pao Ferro. I just don't like the reddish hue as much as the darker woods, but the feel is what I like. My Strat has a pao ferro board that I like.

 

[Masmus]

I always liked maple better. However I do have more rosewood than maple. I do have one Tele with rosewood and of my 5 Strats the one I like to play most is the only one with rosewood.

 

[MrBassmans]

Big maple neck on a light swamp ash body. Also helps deteriorating eyesight. It's easier to see the side dot markers in a poorly lit bar. Getting older. Too stupid to quit!

 

[regularslinky]

There was a time when I would express a strong preference (ebony first, maple second, and rosewood a very distant third) but then I got my Rick Kelly T-style with rosewood fretboard and fell in love with that guitar. Now, my first choice would be rosewood, though I don't have a strong preference. I can't hear any difference in sound. I slightly prefer the feel of rosewood, but I would gladly take one of the others.

Generally I like dark fretboards (rosewood, ebony, etc.) to be dark and not streaky or brown, and I like maple necks and fretboards to have some tint - I don't like white or super-pale maple. But none of those things would be a deal-breaker if the guitar was special.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

I prefer rosewood.
Ebony is great, too.
For some reason, though I like the appearance of maple, I never bond with all maple necks/fingerboards.

Yeah, there are plenty of reasons why high-end acoustics don't come with maple boards. I prefer ebony a little bit over rosewood. I have noted that most of the upscale American acoustics I see have ebony boards and bridges, so I'm not the lone ranger here ...

 

[hd09]

Color don't matter that much to me. Have lighter and darker rosewood necks, they're just easier to play for me than maple for some reason.

 

[Wrighty]

Yes...I suppose. But vote in my poll first, please...for research purposes. This pressing and urgent question might possibly come up again in the future. Maybe...

I’ve lost the options list, can’t vote……….sorry, I may have voided this very important poll

 

[39martind18]

All my acoustics, a 1998 Taylor 815ce and my avatar, both have ebony boards. All my semi and hollow body guitars have either rosewood or ebony boards. Of my two Tele types, one has rosewood and the cheapie Squier Affinity Tele is maple. That said, the Squier plays fantastically, especially for being a guitar I obtained for $60. So, numerically, I prefer ebony or rosewood, and like @Freeman Keller, worn maple boards, especially those that are fake worn (reliced), I feel are just plain ugly.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

I’ve lost the options list, can’t vote……….sorry, I may have voided this very important poll

No. I made a poll in another thread…even while having fun over here.

 

[Wrighty]

No. I made a poll in another thread…even while having fun over here.

Too techy for me, I vote rosewood, today, at least!

 

[geddins]

RW for me. I've had some maple-board Teles that were really good...but I just prefer RW...partially aesthetic I'm sure, but I do prefer the feel of it.