Maple vs Rosewood fretboards

IceCreamMan

Just an info gathering exercise. I have done some research on the net and the general concensus appears to be that maple is a tad brighter , a tad "faster" ,rosewood a lil warmer.

are these the only differences and are they actual or imagined.

any thoughts appreciated.

StephenG

IceCreamMan wrote:
are these the only differences .

no. there is also a distinct colour diffrence between maple and rosewood fret boards.

Keira-WitherKay

I own electrics with both maple and rose wood , and i prefer maple . It feels better to me . As for tone yes i too heard maple is brighter and more responsive in attack , but the truth is i can't be sure it's the fret board and not just cos the guitar is brighter . Cos if there is a differance measurable it must be pretty small . But i do cosmetically prefer maple , a good maple fret board is a thing of beauty to me, and i find rose wood very boring looks wise . Both my maple neck usa strat and usa tele have both got fabulous snap to the strings and are responsive in attack and i like that in my sound so be it fact or urban legend i would stick to guitars with maple fret boards

Jack-Flash-Jr

StephenG wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote:
are these the only differences .

no. there is also a distinct colour diffrence between maple and rosewood fret boards.

:roflmao:

AlanRatcliffe

IceCreamMan wrote: Just an info gathering exercise. I have done some research on the net and the general concensus appears to be that maple is a tad brighter , a tad "faster" ,rosewood a lil warmer.

Pretty much. Maple is more percussive, with a faster, brighter attack. Rosewood has a smoother, warmer attack.

racman

Strangely enough I prefer a Strat with Rosewood fretboard and a Tele with Maple... ???

epictring

Maple all the way for me!

BluJu

racman wrote: Strangely enough I prefer a Strat with Rosewood fretboard and a Tele with Maple... ???

+1. I don't mind as much for the strat. I tend to judge from guitar to guitar but for a Tele I insist on maple.

Malkav

For teles it's just gotta be maple, strats...Well some of the most legendary tones out there have been made on both varieties of board in their case.

I think the body wood has quite a bit to do with it though, and the pickup choice when it comes down to it. If we were talking your typical humbucker equipped superstrat I'd have to say for a basswood body I'd go for rosewood, for a mahogany body it'd have to be ebony really...

IceCreamMan

Thanks for all the replies , even the one i should of expected ?

experiencing a severe case of GAS ..just when u think you dont need anything more something comes along and you start scheming how u can get to afford it hey

Jack-Flash-Jr

IceCreamMan wrote: Thanks for all the replies , even the one i should of expected ?

experiencing a severe case of GAS ..just when u think you dont need anything more something comes along and you start scheming how u can get to afford it hey

I find maple to be psychologically lighter as well, not sure if that makes sense? There's more spring in my playing...

Are you trying to get a seperate neck... not sure what lefty maple vs rosewood availability is in the various styles... or is it a new baby?

IceCreamMan

Jack Flash Jr wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote: Thanks for all the replies , even the one i should of expected ?

experiencing a severe case of GAS ..just when u think you dont need anything more something comes along and you start scheming how u can get to afford it hey

I find maple to be psychologically lighter as well, not sure if that makes sense? There's more spring in my playing...

Are you trying to get a seperate neck... not sure what lefty maple vs rosewood availability is in the various styles... or is it a new baby?

never thought of a separate neck scenario ....interesting thought

would be new ..... devising and scheming .....u know does my lad really have to go to varsity one day and all that..... ?

AlanRatcliffe

Generally for both Tele's and Strats I like maple with ash bodies and rosewood with alder.

BTW - My all-time favourite fb wood is pao ferro. The best of all possible features - looks like rosewood, wears like ebony and sounds like maple.

Bob-Dubery

IceCreamMan wrote: Just an info gathering exercise. I have done some research on the net and the general concensus appears to be that maple is a tad brighter , a tad "faster" ,rosewood a lil warmer.

are these the only differences and are they actual or imagined.

Rosewood is a dense wood. I don't know how much difference you'd feel with different fingerboards and all else being equal, but certainly you can feel the extra weight with acoustic guitars.

IIRC there are differences in the way you'd care for the necks. Maybe somebody else can expand on that.

racman

And of course in my humble opinion, one should not forget the pickup selection which needs to be carefully selected according to both the body and fretboard wood as well.

Garren

@IceCreamMan

Pity you don't live closer! I'm also a lefty so I would be
more than happy to let you try out my strat with a maple fretboard ?

IceCreamMan

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Generally for both Tele's and Strats I like maple with ash bodies and rosewood with alder.

Us lefties are severly discriminated agaisnt ...... u only get a very limited range of leftie strats ...... i dont think u get an ash/maple combo ...alder is the only wood used in lefty strats ....iirc.

also , the higher up you go in the strat world quality wise , the less choices u get regarding colour etc ...

IceCreamMan

Garren wrote: @IceCreamMan

Pity you don't live closer! I'm also a lefty so I would be
more than happy to let you try out my strat with a maple fretboard ?

Cape town ,aint to far man ?

thanks

Cannon

I find i can bite much harder into a Rosewood neck!!!
It has more balls!!!
8)

Garren

Cape town ,aint to far man

Haha lekker stuff, next time you are down here we
will sort something out ? Maybe we should organise
some kind of lefty guitar convention ?

@Cannon

I must say, my strat through my (previously your) Bassman
is keeping me extremely happy ( and my neighbors very unhappy) 8)