Tele Fretboard - Maple or Rosewood ..

[Blaze]

Wha' s your favorite fretboard on a Tele style guitar Maple or Rosewood ?

Any thoughts on the tone & feel differences ?

[ragnarpk]

personally i prefer rosewood... feels better to me, and looks so much nicer..

[Big K]

maple - for that Tele snap & brightness, the main reason to spank that plank in the first place

[wingsdad]

My Teles (and Strats) have always had glossed maple boards.

Glossed Maple is the original Tele (and Strat) fretboard because it makes whole-step or chord string bending and sliding of chords easier with the slick, hard surface vs. the much softer rosewood surface, and the guitar was designed with working country & western players top-of-mind.

Also with that in mind, its hardness makes it more durable as it's almost impossible to dent & groove, and it's easy to maintain, impervious to the ravages of sweat or the dry climates (i.e., Southern Californa) it was born in (no need to condition it, oil it like a rosewood board).

As for tone, once again, with c&w in mind, glossed maple helps produce brighter, snappier treble, mids and bass than rosewood. On the other hand, it does little or nothing to contribute to warmth or sustain.

Some original Tele players sanded the gloss off the maple to get a bit more warmth and/or sustain. Of course, satin finished, non-glossed maple boards eventually became an option.

Rosewood boards became an option on Teles and Strats as the 60's rolled in, and no doubt, to compete in the solid-body market with Gibson's late-to-the party Les Paul series.

Differences in fretboard wood effect on tone has been debated ad infinatum, but I tend to agree with the theory that it's 'about 15%' of a factor, mixed with body wood, size, shape and type (solid, hollow or semi-hollow), pickups, bridge materials & design, string-thru body or on top, and string gauge, surface and type (and age). Not accounted for in that mix is the amp nor the player's left & right hand technique and attack (involving fingers and/or pick and the pick's material, gauge) since those are virtually infinite variables.

[marnold***]

I've always preferred maple visually, but hate the typical thick amber gloss they slap on there. A maple board with a satin finish--I'm there.

[mrmudcat]

I have one of each ,maple!!!

[hubberjub***]

Maple on both Strats and Teles.

[t_ross33]

I'm not convinced that maple or rosewood fretboards have any impact whatsoever on playability or tone : That said, from a pure aesthetic standpoint, maple on a Tele unless it's a Custom or Deluxe thinline - then rosewood. Strats = rosewood for the most part, but I do like the look of a maple board on a Strat from time to time...

It's mostly a visual thing for me - also depends on the color of the guitar :

[sunvalleylaw]

Maple on a tele. I love my maple on my strat too, but may add a rosewood one someday.

[markb]

Telecasters must be blonde with a maple board and a black guard. Any deviation from this is a mere copy

[t_ross33]

Telecasters must be blonde with a maple board and a black guard. Any deviation from this is a mere copy

A single ply - 5 hole guard I'd bet - Spoken like a hardcore fundementalist Not sayin' you're wrong, just sayin'

[markb]

A single ply - 5 hole guard I'd bet - Spoken like a hardcore fundementalist Not sayin' you're wrong, just sayin'

And it has to be Bakelite. No cross headed screws either

Actually it's single-ply, 8-hole with a guard mounted pickup. All the rest checks though. And, no, the board isn't scalloped. It's just the light.

[tjcurtin1]

Real purty, that one!

[t_ross33]

And it has to be Bakelite. No cross headed screws either

Actually it's single-ply, 8-hole with a guard mounted pickup. All the rest checks though. And, no, the board isn't scalloped. It's just the light.

Whaaaat? No brass saddles? And you call yourself a purist? (just kidding - nice git) :

[markb]

Whaaaat? No brass saddles? And you call yourself a purist? (just kidding - nice git) :

The saddles are brass under all that chrome. This model has a steel bridge plate and brass saddles unlike the US Standard that does it the other way round.