Rosewood vs. Maple

[kidsmoke*]

Curious to hear from those with, literally, first hand experience.

What's the difference in these necks, from the players perspective. My only exposure is with an American Standard with a Rosewood fretboard.

[Bloozcat]

Rosewood is warmer with a more "controlled" kind of feeling, for lack of a better description. A rosewood board with a sweaty hand doesn't get very slick (except for the back of the neck which is the same on both). Although often paired with alder bodies on Strats, it can be found paired with just about any body wood. The more neuatral/warm tone pairs well with the sonically balanced tone of alder (or as Tommy at USACG calls alder, "the tastes like chicken of body woods").

Maple is generally brighter/snappier and can have more of slick feel to it depending on finish. A gloss finish and a sweaty hand can get quite slick. Not as much so with a dull/satin finish. Maple is often used with ash bodies to enhance the inherent bright, snappy tone of the ash. Think '50's Strats like Buddy Holly's and modern Strats like Fender's Deluxe Players Strat. Maple can also sound great with alder as in the tone of a Fender Jimmy Vaughn Strat, or to brighten the tone of a body wood like basswood on a Squire '51, for instance.

I have three Strat/Tele type guitars with maple necks, and three with rosewood. I like both, but for different reasons. In recent years I've been leaning more towards maple, but that's probably because I played mostly rosewood for many years. Change of pace, I guess.

[mainestratman]

I like the rosewood fretboards... the maple gets too slick for my liking, plus on vibratos and bends, I love feeling the string "grind" against the wood. I also think they look nicer.

Many moons ago, I played a friend's maple Strat when I sat in with his band... it felt like I was going to "fall off" the fretboard.. lol

[Geraint Jones]

I`m moving over towards maple , I`ve got a MiM Strat and love playing it , maybe I should`ve cleaned the rose fretboard on my Tele 'cos thats like playing thru treacle .

[marnold***]

I prefer maple fretboards, but it is purely an aesthetic thing. I'm not sure if my ear is good enough to determine any tonal differences between fretboard woods. If I ever get my hands on a Jackson DK2 I can try the bridge JB through my amph and see if I can detect any difference between it and my DK2M.

A maple fretboard will require less maintenance because it's going to be sealed the same way that the rest of the neck is. Of course, it's not like caring for a rosewood or ebony fingerboard is frightfully difficult.

The coolest looking fretboard might very well be an ebony board that has been epoxied on a fretless bass. Check out the pictures on this page: http://www.woodwiz.com/epoxy/pictures.html Not all of them are ebony, but you get the drift.

[kidsmoke*]

the Strat I spent some time with is RW as I said, and all my other guitars, except for an ebony FB acoustic are RW as well. I'm wondering if I would have a similar experience to MSM, "falling off" on my bends etc.

I appreciate ya'll chimin' in.

It was looking at those photos of Clapton and Beck at MSG that made me ask. One is on Maple, the other RW, but they have gone both ways over the years.... SRV's signature sunburst strat had RW, but no doubt he had others as well.

Just made me wonder what you strat guys use for criteria when you choose one over the other.

[Bloozcat]

Just made me wonder what you strat guys use for criteria when you choose one over the other.

Bottom line? Try the guitars out. Sit with your eyes closed or in a dark room and "feel" the neck and the guitar it's attached to. Forget about looks, concentrate on what your hands and your ears are telling you.

[mainestratman]

Just made me wonder what you strat guys use for criteria when you choose one over the other.

If and when I get another Strat, it'll be rosewood. That's what I'm comfortable with.

This is another Ford vs. Chevy conversation... like Bloozcat says.. find the one you like and go with it. :-)

[Katastrophe]

Ahhhh.... Rosewood vs. maple, one of those topics, like strings, that guitarists can debate forever. I love it!

All of my guitars. with the exception of my '06 MIM Strat, have rosewood boards.

I like the feel of a sealed maple fretboard. I also like the look as well. I'm not sure if it has any direct effect on tone, however.

Prior to '06 all I had were rosewood FB guitars. As rosewood is unfinished, it has a completely different feel, which is not unpleasant. It worked for me for about, oh, 15 years or so, before I got the Strat.

I can play on either and be happy, with the nod to maple for aesthetics.

I have yet to try a guitar with an ebony fretboard, however....

[Ch0jin]

The only thing I can offer based on my limited experience is that my three rosewood necked guitars seem to get dirtier faster than the sealed maple neck on my bass. I've always just assumed thats because there was a slightly rougher surface with the rosewood.

It's not exactly a big deal though, I usually clean them off with zippo fluid when they get too grungy and it takes a few seconds during a string change.

I can't really offer any comments about comparative feel and tone though because I can't really compare a bass to a guitar...

[hubberjub***]

All three of my Fenders have maple boards. My first good guitar was an early 90's Gibson Les Paul Studio with an ebony board and the maple felt most like that. I didn't like the rough feel of rosewood. Now I kind of want a Strat with a rosewood board for some variety. There isn't a huge difference in tone though.

[sunvalleylaw]

When I shopped originally for my first electric, which ended up being a strat, it came down to between the 60th Ann. MIM with maple board that I ended up getting, and a Highway One series with a rosewood board. The Highway One sounded a bit darker and duskier to me, and the MIM seemed to have a bit more clarity and snap. At least that is what I thought I heard. It would be interesting to do over blindfolded.

I love my maple board strat, but think it would be fun to have a rosewood board one too, especially a fat or super strat, for that different sound.

[Bloozcat]

And of course I forgot to mention that any comparison between a maple or rosewood board is moot....unless the necks are tested on the same body, with the same electronics, same strings, same tuning keys, same string trees, same nut, same frets, through the same amp warmed up the exact same amount of time, at the exact same temperature and humidity, during the same moon phase, and during the exact same bio rhythm peak of the tester (did I forget anything?).

The experiment would have to be so controlled that the only variable would be the raw necks themselves. Any other inconsistencies would skew the results. And still, the conclusion will only reflect the differences between these two necks and the individual pieces of wood they were made from.

Exacting scientific method cannot be reliably applied to heterogeneous materials with uncontrolable inconsistencies.

Or....you could just try several guitars until you find one you like....