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maple vs. rosewood

FarfromlukinFarfromlukin Posts: 38
edited March 2005 in Musicians and Gearheads
Just wondering what the difference is between maple and rosewood fingerboards. I'm going to get a new guitar soon and I already have a tele w/ maple neck and fingerboard and I always liked the look of the sunburst strat with a rosewood fingerboard. any info would be appreciated.
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  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,132
    well i have a fender fat strat in sunburst with rosewood...lemme just tell u, i love it

    sometimes maple fretboards are sticky, not like sappy but its hard to explain, sticky is the only word for it...i read somewhere that maple necks sometimes arent as sturdy as a rosewood...i played a maple once, it was a fender tele..i didnt notice any of those but what i did notice is when u look down its harder to see what fret you are on vs a rosewood, that i know for sure

    again i dunno, all my guitars have rosewood
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  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    tone, maple is brighter, rosewood is warmer and softer.

    other than that it's mostly looks and feel, Rosewood feels softer than maple. How much fingerboard feel you get depends on the fretsize you choose.

    Fender went to a 2 piece neck with rosewood fingerboard when they updated the original stratocaster (between oh say 1959 and 1962 most notably the 62) they did this because the maple had a tendency to green and look dirty with age.

    neither is better or worse it's preference.

    Ebony is another common fingerboard wood. I like it a lot, it's bright, somewhat oily and fast.
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  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i prefer rosewood since it's an unfinished surface. the way fender finishing their all-maple necks is pathetic. check out all the excess finish around the frets. that starts to crack off very early and just makes a horrible mess.
  • KillerIsMeKillerIsMe Posts: 208
    i like the look of maple better, but i usually end up going for the rosewood fretboards.
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  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    exhausted wrote:
    i prefer rosewood since it's an unfinished surface. the way fender finishing their all-maple necks is pathetic. check out all the excess finish around the frets. that starts to crack off very early and just makes a horrible mess.


    Hush you, you're biased...

    Although I prefer rosewood, then ebony, and I'm not a big fan of maple. I hate hi-gloss necks of any sort, though... and maple pretty much always ends up in hi-gloss unless you luck out with satin or finish it yourself or it gets aged or you take sandpaper to it...

    The few satin maple necks I've played are nice.

    But with Fender, almost all of their necks are maple... the rosewood is layered on top of that. I have a mahogany neck on my new Tele, thank god... not quite as tough, but a lot smoother.

    I'd just go down to a shop and sit and play a couple maple boards and a couple rosewood boards and maybe even a couple ebony boards. See which one grabs you.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    A friends strat, took a few trys of sanding, and some playing over time to really get it to feel right. I agree with the stickyness of maple.

    I've played rosewood and ebony, and love them both.
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  • MetalGod75MetalGod75 Posts: 262
    As a fiathfull LP Custom user i love ebony finger boards.I got a strat too with a rosewood board but i prefer ebony.I havent had a guitar with a maple neck for a long time.
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