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simple: maple or rosewood fretboard and why? please

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#21
Get one of each!

For strictly finger style blues gigs I take the Rosewood for the warm tone. If I am getting funky and gotta slap....the Maple for a brighter tone.

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#23
Maple just feels nicer, it's hard to explain. A Travis Beane metal neck; the older ones with the "T" shape. That's a nice neck. I don't think it starts making a tonal difference till you start getting to the density of aircraft alloy. They are so fun to slap that the last few frets are generally replaced if you ever see one today.
 
#24
When I bought my Lakland 55-02, I had the ability to play both rosewood and maple versions.

I liked the look of the maple better, but I kept gravitating toward the rosewood. The tonal difference was VERY, VERY slight. If I wouldn't have had the opportunity to play them back to back, I'd swear they sounded exactly the same.

In the end, I got the rosewood because, to me, it just sounded a little better. But only slightly so. Nothing you couldn't tweak with an EQ.
 
#26
Aspidites said:
Maple, it looks much better IMO.
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Rosewood. It looks much better IMO.
:D

I'm a white guy. My skin is light. My fingers show up better against a dark (rosewood) fingerboard.
Otherwise I lose them. I'll be in the middle of a gig and think "dang! where did my fingers get to? I had them just a minute ago..."
 
#27
darkstorm said:
Rosewood. I'm not a fan of maple fretboards. I dont like finish on fretboards. Not much a fan of maple fretboard appearance either. Maple fretbaord can look nice but its just not my thing. Prefers dark wood tone for fretbaord.
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Don't care for a "finish" on my fretboard....I like the natural wood.....rosewood for me !! +100%
 
#32
Hard to find a good rosewood board these days. IMO; the quality started going downhill when the manufactures started using Indian rosewood! I'll play either but I think the difference in board material as far as tone concerned goes back to the days when rosewood was imported from Brazil!
 
#35
Get the one that FEELS better. The tone difference is bologna. However, I truly (and personally) feel a difference on rosewood vs. maple. Rosewood has always felt more comfortable to me and my finger tips. Also, I prefer the look at rosewood, esp., since I dig either pearl/abalone block inlays, or no inlays.
 
#36
I think there is a snap or crispness to maple that I feel when I play. I don't think its something you will catch on a recording as the EQ settings, pickups, strings, technique, etc will have far more influence. But over the years I have played both and its more of a feel / response thing for me. And it influences at some level the way I play and respond to the instrument.
 
#37
johnk_10 said:
maple boards have sealed & finished fingerboards (the standard (MIM) has a flat finish and the american standard a gloss one). i like the feel of gloss finished fingerboards so that might also be a consideration.

personally, although some people don't seem to think so, i prefer the sound of a maple board neck (especially a one piece maple neck), but it's not a huge difference in tone, so IMO, appearance and feel should be your biggest concerns.
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depends on the mood, but I have been using maple boarded necks for the past 3 necks now: I love the glass look of the finished board over birdseye or flamed maple... I like rosewood but only if it is paler like pau ferro, I don't like rosewood with subtle reddish grain lines or the ones that they dye to make it look like ebony. So yes, for me it is all based on looks
 
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