Why do, if you do, prefer one fingerboard material over the others?

[Dlew919]

There's no wrong answer, and it's not about which is better. Why do you like the fingerboard you like? I love maple boards because I like the feel of them and I like the aesthetics. I have rosewood boards which I like too. But I prefer maple.

Your turn.

 

[murmur70]

I like maple best but for me it is purely aesthetics. I don't like the look of a maple headstock with a rosewood board.

 

[Wyrdlow]

Maple, absolutely! For no better reason than I like how it looks. The amber tint they put on reissue Fenders and Squiers especially. Rosewood for a fretless though, and I really can't say why. I've never laid my hands on a bass with an ebony board, but that could sway me - funds permitting!
Honestly, for me, it's all about how it looks.

 

[silky smoove]

Aesthetics

 

[Killing Floor]

Maple is lighter and rosewood is darker and ebony is even darker

colored.

in general if the headstock is painted OR the neck/fingerboard/headstock are the same that's a good tone for a bass or guitar.
If the body is painted and has an opposing pick guard and a rosewood or ebony fingerboard and an uncolored maple headstock the whole thing sounds like an unfinished product.

The tone of the headstock should match either the tone of the body or the tone of the fingerboard or both. One bass doesn't really need to be 4 different colors.

 

[Malak the Mad]

I'm a "tonewood skeptic", so it's all about "aesthetics", for me.

Gimme a rosewood fretboard with a painted headstock or an all-maple neck with black pearloid blocks & binding and I'm good to go, especially if the board is on the curvier side.

I can do a rosewood board with a maple headstock, but it absolutely must go well enough with the body and hardware. Again, "aesthetics"!

 

[chris_b]

I prefer dark fretboards, rosewood etc, but depending on the bass I'll play anything.

Both my Laklands had maple boards and were killer basses.

 

[Jefenator]

I like rosewood for the look and feel, and for not having to refinish when you redo the frets.
Not that I've ever actually needed a fret job on any of my basses yet.

 

[Bass V]

I like them all, even darkly figured pau ferro can look real nice, but it's all about their varying ...TONES!

 

[Jack Butler]

Exactly my thoughts.

I like maple best but for me it is purely aesthetics. I don't like the look of a maple headstock with a rosewood board.

 

[JRA]

Your turn.

sorry, but i like 'em all.

i used to think that ebony was the only way to go. and though different, ebonol proved to be fantastic. rosewood was always the greatest, and coated maple is the bomb even though i can't say anything bad about 'composite'/imitation fingerboards....you can see where i'm going with this...

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I enjoy the sounds of maple and ebony that many of you cannot hear

 

[Greenlion]

I like maple and rosewood equally. Pao Ferro is OK but only looks good with certain color finishes. The Indian Laurel everyone is using seems like garbage. I've seen so many of those with fret sprout and fretboard cracks after just a couple of years. Seems like the remaining "rosewood" companies are using is also pretty crap quality, with twists and knots in it that will result in unstable fretboards and high frets over time.

 

[Jefenator]

For some reason, I'm okay with 1-piece maple necks but I don't care so much for glued-on maple slabs. (I do like double action truss rods & stiffening bars, though - especially after having the truss rod get all screwy in a 1-piece skunk stripe neck.)

 

[foal30]

Wenge for me because it looks luverly

 

[Yahboy]

I prefer tinted/coated maple neck and fretboard, because zero maintenance on fretboard wood.

 

[TomB]

I love ebony because it's beautiful and reminds me of the historic link to upright bass.

 

[2thAche]

Rosewood, ebony, pua ferro. Darker the better.

All looks. Not a snot of thought to tone and fingerboard cause it doesn't matter

 

[Pings Bass]

Fretted: no preference

Fretless: rosewood

But I've played ebony and whatever weird wood my Ibanez has (panga?) and don't notice a difference when playing. I just know rosewood is time-tested and works/looks great.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

As it turns out, both of my basses have maple fretboards and my Epi ES-335 has (allegedly) Rosewood, and the Squier Tele Indian Laurel.

No real thought went into the fretboards as three of the four were the result of trades that came my way and the CV Tele was purchased new because it's got a bound body.