W.S. Walcott
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What is the difference in sound/playability in these two fretboard options
Maple vs Rosewood
- Thread starter W.S. Walcott
- Start date
If you like a hard slick feel, go for maple, if you want a softer smooth feel go for rosewood. Rosewood is more porous (open grain) and seems to have a slightly mellower tone than maple. If you use products like fastfret or fingerease stick to maple, these types of string lubs will gum up on rosewood. Maple is almost maintenance free, except for an occasional cleaning while rosewood needs a few drops of lemon oil rubbed into it from time to time to keep its slick feel. Appearance wise more rosewood has pretty inlay work than maple. I think that should cover most of the differences, the rest is a matter of preference, play whatever feels best and suits your style of playing.
Aaron Cheney
Favorite Chord: C 6/9
Farview said:
And as a result, tend to feel "sticky" to me. I prefer rosewood or ebony.
A
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Maple is a denser wood than rosewood, which will lead to a couple of things. First, it is brighter sound wise. You see a lot of country guys playing maple boards. Rosewood, in addition to being a bit softer, is also much oilier. The (relative) softness leads to a warmer sound, and the oiliness means it does not need to be finished. Maple boards MUST have a hard finish on them, or they will get damaged by your finger oils while you play them. Maple seems to dent easier because of the finish on it. Ebony is much denser than maple, but is oily enough not to need a hard finish. It is also quite bright.
There is also a major difference in maintenance for the two. Fret dressing is more difficult, and so more expensive, on a maple board. But the real difference is with a refret. On a rosewood board, it is usually about $275-300 to refret. With a maple board, you are looking at more like $500. When you refret a maple board, you need to completely refinish the face of the fingerboard, which is why it costs so much more. It is, usually, more cost effective to replace the neck than refret a maple board. This is not, of course, the case with vintage necks, but anything from the CBS period on is really not worth refreting a maple board.
By the way, we do actually finish rosewood and ebony boards, but we use a non-drying oil, generally lemon oil these days (used to be linseed oil, but that shit stinks nasty). This finish wears off over time, so about once a year (or twice if you play a lot, or have particularly corrosive sweat) you need to clean off the fingerboard with OOOO steal wool, and apply a small amount of lemon oil. Just wipe it on, and then let sit for a minute or two. Wipe off the excess. If there is no excess, repeat the process until there is. Of course, since you all take your guitars in twice a year for setups due to the climate changes, you don't have to worry about it, as this is one of the things a good repair person does when they are doing a setup.
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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
There is also a major difference in maintenance for the two. Fret dressing is more difficult, and so more expensive, on a maple board. But the real difference is with a refret. On a rosewood board, it is usually about $275-300 to refret. With a maple board, you are looking at more like $500. When you refret a maple board, you need to completely refinish the face of the fingerboard, which is why it costs so much more. It is, usually, more cost effective to replace the neck than refret a maple board. This is not, of course, the case with vintage necks, but anything from the CBS period on is really not worth refreting a maple board.
By the way, we do actually finish rosewood and ebony boards, but we use a non-drying oil, generally lemon oil these days (used to be linseed oil, but that shit stinks nasty). This finish wears off over time, so about once a year (or twice if you play a lot, or have particularly corrosive sweat) you need to clean off the fingerboard with OOOO steal wool, and apply a small amount of lemon oil. Just wipe it on, and then let sit for a minute or two. Wipe off the excess. If there is no excess, repeat the process until there is. Of course, since you all take your guitars in twice a year for setups due to the climate changes, you don't have to worry about it, as this is one of the things a good repair person does when they are doing a setup.
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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Not me, I can't stand a grungy fretboard.-=¤willhaven¤=-
New member
ebony. the tightness and brightness (afaik) of maple with the dark look of rosewood
my ESPs use ebony and its really tight grained. it almost looks like black plastic. and on the parker it IS black plastic
my ESPs use ebony and its really tight grained. it almost looks like black plastic. and on the parker it IS black plastic
Thorguitarist
New member
pennylink said:
Thank you for pointing that out... I was told that rosewood is softer and it makes playing a bit easier i guess... It does wear fast however i can wear one of those fretboards down in no time. My schecter 7 string has a rosewood and i usually use that for my songs with a lot of scales and what not cause i feel it plays better and faster. However my strat which is a 70's reissue is a maple neck and I really love that thing. It's just and all around nice wood for guitar necks
Thorguitarist
New member
boingoman said:
Wash them! Wash your hands
ahaha fretboards really don't get grungy strings do i hate doing that. At least there is no barbeque chicken with that beer cause then you'd be in trouble