Which is better : Rosewood or Maple neck? (or what's the difference)

[twiggy]

it's just my assumption, but possibly tone differs from one to another... anyway lads, which one is better? if there's an answer to this question at all.

[aharps]

Maple gives a brighter tone, rosewood darker.

[aharps]

That sounds like a joke answer but im actually being serious. Maple is a hard wood compared to rosewood.

[carverman]

it's just my assumption' date=' but possibly tone differs from one to another... anyway lads, which one is better? if there's an answer to this question at all.[/quote']

 

It's an interesting question and the answer is dependent on many factors.

I presume you are referring to the actual fb (fingerboard) and not the neck

itself that can be made of maple, mahogany or other possible woods.

 

Fingerboard woods are chosen for wearability and appearance more than tone.

The frets are the actual points of contact with the strings, so they will have more bearing

on tone than the actual fingerboard.

 

On the scale of hardness: Maple and Ebony are harder than rosewood,

and Ebony is considered to be a "premium" fingerboard used on the

more expensive lines.

Other forum members may be able to shed more light on this and disagree

with me, but I really can't see much difference in fb woods, other than appearance

and wearability.

Take two guitars of the same kind, with the same strings and electrics,

played the same way with the same pick , but one having maple or ebony

and the other rosewood, they will still sound the same.

[Ricochet]

it's just my assumption' date=' but possibly tone differs from one to another... anyway lads, which one is better? if there's an answer to this question at all.[/quote']

 

Maple has a bright attack in the tone. Rosewood is warm and fat. Ebony has a bit of both alltho tonally it's leaning more towards maple.

Which one is 'better' is entirely up to personal preference.

[TWANG]

I think sometimes maple can seem brighter..

but hey.. did I ever swap back and forth? and was it the maple on the board or the maple in the neck?

I dunno.. more of that MOJO thing happening, I guess.

 

I'll go with Carver on this.. with a heathy nod of respect to those that differ.. because it does 'seem'.....

 

I know I've used slightly wider necks on, for instance, strats and teles.. and a thicker neck, or board seems to me cleary to add

some ooomph to the tone. bright or otherwise.

 

So I suspect that it's all about a given piece of wood, and it's size, and thickness and what it's on.

That primarily, it's chosen for hardness.

 

I know that certain well established luthiers, for example, say the demand for uniform rosewood color was mythically related to tone in the minds of players.. but that in fact, streaking, which occurs in many rosewood boards and is then hidden, makes no difference.

I bring that up because these ideas, firmly planted, tend to take root whether true or not among guitarists.

 

I wonder if the tonal qualitys of the two can even be discerned by anything except very focused scrutiny.

 

I prefer the feel of rosewood.

but.. could I tell blindfolded?

 

I dunno, but stay off my MOJO!

 

TWANG

[carverman]

I think sometimes maple can seem brighter..

but hey.. did I ever swap back and forth? and was it the maple on the board or the maple in the neck?

I dunno.. more of that MOJO thing happening' date=' I guess.

 

 

So I suspect that it's all about a given piece of wood, and it's size, and thickness and what it's on.

That primarily, it's chosen for hardness.

I wonder if the tonal qualitys of the two can even be discerned by anything except very focused scrutiny.

 

I prefer the feel of rosewood.

but.. could I tell blindfolded?

I dunno, but stay off my MOJO!

 

TWANG[/quote']

 

Well I tend to agree with you Twang. If you played two identical guitars, set up exactly the same way and

one had a maple and the other rosewood FB, (ie: like some fender strats)..could you even tell?

 

For the record: the hardness of the common fingerboard woods is:

 

hard Maple: 1450

rosewood: 1780-2200 (note there are several species of what is commonly called rosewood. Indian is the most

common in use today for fb.

ebony: 3692

 

Here's a site that shows shows the relative hardness of most of the exotic woods today.

 

http://thevirtualshowroom.com/HWD/SldWd/SWMisc/hardwood_hardness_chart.htm

[tonedeaf1281734100]

Pretty hard to do an AB comparison of fretboard materials on a single guitar. Has anyone changed the neck on a guitar to switch from rosewood to maple and noted a tonal difference? Of course, there could be a lot of differences between necks apart from the fingerboard material.

 

Maple fingerboards are usually finished and rosewood boards are not finished, simply oiled. Although I like the look of a maple fingerboard, I think I prefer the feel of unfinished rosewood (or ebony),

[Doth]

I have heard many people talk about this subject. But I am not sure how much Tone is given by the fretboard. When I play, I know that the strings rarely touch the fret board. They are sort of Trapezed across the frets while my finger pads themselves touch the fretboard on either side of the string. I would assume this is the case for most people, as when I look at fretboards, I can clearly see the finger grease, but not the string scratchings. If you are pushing too hard on the string, it will go sharp. That being said, I can't imagine that the tone would be any different. The tone on electrics is coming from the body, the pickups, and the bridge. On Acoustics it is the soundboard and bridge.

 

However, I do notice a huge difference in the feel of the neck. I have noticed that I prefer non painted Maple Necks and Fingerboards. My hands just glide better on them. Rosewood fingerboards feel "grippier" to me when I am bending notes. Of course, Maple fretboards are not common on Epi's or on Acoustics, but it s just a preference. I guess another factor would be the appearance of the fretboard. Maple just shows the finger grease more than the Rosewood or Ebony.

 

To each their own, that is my two cents.

[stan 58]

I tell you my wood hasn't been that hard lately, but i guess thats a personal issue, Stan.

[charlie brown]

I tell you my wood hasn't been that hard lately' date=' but i guess thats a personal issue, Stan.[/quote']

 

TMI! (Too Much Information) Stan... LOL!

I have a Strat with a Rosewood fingerboard, and one with a Maple fingerboard. The one with

the Rosewood board "seems" warmer, in tone. I don't know (truly), if that's an actual fact, or

just a perception, due to the look and feel of the rosewood. The Maple fingerboard Strat has

a more biting attack/tone, when playing the same licks/phrases, as on the Rosewood. So...???

Both guitars are Alder bodies.

 

CB

[rafaelh]

I have a Strat with a Rosewood fingerboard' date=' and one with a Maple fingerboard. The one with

the Rosewood board "seems" warmer, in tone. I don't know (truly), if that's an actual fact, or

just a perception, due to the look and feel of the rosewood. The Maple fingerboard Strat has

a more biting attack/tone, when playing the same licks/phrases, as on the Rosewood.[/quote']

 

Fact or perception...who knows, but it's not such an uncommon statement as far as with Strats and Teles goes anyhow. Allot of folks comment on how the maple necks on them are much more brighter, or trebly , sounding than the rosewood...which as Charle already mentioned sounds darker. For myself I prefer the maple neck on Strats and Teles...LOL...I like the way they look better.

 

At any rate I've had both type necks and agree with Charlie and others that the maple on Strats and Teles do sound more on the brighter side....or so I found and what I hear.

 

Other guitars I've had with maple necks, non Fender Strat types, I found the maple sounds more on the woody side and almost dead like sounding on the botoom end. The rosewood neck on them sound much livelier and not so flat sounding....I definitely prefer rosewood on them.

 

Again back to fact or perception, or looking for something that might not be there,....who knows. That's what I hear anyhow.

[twiggy]

OMG, didn't expect so much information! cheers lads. To be honest I came accross two fender stratocasters (shhh.... ) with two different necks stated in the names. So was wondering what's the difference and why is so important which wood the neck is made of that it needs to go even to the name of guitar.

[snookelputz]

I tell you my wood hasn't been that hard lately' date=' but i guess thats a personal issue, Stan.[/quote']

 

I've heard that someone is working on a little blue pill to correct that. Biggest problem, so far, seems to be that the guitar is never ready when the amp is...

[charlie brown]

Yeah, who knows...even some of the experts (or at least their "mouthpieces") say that rosewood boards produce

a woodier, warmer tone, whereas the maple is sharper, almost more aggressive, in tone. That's what it seems like,

to me...but, who knows? Vibrations come from all over the guitar, so a softer wood fingerboard, could (possibly)

contribut a warmer, almost richer, tone. They've never seemed "dark" to me...muddy or anything, just "deeper,"

I guess...not as sharp/crisp? LOL! I don't know.... ;>)

 

CB

[duane v]

It would be hard to compare tonal differences, but playability I find that my fingers stick to a maple fingerboard, especially during live performances due to the perspiration. I have one guitar with a maple fingerboard, and I just don't like the feel.

[Parabar]

Duane V has a valid point --- maple fingerboards feel different than rosewood. Most Fenders with maple fb's (and my trusty Peavey T-60) have lacquered or poly-finished fingerboards, so they feel smoother and glassier, and with some folks' body chemistry may feel stickier. Most guitars with rosewood or ebony boards leave them unfinished, so they feel "drier" and more porous --- I find my fingers less likely to slip on rosewood or ebony than on maple.

 

YMMV, so try out both and see which you like better, whether for looks, tone, feel, or some combination of the above.

[charlie brown]

Duane V has a valid point --- maple fingerboards feel different than rosewood. Most Fenders with maple fb's (and my trusty Peavey T-60) have lacquered or poly-finished fingerboards' date=' so they feel smoother and glassier, and with some folks' body chemistry may feel stickier. Most guitars with rosewood or ebony boards leave them unfinished, so they feel "drier" and more porous --- I find my fingers less likely to slip on rosewood or ebony than on maple.

 

YMMV, so try out both and see which you like better, whether for looks, tone, feel, or some combination of the above.[/quote']

 

Well, my maple Strat board, is on a "Highway 1" version, and it's matte finished, so I don't really

experience the drag/sticky sensation, but I know what you mean. I have another Strat (Japanese)

that I bought in the early '80's, that does have the glossy maple board, and it can get that way, in

certain conditions. Rosewood boards, just seem more "comfortable," to play on, to me. But, maybe

that's just my personal preference, and because my Gibson & Epiphones, all have rosewood boards,

except the LP Custom and "Lucille," which are Ebony. ???

 

CB

[rafaelh]

I don't care for glossy mapel necks myself, like the way the tint looks on them though. My maple necks on my Strats have all been without the gloss finish, so I've never had any problems with that....do know what you mean though. My hands don't sweat to bad anyhow. Outdoor gigs they do a bit but not to bad, besides it seems most of the times I do an outdoor gig it's colder than a witches you know what.

[Just Strum]

I always felt that the Rosewood provided more sustain, then a maple neck. Now I've never did the test of setting up two identical guitars with the exception of neck to get results. But my Strat and my old Peavey did not have the natural sustain that my Wildkat, Dot, or any past Rosewood neck guitars had.

 

It may be perception, but that's my thought and until proven wrong, I am sticking with it.

[Ricochet]

There's plenty of models(even strats) which have a choice in rosewood or maple fretboard but otherwise are completely identical. I encourage you to try them blindfolded, you'll notice the difference in tone.

[Doth]

There's plenty of models(even strats) which have a choice in rosewood or maple fretboard but otherwise are completely identical. I encourage you to try them blindfolded' date=' you'll notice the difference in tone.[/quote']

 

The problem with this is that no two guitars are exactly the same in tone anyways. Take two Strats, with the same fretboard wood, and they will have a different tone.

[JefferySmith]

I would expect a maple neck to have more ability to sustain (less internal damping because it is so damned hard!). Rock maple necks are, IMO, the best in terms of durability and performance.

[Just Strum]

I would expect a maple neck to have more ability to sustain (less internal damping because it is so damned hard!). Rock maple necks are' date=' IMO, the best in terms of durability and performance.[/quote']

 

If we are talking fretboard I find the opposite.

 

Apparently you and few others didn't get the memo - I'm always right

[Ricochet]

 

The problem with this is that no two guitars are exactly the same in tone anyways. Take two Strats' date=' with the same fretboard wood, and they will have a different tone.[/quote']

 

True, but the tonal difference is not the same amount as found in different fretboards. Take 5 of each, and alltho each one will sound different, the ones with the same material fretboard will share similar tonal characteristics(not found in the other).