Tele fretboards - maple v rosewood

ICBM

Onpar said:

Definitely a difference. I have swapped maple and rosewood board necks on teles and the neck was the single biggest factor in tone.

The neck is certainly the biggest factor in tone, but what you heard wasn't necessarily, or at all, the difference between maple and rosewood fingerboards, it was the difference between two particular necks - they vary depending on the individual piece of wood and its grain structure. Bearing in mind that the two are constructed differently as well, if they're standard Fender ones with a separate rosewood board but one-piece maple neck, and even more so if the rosewood is a 60s-style one with a front-fitted truss rod. They would not resonate the same even if the rosewood fingerboard was a maple one fitted separately.

On the other hand ebony does sound significantly different, I think - the reason is simple, it's due to the hardness of the wood. Maple and rosewood are actually quite similar to each other, but ebony is much harder.

More importantly, maple just looks better on a Tele, with a very few body colour exceptions.

idiotwindow

ICBM said:

Onpar said:

Definitely a difference. I have swapped maple and rosewood board necks on teles and the neck was the single biggest factor in tone.

. Maple and rosewood are actually quite similar to each other, but ebony is much harder.

Actually rosewood is also significantly harder than maple but doesn’t feel it to the touch.

Keefy

I perceive a difference but it’s more in the feel than in the sound, particularly when bending so that my fingertips go under the adjacent strings and contact the fretboard. Bear in mind that the ‘speaking’ length of the string lies between the bridge at one end and the metal fret (or the nut) at the other. I’m inclined to think that the neck material has an effect on the way the guitar resonates, but the fretboard material is maybe only 10% of that.

Just to throw in a curveball, one of my Teles (a Palir Titan in fact) has a roasted maple neck/fretboard - different again in feel.

octatonic

Ebony.

pluckbuddy

My limited observations in neck swapping on fender style guitars are that very very generally Rosewood fretboards have a slightly more even sound across the frequency spectrum whereas maple maybe bumps up the high mids a touch and has a slightly more aggressive attack on the note. But it really difficult to make big generalisations in my view.

I've not found Rosewood ever to be lacking in top end. If you strum a chord on a Rosewood guitar the notes merge into each other more (in a nice way), whereas there's more separation with maple (also good). Neither is better than the other soundwise.

I've had 1 piece maple necks that definitely sound different to each other. I had a quarter sawn one on a tele once that sounded very bright but at the time it was partnered with a thinline body and stainless steel bridge - the combination meant it was quite fatiguing on my ear. Different combinations of parts worked better.

I noticed a change in tone once with how the truss rod was set. I had an Allparts Fat neck on a strat once that didn't not need adjusting from a set up point of view but a quarter turn tightening it up really brought the sound together. Probably not audible once plugged in but might be one reason why sometimes people think their guitar sounds slightly better after a proper set up.

chris_john

Maple fretboards look cool on a Tele, but rosewood feels nicer under the fingertips. After buying and selling at least 8 maple fretboard guitars, I have given up. I simply cannot get past the feel of lacquer.

Roland

I hate the feel of lacquer. Given the choice I’d rather have oiled maple than naked rosewood. That’s primarily based on feel. 

Of the necks I’ve used over the last 50 years maple seemed snappier than rosewood, and Ebony brighter still. 

Svennn

ICBM said:

More importantly, maple just looks better on a Tele, with a very few body colour exceptions.

This. Plain and simple

Philly_Q

I don't notice much difference in look or feel between maple and rosewood.  I prefer the look of maple but rosewood's cool too.

SPECTRUM001

Neither - go for Pau Ferro as it is the perfect compromise.

UnclePsychosis

I'd be confident that the tonal difference between two rosewood fingerboards cut from different trees would be of the same order as the tonal difference between rosewood and maple.

They feel a little bit different, and they look a lot different, and those are how you should choose IMO. 

sev112

Why don’t you ever see maple necks on acoustic guitars ?

Roland

I played one about 20 years ago. It was very bright and stiff sounding.

TINMAN82

sev112 said:

Why don’t you ever see maple necks on acoustic guitars ?

Maple necks or maple fretboards?

Some Seagull guitars use maple necks. Maton acoustics too. Must be more.

The consensus seems to be that Ebony is even brighter and it’s standard fretboard material on many acoustics. With maple seemingly being more eco friendly mabye we’ll see more of it in acoustic necks/ boards in future.

rivercider

chris_john said:

Maple fretboards look cool on a Tele, but rosewood feels nicer under the fingertips. After buying and selling at least 8 maple fretboard guitars, I have given up. I simply cannot get past the feel of lacquer.

I love the look of maple on a tele but hate the feel of lacquer, despite buying maple board teles (and strats) a few times. Always sold them, too, so I am resigned to rosewood now.

sev112

TINMAN82 said:

sev112 said:

Why don’t you ever see maple necks on acoustic guitars ?

Maple necks or maple fretboards?

Some Seagull guitars use maple necks. Maton acoustics too. Must be more.

The consensus seems to be that Ebony is even brighter and it’s standard fretboard material on many acoustics. With maple seemingly being more eco friendly mabye we’ll see more of it in acoustic necks/ boards in future.

Yes , maple fretboards.

bencowling81

My Strat has maple, my tele has ebony, and my les paul is really light (semi-hollow es model). I’m basically a maverick.

Kalimna

sev112 said:

Why don’t you ever see maple necks on acoustic guitars ?

If it's an archtop, then they are frequently laminated maple (see Benedetto - Building Archtop Guitars). Rarely on flattop acoustics because maple is more dense than tbe standard mahogany, and the lighter body of the guitar doesnt balance as well.

Greatape

It's the feel of lacquer that puts me off 99% of maple fingerboards. I have seen it referred to as akin to 'tap dancing on concrete.' I did once experience a Suhr with an unlacquered maple board that was extremely pleasant to play. 

Then there's the additional cost involved in a refret of a lacquered maple 'board.

So this far, I've stuck with rosewood. However, I did once play an alder/oiled maple parts Tele that was a really great combination: evenness, clarity, attack and sustain...all in balance.