maple fretboard vs rosewood

mulletman80 · #1 12-01-2003, 05:07 PM

im just curious is there any advantages over one? I remember when I got my 450 i didnt want it cause it had the maple fretboard but the sales guy claimed it gives better sustian. I didnt really take his word. I just ended up getting it cause the guitar was like brand new and only $199. I wanted a rosewood fretboard but can anyone explaind the difference in sound?

AndrewTodd · #2 12-01-2003, 05:37 PM

Maple always sounds brighter to me, but with less sustain than rosewood.
Ebony is darker still.

I'm rosewood all the way

(I own guitars with all three woods and have switched between them on the same guitar lots of times before anyone starts :P )

germX · #3 12-01-2003, 10:05 PM

i'm into maple recently, it sounds brighter & clearer in the neck. but rosewood has that midrange warmth that's good for distorted bridge chugs.

**jim777** · #4 12-02-2003, 01:35 PM

Personally I like ebony the best, no doubt. It has the nicest feel to me, because of the density of the grain. Maple is similar, but most maple boards have a decent coat of laquer on them anyway, and that gives you a sort of false density feel. I can't say I've ever noticed much of a difference between rosewood, maple or ebony sound wise when you're going through a half stack, trying to fit nicely in the mix with your drummer and bassist, though. It's certainly easier to me to feel the differences between the woods than to hear them in a gig situation. The differences between an overdrive distortion and a fuzz distortion are much greater, for example. Don't know if that's any help to you. You should have at least one maple board guitar though, they're good for your soul

I wouldn't put much stock in a salesman saying one sustains better than another if you know you're going to be shredding through a distortion anyway. Spend your money on the one that feels best to you with your eyes closed, and you'll be fine.

jim

mulletman80 · #5 12-02-2003, 05:11 PM

Yeh thanx guys..I have too many maple fret guitars for my taste..a strat and my rg for a year now. But the look grew on me. I didnt buy in the salesman bs i just got the guitar cause it was kinda older and still looked and played like brand new.

CrossingStar · #6 12-05-2003, 01:48 AM

I can hear more snap from maple fretboarded guitars when playing the guitar unplugged. Whether or not that translates through pickups,cables, pedals, pre and power amps and speakers I don't know.

sniperfrommars1 · #7 12-05-2003, 02:12 AM

Maple tends to setup differently and give quite a different frequency response. Remember maple is the most common neck wood anyways as its on basically every ibanez neck out there, not necessarily as a fretboard wood but still. I tend to like maple cause its different than rosewood fretboars which most players use, but right now I dont have a single, maple fretboard on any of my guitars. All rosewood and one ebony. I will have a wolfgang eventually which uses birdseye maple which gives a tone between rosewood and regular maple. Its all about taste. Some people just dont like the look of maple fretboards and want to look good on stage

EnigmaUV7 · #8 12-05-2003, 11:36 PM

I have all three. Maple is bright and clear, and tends to have quick response and decay, ebony is even quicker, but darker. Rosewood has slower decay, allowing notes to ring out more. To me, maple is best for crystal clean tones (ex. Strat), while ebony is best for hot leads (ex. Jackson Soloist). Rosewood falls in between in most categories and is the most versatile.