fender maple / rosewood fingerboard enquiry

[garylim]

hi guys, can anyone enlighten me between the differences of a full maple neck fender and a maple neck/rosewood fingerboard fender, tone or otherwise, please?

 

[HarrisonYeo]

rosewood tends to have a warmer tone .

 

[FREEKILL9566]

And maple has a brighter and sharper sound, and tends to have more attack.

Cheers,
WWH

 

[garylim]

oh i see, thanks alot, but if that's the case, then pardon my next question. hope i'm not going too far haha.
what kind of wood should the bodies be with each neck then? like maple neck goes best with what wood for the body, and the same for rosewood.

 

[FREEKILL9566]

I'm assuming your getting a stratocaster. Most stratocasters are built with either two woods, Alder or Ash. Ash is a little brighter than alder. I don't really know the best combo, but you should go try them out, and see which one you like.

Cheers,
WWH

 

[Writer]

there is also basswood, pinewood etc....

the sound coming out of a guitar is the sum of the parts, not just one part.

therefore this makes the combination difficult to predict. Your ears are the best judge.

I have played many top range guitars that sound cheap and many cheap guitars that sound
fabulous.

 

[Ripper]

Hey dude. Rosewood more porous, means more open grain, is less dense and therefore allows more string vibration into the neck, => note rings longer, aka more sustain.

Maple is harder, less open grain, string vibration will not travel/transmit much into the fret, this makes the strings sound steely aka brighter.

Hope this helps. (I think the theory goes same for body wood, you decide which type of wood you want so more vibation can travel into the body thru the bridge. Yup, dont forget about the type of finishing too that will act as a barrier for vibration transfer between the bridge and the body..)

 

[ShredCow]

A lot of the perceived spank and high end from a maple neck could be the product of overly thick lacquer finishing.

Then again, every guitar is different. Weighs different. Sounds different. Use the best woods and you could still have a lemon.

Do google and make your generalisations, then proceed to try out the wood combination you think you will like best - that's a good way to narrow down the search.

 

[garylim]

thanks guys! haha shred, 10000 posts and still pwning! yup freekill, i'm thinking of a strat, a jap one. haha

 

[lightice]

A lot of the perceived spank and high end from a maple neck could be the product of overly thick lacquer finishing.

+1

Then again, I have guitars with both maple and rosewood.

Feel wise - I cannot feel a difference, my fingertips are not that sensitive to feel the grains.

Tone - I would not attribute the guitar's tone to the fretboard, I think the neck/body wood, pickups and even controls play more important roles.

 

[Ripper]

The fretboard plays an important role in shaping the tone. I dedude my findings from playing both a rosewood board guitar, unfinished I mean, and a unfinished maple board one.

 

[ShredCow]

thanks guys! haha shred, 10000 posts and still pwning! yup freekill, i'm thinking of a strat, a jap one. haha

What do you mean by pwning?

I wasn't out to hit at anyone.

Everyone contributes and posts his/her opinion - I posted mine from what I found, mainly by googling and speaking to reknowned builders. I also had the opportunity to do a tap/knock test on a plank of raw rosewood and raw maple, the rosewood sounded brighter, tighter. *shrugs* I use pau ferro.

I'm no guru - If there was someone with a firm, conclusive understanding of the issue, speak and educate, I would listen.

 

[ShredCow]

The fretboard plays an important role in shaping the tone. I dedude my findings from playing both a rosewood board guitar, unfinished I mean, and a unfinished maple board one.

Actually, to get a more accurate measure, you would have to use the same guitar body, and swap necks.

And to be a little more accurate, you would have to swap a couple of necks and take the average.

 

[teleholic]

this has been discussed to death on forums such as TGP and TDPRI..having recently swapped out a maple tele neck for a rosewood tele neck, here's the differences I have felt/heard so far:

maple only sounds slightly spankier than rosewood (could be because i'm using a tele)
rosewood has slightly more low mid response (somewhere arnd that region) than maple
rw feels slightly 'softer' to me
this may sound too far off but maple has this certain 'PAF' quality that i dig, not present in rw

All these are my personal experience of course, take it with a pinch of salt..

 

[marlonmm]

i agree with lightice. it takes a combination of the neck wood, body wood and electronics in guitar.

try to play them in your favorite guitar store and find out which one pleases your ears!

 

[crozzfire]

Well, I've experimented with both rosewood and maple fretboard on my strat. Same body, same electronics, same cable, same amp, same settings, different necks. IMO, i feel that rosewood sounds a bit brighter than maple, which is why i prefer maple. Anyway, the quality of wood also plays a part, and my ears ain't yours, so you really have to judge for yourself. Cheers!

 

[Gr3y]

jem07 is correct.

the difference should be very minimal actually. In fact, it will only be obvious when you are using it on clean tone or maybe slight effects going on.. if you play high gain stuff, the only thing that matters is the look i suppose!

I've done few fingerboard replacement before my jem jr. I realized that, the thickness of the fingerboard makes alot of difference! If you want really spanky and bright sound, it is very possible to get it out from rosewood actually! And vice versa, i can get thick sound out of the maple fingerboard. Also, the quality of the wood. Don't trust any guitar brand 100% i warn you, even those that claim to be a very boutique brand will have flaws hidden.

To side track abit, after i change and use the 1st ebony fingerboard for electric guitar of my life i was stuck to the wonderful tone! It is bright enough but never too treble, thick enough and i compare it to my les paul for this case, and rich enough that never sound like my previous rosewood which sounds dead in my case!

 

[edder]

this may sound too far off but maple has this certain 'PAF' quality that i dig, not present in rw

All these are my personal experience of course, take it with a pinch of salt..

not doubting you but PAF sounds like gibson sounds like rosewood... but its all good. i dunno what is what these days. as long as it sounds good... its all good.

 

[Junior_]

haha, hmm, same question as when I was getting my strat... hmm, i agree with eveything up above to all fellow softies has said... Hmm, but I feel that rosewood has a tiny wee bit less attack as compared to maple although there is little differences...

I don't know what is the best combi, but one of my friend told me that rosewood+maple would be prefered cause the characteristics complement each other... but then again, this is just two cents of what I think... best is still try it out and see which you like... and have fun shopping!!!

 

[garylim]

haha sorry shred, by pwning i dont mean hitting at anyone, but still 'rampant as ever with your comments', like helping out with your own knowledge, contributing and stuff, yupp. not pwning as shooting anyone down.