Does fret board color impact your playing?

[Silence Kid]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Is there an advantage from maple to rosewood? Or any other material for that matter. Yes, I'm a noob.

People indicate a general difference where maple boards sound brighter, usually. This difference is overshadowed by -every- other aspect of the guitar, to the point where I'd never choose or discount a guitar based on the fretboard wood (other than maybe aesthetic reasons?)

But if you accumulate a dozen guitars without thinking of fretboard wood, then figure out they're all maple- then maybe you've discovered something about yourself. The feel is different as maple is usually finished, and rosewood can feel many different ways depending on species/grain.

 

[shupe13]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I have to agree. Maple boards seem brighter to me and they feel more "crisp", for the lack of a better term.

I love the look but prefer the darker/softer feel of rosewood.

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[zionstrat]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Is there an advantage from maple to rosewood? Or any other material for that matter. Yes, I'm a noob.

They do impact tone... Check out utube vids, but u have to decide what tone u like and there are many bigger factors, especially scale lenght.

Otherwise, its about feel and aesthetics... whatever works for u.

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[Boogie Bill]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Back in the day when I was doing a single act in small lounges, I preferred using a maple fingerboard. Lighting could be really iffy, and the lighter board was usually easier to see. Finally got my own portable light system and it became a moot point.

There are tonal differences between maple, ebony, and even between Brazilian and Indian rosewood...but I love them all. Don't have one with BRW, but use the others interchangeably.

Bill

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Fretboard color only affects me in between songs on stage. When the lights are out, it's easier to find my position for the next song with a lighter board. Also, if the board is dark, I like highly visible markers.

The only other difference is guitars with maple boards tend to sound better to me but feel stiff and harsh on my fingers to play, while rosewood boards feel softer and easier to my fingers but are a bit dull sounding to me. (Sound/tone can be compensated with pickups and wiring and hardware changes, but I'm just talking most stock off the shelf guitars I have experienced.)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I think they impact tone, but no more (and probably a lot less) than the other aspects of an electric guitar. I just don't like the need to be finished, really.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I think fretboard color impacts my playing in a subtle way. It’s psychological. I’ll let myself be sloppy on a rosewood board, but the second I pick up a Strat with a maple neck, I turn into Eric Frickin’ Johnson. Well, no, but I do have a way of making every note count.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

You, sir are in a different league! Play moving bass lines and sing? I can't imagine and I imagine you last name is McCartney or Lee?



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Some of the songs took a lot of practice, and they were my songs! Lol. I write weird bass lines. I had to get both parts totally memorized.


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[zionstrat]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Some of the songs took a lot of practice, and they were my songs! Lol. I write weird bass lines. I had to get both parts totally memorized.
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Reminds me of the late 70s or early 80s when Guitar Player promised to unlock all of Geddy's secrets- as a guitarist, bass, keyboardist, this was the holy grail and I had earned major points for bringing the first copy to school-

So imagine the excitement as Geddy laid out his prep for tours- First he had to relearn the bass lines- after all there was lots of overdubbing and part swapping going on to translate studio into live- made total sense-

Then he explained how he memorized the vocal separate from the bass line- and then combined them together- seemed logical, but a bit boring (because I had never tired singing and playing a moving bass line)- But I was still excited because the really deep secrets of how to to continue playing bass with one hand, keys with the other and foot pedals to boot was coming up.

I realized I was in trouble with the next step, something like, "next I memorized the keyboard part and then combined it with everything else I was already doing" and it finally hit me- G Lee wasn't a normal human being- he just memorized everything and if Neil or Alex had said 'you need to juggle small fury animals as well", Geddy would just learn how to do it and add it to everything that he had already memorized.

That's when I decided I would try to be good at instruments one at a time and hats off to you guys who kept going

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Reminds me of the late 70s or early 80s when Guitar Player promised to unlock all of Geddy's secrets- as a guitarist, bass, keyboardist, this was the holy grail and I had earned major points for bringing the first copy to school-

Yes I read that too, and that was good advice.

You really have to know the material to the point where you don’t have to think about it.

I also play guitar, keyboards, and drums. I’m the guitarists in my current original project. I’m actually the whole band on recordings. But we (me and my singer) use backing tracks live.


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[Dave Locher]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

This sounds ridiculous, but I think I have learned that I play better when I practice with the same color fret board that I use for a gig.
Anyone have similar experiences?

I never thought about it quite this way, but looking back on my guitars over the years the answer is definitely yes! I have only owned three guitars with maple fingerboards vs dozens with rosewood/ebony. Two of them I resold very quickly. The third I still have but I keep thinking about staining it dark or even replacing the neck. I always thought of it as an aesthetic preference but I just realized it's because the contrast of the strings against the dark wood helps me play better! Not a huge difference but definitely a tad more comfortable. AND now I know why the maple fb guitar seems to play "harder." Damn, the things you learn after a couple decades of playing...

Shape and size still matter more imo, but color does matter just a bit, especially if I am playing something less familiar.

 

[Aliascent]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I think it does, in a weird manner.

A lighter or darker fretboard can throw you off if you're used to one or the other. I've mainly played darker boards until now, and when I got my first maple I felt lost.

I also think there is the perception we have of some fretboards: when I was a beginner I associated ebony boards with pro guitars and pro players, and maple boards to shredders, whereas rosewood was just "the average" for me.
And to this day, I still play cleaner and better on ebony/maple. I just realized (or rather somebody told me, when I was trying similar guitars just with different boards) that I forced myself just that little bit more, just to be "worthy" of the gear.

 

[contiContiCONTI]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

See I think, more than the actual tonal differences between rosewood and maple (which are present imo), there's a difference in the actual player's playing style when playing on a different neck/materials/guitar. I have a Gibson SG and a strat style copy (Yamaha Pacifica) and as soon as I switch, not only is the tone different (obviously), but the licks I play change, the way I play them changes automatically, the chords and pick attack change. For example I never really play SRV type licks on my SG, even if i wanted to it would just feel really uncomfortable. I think this automatic change in style also applies to fretboard material, especially because it has such essential contact with our fretting hand. Maple, being a softer materiual, maybe makes you subcontiously play softer with slightly darker tones (?). At least it does for me.

Would love to hear anyone elses thoughts in this sort of thing, or maybe its just me.

 

[playas]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

Yes

More so than scale length or even between electric and acoustic I have experienced that the visual contrast throws me off if I don't practice on dark and light fingerboards.
Nothing to do with feel or tone of the guitars in question. I make a habbit of practing on different guitars to get aroumd it.
It seems more evident as I begin a piece when I need to get my bearings, but yeah, the visual contrast puts me off if I haven't practiced with both bright and dark.


On another point that was mentioned though I do tend to play differently on different guitars. I think it's psycological due to the associations that we make between guitars and styles.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I have a Gibson SG and a strat style copy (Yamaha Pacifica) and as soon as I switch, not only is the tone different (obviously), but the licks I play change, the way I play them changes automatically, the chords and pick attack change. For example I never really play SRV type licks on my SG, even if i wanted to it would just feel really uncomfortable.

100% agreed, but in your example everything is different- Strats encourave me to play strat songs because the feel and tone are radically different from an SG and same thing visa versa- For me, scale length is the first factor, followed by pickups, then neck wood and body- Sultans of swing, just doesn't swing on my SG because there is no snap, but it does perfectly fine on my Reverend or my Mahagoney/maple 25.5 because they've got quite a bit of snap.

For me, it's easier to go the other way- with tone and amp adjustments, practically any ACDC is in reach on a tele or strat- but it feels better on my SG, because that's where it was created.

I

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

100% agreed, but in your example everything is different- Strats encourave me to play strat songs because the feel and tone are radically different from an SG and same thing visa versa- For me, scale length is the first factor, followed by pickups, then neck wood and body- Sultans of swing, just doesn't swing on my SG because there is no snap, but it does perfectly fine on my Reverend or my Mahagoney/maple 25.5 because they've got quite a bit of snap.

For me, it's easier to go the other way- with tone and amp adjustments, practically any ACDC is in reach on a tele or strat- but it feels better on my SG, because that's where it was created.

I

Most AC/DC riffs were really created by Malcolm with that old modded Gretsch with heavy strings. The SG often doubles the riff when Angus isn't playing lead.
Al

 

[AlexR]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I was surprised how many people are influenced......I am only influenced by the feel of the guitar and how slinky the setup is.....scale length comes into this.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

You guys who keep talking about needing fret markers... are you actually looking at the board, or the markers on the side of the neck?

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

I was surprised how many people are influenced......I am only influenced by the feel of the guitar and how slinky the setup is.....scale length comes into this.

Oh yeah, slinky is a much, much bigger issue for me- I moved to 12s, med action and all 25.5 for a while as a result, but have slowly added back the 'lighter' touch.

It took me 40 years to realize that the color thing even existed-

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Does fret board color impact your playing?

You guys who keep talking about needing fret markers... are you actually looking at the board, or the markers on the side of the neck?

As the OP, it's not a conscious thing- Most of the time, I'm moving around any neck without thinking about it- especially with memorized, regular playlist material and much more likely to look at side of neck if making a big move...

However, when learning new material, I look at the fingerboard a lot- looking for modes and chord shapes to optimize parts and I think that's where the color thing is coming in-

If I'm working around shapes in G around 10th fr, I might be looking at the C shape, or down to the D shape or up to the A form at the 12th and would be exploring major, minor and always love to slip down to the DMix (cause it's just sitting there and everything is ultimately blues, eh?)

As I make decisions around which of these directions is most workable, I think my brain takes a 'snaphot' of what it expects to see and I think when the color changes, the poor old CPU gets a bit overloaded (my brain is probably still on punch cards

Of course as soon as I get used to it, things get more hard wired and overtime, it makes no difference- Muscle memory has replaced the brain.