Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

arwanfarizi11

arwanfarizi11

Senior Member
Seems like a never ending topic, but still a great one to discuss, tell me what you prefer and why?
I personally prefer ebony for the look, but haven't owned an ebony fretboard guitar. I have tried maple and rosewood as well, and I think both sound good to me.

Tell me what do you guys think, and if you could send pictures as well that would be great
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

IMHO Asian rosewood is harder than Asian "maple". But american maple can be tough like a tank.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

I love the feel and look of ebony, rosewood tends to get clogged and sticky if you don't clean it often, a one piece maple neck is awesome too. none of them are enough to sway a purchase in any direction though.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

Maple on a neck with a maple headstock (think Fender Strat).

Ebony on all others.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

My favorite fretboards are Ebony and Rosewood–have both on my #1&2 Electrics and Acoustics. I love the tone of both woods, prefer the feel of Rosewood (not as hard as Ebony and Maple.) For Electrics I am of the opinion that the Ebony and Rosewood boards both feel and sound great–can't decide between the two for a favorite. For my Dreadnought, I've found that Ebony offers the perfect tone. I tried a bunch with Rosewood boards and something just wasn't right–the switch to Ebony was the "ah ha!" moment for me. My '76 Guild sounded better than any 12 String I've played and it came with a Rosewood board (which makes sense to me because Ebony offers a slightly brighter response/attack and 12 strings are already on the bright side with the octave and drone stings.)

Warmoth 7/8 Strat with black Ebony board
View attachment 69808
Fender Strat with Rosewood board
View attachment 69809

Eastman E8D with Ebony board
View attachment 69810
Guild 212XL with Rosewood board
View attachment 69811


That being said, I really miss the snappy feel and punch of the Maple board my old LTD 203-FR (JB+Hotrails Combo)
View attachment 69812
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

I like things bright, so ebony is it for me.
It looks very nice too.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

arwanfarizi11 said:
Seems like a never ending topic, but still a great one to discuss, tell me what you prefer and why?
Click to expand...

How about one of each... or five? Blondes, brunettes and raven-haired except guitars do not engage in catfights. No mention of redheads yet, I wonder what bloodwood is like. It sure is red, duh.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

arwanfarizi11 said:
Seems like a never ending topic, but still a great one to discuss, tell me what you prefer and why?
I personally prefer ebony for the look, but haven't owned an ebony fretboard guitar. I have tried maple and rosewood as well, and I think both sound good to me.

Tell me what do you guys think, and if you could send pictures as well that would be great
Click to expand...

For Strats, I prefer one-piece maple necks; they feel a little faster and smoother and the tone is brighter with more character. All my other instruments including my Jazz basses have been rosewood (or reasonable facsimile).
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

I don't really have a single favorite. On Teles I prefer rosewood, while for a Strat with vintage-style pickups I prefer maple. With humbuckers and other higher-output pickups I like (and have) all three for different reasons.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

I like all three, depending on the guitar.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

I like all three equally. In each case, I prefer whichever looks best on the guitar at hand. I like maple against many body colors. If I want a dark fretboard instead, rosewood is usually fine, but it clashes with some body colors (e.g. I can't stand the way rosewood looks against a black body). In those cases, I like ebony, as black matches pretty much anything.
 
Last edited:
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

For me, fretboard wood is more decorative and less about sound. In fact I'm willing to trade certain tonal applications that I would probably prefer from rosewood in favor of a guitar attaining a more pleasing look.
 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

Every wood has it's place, there are all good. I've had all, unfortunately no maple fretboard currently. If I wanted a dark (aesthetically) fretboard I would use ebony, I prefer it from rosewood. Especially the Macassar variety which I find more interesting visually in most guitars.

 
Re: Fretboard: Maple, Ebony, or rosewood?

Feel under the finger will be one of the most practical reasons for the choice. I like maple as its usually got lacquer on it. Ebony has some great colour, as has a few other woods that I've built with of late.

Whilst it is certain that the different structure of the wood will affect the physical performance of the guitar, the fretboard is a small fraction of the whole and any (minor??) tonal alteration could well be nullified by the other physical components of the guitar. Things like this can only be assessed on a guitar by guitar basis, and also you'd need to go to a parallel universe to find the same neck wood made with a different fretboard to get a true indication of any tonal change for that particular swap.
 
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