Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

[jmh151]

As some of you know from my last post, I'm ordering the Yngwie Malmsteen strat with the scalloped fretboard.

My question- would you order the maple or rosewood fretboard? Some say there's no difference in tone, some say there is. As far as playability, I'd prefer the laquered maple over grainy rosewood, but with a scalloped fretboard I won't be feeling the fretbaord. Also since most of my guitars have dark- ebony or rosewood fretboard, I tend to see the strings better on a dark fretboard.

Another bonus- the rosewood fretboard is in stock. All Yngwie fans wnat the vintage white/maple fretboard, I'm not interested in getting a clone of his guitar, I just want the playability of a scalloped fretbaord.

Any input would be appreciated- thanks.

 

[Dave]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

I prefer rosewood, as it just feels smoother to me. I'm not a fan of the sticky lacquer. One thing to consider, it is easier and cheaper for shops to do a refret on a rosewood board because they won't have to relacquer the board, which they would on a maple board.

Tonewise, I have a maple board strat and a rosewood tele. They sound different for many reasons, so I can't really say how they would stack up in the same guitar w/the same pups, etc. You can always warm up a guitar w different pups, caps, strings, whatever, so I think the tone issue between maple and rosewood is kinda minimal.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

that would be a tough call.... i have strats with both maple and rosewood boards.... I wonder if the glued on Rosewood board would add any strength to the neck constrution?

 

[ErikH]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

To my ears there's a difference. Rosewood makes the guitar warmer and smoother. Maple makes it livelier and snappy. This is why in rosewood board Strats I recommend the SSL1's and in maple board Strats the APS1's.

Since it comes with either or, then purists have no leg to stand on since Yngwie uses both.

 

[Davey]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

maple all the way

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

The biggest factor here is that the whole board is scalloped. That means at least 30% of the fretboard wood is removed anyway. Tonally I don't think you'll hear that much difference between the two, simply because of the scallops. You are also correct that you won't feel the wood or lacquer hardly at all,. With scallops you are pretty much playing "all frets". So as much as I'm a tone-nerd every other time, this time I'd say choose it for looks. If you're getting a blue or darker color, the rosewood will look cool. The VW/Maple combo looks great though. So if you chose VW, I'd say go with Maple.

One tonal difference unplugged is that the finished Maple scallops will reflect more sound up to your ear, assuming you're listening to the guitar in a quiet environment. That's not transferring to the amp. The lacquered scallops are like tiny little sound reflectors, whereas the Rosewood is going to absorb more sound. So the acoustic difference between the two woods is MORE apparent with a scalloped board, but LESS apparent plugged in (does that make sense?)

 

[jmh151]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

The stock pickups in the Yngwie signature are a little dark sounding to balance out with the maple fretbaord, I think a rosewood board withthose same pickups might make it too dark for my tastes

 

[jmh151]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

The biggest factor here is that the whole board is scalloped. That means at least 30% of the fretboard wood is removed anyway. Tonally I don't think you'll hear that much difference between the two, simply because of the scallops. You are also correct that you won't feel the wood or lacquer hardly at all,. With scallops you are pretty much playing "all frets". So as much as I'm a tone-nerd every other time, this time I'd say choose it for looks. If you're getting a blue or darker color, the rosewood will look cool. The VW/Maple combo looks great though. So if you chose VW, I'd say go with Maple.

One tonal difference unplugged is that the finished Maple scallops will reflect more sound up to your ear, assuming you're listening to the guitar in a quiet environment. That's not transferring to the amp. The lacquered scallops are like tiny little sound reflectors, whereas the Rosewood is going to absorb more sound. So the acoustic difference between the two woods is MORE apparent with a scalloped board, but LESS apparent plugged in (does that make sense?)

Yes, it makes sense. I'll go for the VH/Maple combo, except I have to wait since it's backordered all over the place. Better to wait and get what I want than to regret it later.

Thanks for everyone's input. I've been getting early stages of carpel tunnel and slight arthritis so the scalloped board should help- it did wonders when I played one at Sam Ash.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

that would be a tough call.... i have strats with both maple and rosewood boards.... I wonder if the glued on Rosewood board would add any strength to the neck constrution?

Normally a glued on fretboard should make the neck stronger, since you have a piece of wood with different grain laminated to the neck. That's what Warmoth told me. In the case of a scalloped board, not quite, since most of the fretboard wood is removed.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Rosewood or Maple Fretboard?

Maple for me and my tastes. The sound to me is comparable to icing on a cake. It adds a nice top layer to the sound, like the highlighting on a painting or something. Hard to explain.