What fretboard wood would you suggest...

[Oudy]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Yeah Pau Ferro is actually warmer than Ebony.

Warmoth has the most choices for neck profiles and woods but I am not overly impressed by their workmanship when compared to cost. That being said even when you order from USACG you will have to have a tech/luthier do leveling, crowning and polishing.

Ziricote would pair in PERFECT tonal balance with a maple neck (good call on quartersawn!).

i saw that pre-edit


mind if i shoot you a pm of the design i wanna do and get an extra opinion on cocobolo v cote

 

[rivera213]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

... to someone that wants
the FEEL of Maple
the LOOKS of Ebony and
the TONE of Rosewood (Indian, Madagascar, Brazilian, heck, even Cocobolo, all apply)

The opposite is ridiculously easy, however for one that has trouble with the texture of a rosewood fretboard (constantly grazing it with the fingernails) but wants a warmer tone rather than the snappy response and highs of say Maple or Ebony its' a tough one...

What style of music do you play.?

To me, i actually think the (gabon) ebony & (rock) maple fretboards feel pretty much the same if you're playing a "fast" genre.

I'm not sure how both are for blues however.

I do know that SRV had a Pau Ferro board on his sig & liked maple boarded guitars too, so maybe that'll suffice? (Although i think the wood itself (un-dyed) is lighter brown than rosewood).

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Pau Ferro is warmer than Ebony but brighter (or about as bright?) as Maple which kinda defeats the whole point. Pau Ferro is the perfect candidate for someone that prefers the feel and looks of rosewood but the tone of Maple, the exact opposite of what I'm asking...
(BTW, IMO Ebony and Maple fretboards feel pretty much identical most of the time, I'm not talking about that small differences :9

The music I play, well, I'm all over the place. I love playing traditional 80s-90s Metal but I also love playing rock, blues, the works so...

When/if I build this guitar it will be taken to a tech for assembly, fret adjustments and nut cutting are also included in the price but still, better to be close to perfect from the start... right?

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Yes, you are very right. If you want to be happy with your custom axe all you gotta do is have a luthier/tech take care of the initial set-up 9 times out of 10.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

even when you order from USACG you will have to have a tech/luthier do leveling, crowning and polishing.


When I finish my project guitar I will track down a luthier with a Plek fret dressing machine

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Like I said, the tech I'll be taking it gives a new nut cut and leveling/crowning/polishing for the price of the assembly...

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

I must meet your tech

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Heh, it's not that he's doing all these for free, the assembly costs 130€ minimum and there's an upcharge for everything that goes beyond the typical "everything works as it should" scenario.

For instance minor fret work is expected but if someone (eg Warmoth) screwed something up seriously when they installed the frets or routed for the pickups or the bridge then there's going to be an upcharge for correcting those things and so on and so forth...

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Right on. Pretty standard service, but the pricing is still good.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Price wise "sensible" would be more appropriate.
However I hear he's a perfectionist and everything he does he does to the last possible detail so he's well worth it...

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

Then there is no price that's too high!! You can't go wrong EVER with a perfectionist tech.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

That's what I think too, unlike most I feel that money spent for the services of a good tech are money well spent. In fact I feel better spending the extra money for those finishing touches that separate a production guitar from a custom made guitar (feel and playability wise) than get a little crazier with the luxury options (like Abalone/MoP or expensive finishes...)

 

[Metalblaze]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

... to someone that wants
the FEEL of Maple
the LOOKS of Ebony and
the TONE of Rosewood (Indian, Madagascar, Brazilian, heck, even Cocobolo, all apply)

The opposite is ridiculously easy, however for one that has trouble with the texture of a rosewood fretboard (constantly grazing it with the fingernails) but wants a warmer tone rather than the snappy response and highs of say Maple or Ebony its' a tough one...

That's exactly what I was looking for! I decided for Brazilian Rosewood for now (not sure what I'll end up with). I think is darker (in color) than Indian and I hear very good things about its tone.

I heard something about not being very durable (cracking after a long time etc)...can anyone confirm this?

 

[uOpt]

Re: What fretboard wood would you suggest...

I'd just take a dark rosewood board and put the lacquer that you put on maple boards on it.