maple necks vs. rosewood necks

[theguy77]

in your own words, how would you define the differences, and which do you generally prefer?

[The Boathouse]

Maple: brighter; janglier;
Rosewood: thicker bass response; woofier; thicker overdrive

See also: http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=53

[walshknilb281]

mapl just seems smoother for me and easier to slide and what not

[Siren Silently]

If you want a technical sound difference, maple=brighter, rosewood=darker; but realistically. You'll never hear the difference. Just go with which one looks and feels better to you, I find that maple gets sticky so I buy rosewood guitars anyway.

[Tristan Needler]

I don't like the feel of maple fretboards. I'm not sure why.

[splitsecond]

the only maple neck i have ever liked is on my brothers 72 thinline reissue. he has one of the tv color models, and that neck is straight amazing

[theguy77]

right on guys, this is just one of many questions i wanted to ask before going for a fender deluxe telecaster, and from the research ive been doing i think rosewood is better for me. i know a bit about the feel of rosewood vs. maple from playing lower end stratocasters and my MIM tele, and while i havent experienced the "stickyness" people talk about with maple, i tend to prefer the added amount of friction on a rosewood neck cause it keeps me more in tune with where my hand is and how far i have to slide or bend or whatever, i dont like how maple necks are more slippery cause its harder for me to be precise. of course the action on a maple-neck deluxe tele will be far superior and i'll have to try that out as well. sound-wise, on a tele the strong, easily discernable bright character is not something i think that would disappear from the slight sound difference applied by a rosewood neck; if anything it seems to be something that would downplay some of the harshness that goes along with higher gain tele tones which i find desirable. i heard maple is more "snappy" but i feel i'll still get plenty of "snap" playing a tele through an old marshall under any circumstances haha.

[xmicxcorex]

personally, ive never heard the difference, but i prefer the look and feel of a rosewood, as do a lot of the guitarists i frequently chat with.

And I agree about the stickiness; my strat likes to get sticky sometimes....almost like its sapping.

[patrickhowell]

To me, it makes a big difference, and I always like the sound of maple much better. Brighter sounds always have the ability to cut through a mix better, and it's so simple to get a darker tone but impossible to effectively make a dark tone brighter. I say go for maple and use the tone/volume controls to tame it.

[ShadowAmI]

To me, it makes a big difference, and I always like the sound of maple much better. Brighter sounds always have the ability to cut through a mix better, and it's so simple to get a darker tone but impossible to effectively make a dark tone brighter. I say go for maple and use the tone/volume controls to tame it.

Hah...not to be a jerk, but I thought your avatar was funny after reading that post. Pretty much everyone is right. Maple is a little brighter, but most people will never hear the difference. I have a MIJ Telecaster Deluxe (maple neck) and I love it. Maple also shows wear much more obviously. Which can be good or bad, depending on your preference.

[patrickhowell]

Hah...not to be a jerk, but I thought your avatar was funny after reading that post.

Haha, I know... I've been trying to decide if I'd rather buy a new neck or new guitar...

[Siren Silently]

Honestly, how is the difference even hearable? Do you guys have two of the exact same guitars (just with different necks) and A Bing it?

[patrickhowell]

Honestly, how is the difference even hearable? Do you guys have two of the exact same guitars (just with different necks) and A Bing it?

Yeah, I definitely notice the difference on a guitar.

[tellmycaster]

i deffinitly agree that a maple neck gets sticky
my guitar has a maple neck and it tends to stick at times

[Tristan Needler]

Now that I think about it, the maple neck that I don't like is on my friend's strat. It's a 50's "vintage" style, and it has an almost yellowy neck. Not like the tele maple necks, which I do like.

[TheSkyline]

Maple necks > Rosewood necks.

The one on my strat plays like butter. Rosewood isn't bad though, my Jag has one and I love it, so I guess it really goes down to what kind of sound you're going for.

[ClydeMcAllister]

The "stickyness" you may feel on a maple fretboard probably come from the thick finish on some maple fretboards, as maple has to be finished.There's no difference in sound between the two woods on guitar or bass.

[ArTkY_]

I like both. hahaha

My friend's strat has a rosewood neck which I love the feel of, though I do prefer my tele which has a maple neck. My tele's neck is like butter.

[The Boathouse]

The "stickyness" you may feel on a maple fretboard probably come from the thick finish on some maple fretboards, as maple has to be finished.There's no difference in sound between the two woods on guitar or bass.

There are a lot of players who would disagree with you very strongly regarding that statement.

[patrickhowell]

There are a lot of players who would disagree with you very strongly regarding that statement.

Yeah, I'm one of them. ESPECIALLY on bass... Instruments with maple necks cut through so much more than rosewood. Ebony necks can be good too, but it really depends on the quality... A really nice Ebony neck can be even brighter than maple.

[ClydeMcAllister]

There are a lot of players who would disagree with you very strongly regarding that statement.

And there are also a lot of players who will agree very strongly with that statement.

There's no doubt (IMO) that on any given instrument there are so many factors that go into the overall sound of the instrument. Everything from the mass of the body and neck and the wood they're made of to the finish on it.

There's also no doubt (IMO, again) that the elctronics, string type and playing style factor in to the tone more than anything else. I own a P-bass with a maple fretboard that is darker sounding than my P-bass with a rosewood board and flatwound strings. Why is that? The pickups.

Fretboard wood has little to do with any difference in sound. You'd have to put a lot of effort into fretting a note for the string to even come in contact with the wood.

And then after that, you still have to factor in effects and amplification, which is a whole different world of crap.

So for me, in the end, my choice in fretboard wood has two deciding factors: look and feel.

[OveriseFan]

The "stickyness" you may feel on a maple fretboard probably come from the thick finish on some maple fretboards, as maple has to be finished.There's no difference in sound between the two woods on guitar or bass.

No difference, or littleaudible difference? Be precise about what you mean.

There's a difference; your argument seems to be that its negligible in the scope of things, which I'd probably agree with. Feel is most important when it comes to choosing your fingerboard wood. And really - feel isn't necessarily determined by the type of wood, but the quality of the wood, as well as the finish on the wood.

[thedinnerparty]

ROSEWOOD all the way!!!!!
every one of my guitars has it (9 guitars) well except one, my re-issue Tele. i have a Maple on that just for the different sound and feel, but otherwise i highly recommend and LOVE Rosewood necks, they are just pure amazing.

[PerfectChaos337]

I prefer maple necks for sure.