Does it make that much difference between the two for Surf Music for tone and playing ability for a Strat?
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![]() Joined: Jul 22, 2009 Posts: 202 ![]() |
Does it make that much difference between the two for Surf Music for tone and playing ability for a Strat? |
![]() Joined: Jun 21, 2007 Posts: 3909 San Diego, CA ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Not really. Mostly cosmetic/aesthetic IMHO. I much prefer the rosewood fretboard on a strat, but not because of tone per se. Some people swear that rosewood has a warmer tone than maple. Maybe so, but I highly doubt anybody could tell the difference on a recording. I like the look of rosewood on a strat and maple on a tele. —Ryan Last edited: Oct 02, 2009 22:27:02 |
![]() Joined: Sep 29, 2009 Posts: 80 Bucks County, Penna., USA |
Hello GC24, I can't differentiate any sonic differances, Eric Johnson may be able to tell the difference Cheers. |
![]() Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I can tell the difference between Rosewood and Ebony. Ebony has a faster attack. I don't own any two of the same guitar with both a maple and rosewood neck so I can't judge the two. |
![]() Joined: Sep 04, 2009 Posts: 1800 Temecula, CA ![]() ![]() |
Dick Dale sounds like Dick Dale and Eric Clapton sounds like Eric Clapton no matter which they play. It's in the fingers. |
![]() Joined: May 10, 2009 Posts: 1117 Green Valley, AZ ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rosewood is a hard wood & maple is soft. I had a strat with a maple neck & hated the maple. Maple almost feels squishy, as if you were squeezing the charmin ( a slight embellishment Also, I believe Fender puts a finish or lacquer, whatever, on the maple. I don't like how it feels. |
![]() Joined: Aug 18, 2008 Posts: 372 Orange, CA ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Maple and rosewood DO HAVE DIFFERENT TONES. Maple is brighter and snappier, rosewood is warmer and smoother. It's a matter of preference but I'd say rosewood (or Brazilian rosewood if you can find it) is better for surf in my opinion. |
![]() Joined: Jun 27, 2008 Posts: 576 Marlboro, New Jersey ![]() |
I have a maple fretboard on my 82 strat and rosewood on my 77 les paul, and I find there is a big difference in sound. Maple is brighter and Rosewood is a much smoother jazzier sound. Maple is also much smoother to play than rosewood. |
![]() Joined: Apr 21, 2006 Posts: 852 Connersville, Indiana, USA ![]() |
I can actually hear the difference between maple and rosewood fingerboards, but for me that's about as far as it goes. Otherwise, I just play and enjoy, irregardeless of which fingerboard. Matt —Fast Cars & Loud Guitars! |
![]() Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The neck material, neck construction, and headstock angle are all different on those two guitars, the fretboard material would have less effect than these other things. |
![]() Joined: Nov 22, 2007 Posts: 901 Portland, OR ![]() |
I think you have those reversed Ebony definitely has a sharper attack than rosewood. Maple has a sharper attack than rosewood...although some of the differences in tone can be attributed to neck construction as well. I have a Strat with a capped maple neck ('67 style with no skunk stripe...built like the rosewood necks) and it sounds like rosewood but feels like maple. — |
![]() Joined: Nov 09, 2008 Posts: 1140 Davenport Iowa ![]() |
Ebony is my fav, rosewood feels to porus and maple feels good to Maple is much brighter than rosewood —Give me reverb or give me death! |
![]() Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4540 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
If you look up the Janka wood hardness scale you'll find that maple is considerably softer than rosewood and that ebony is considerably harder than rosewood. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
![]() Joined: Feb 07, 2009 Posts: 310 Bel Air, MD USA |
There are many factors that affect the 'tone' (timbre) of a solid bodied electric guitar. While I'd be hesitant to dismiss any of them as irrelevant, many other components would come under my scrutiny before I got to the wood of the fretboard. Perhaps it's true that rosewood is 'mellower' and maple is 'brighter'. I'm disinclined to give this assertion credence until I can hear the same guitarist play the same piece on the same guitar with two necks that are identical except for the fretboard wood. If you can't change just one factor and re-test, it's not scientific, it's subjective. Personally, I prefer rosewood but my preference is mostly aesthetic. I like the look of rosewood (especially on a red guitar). There can be a difference in feel, too and this is no small matter. Maple 'boards with a urethane finish feel "wrong" to me. Lacquer finished maple is a lot better but there would have to be a lot of other positive factors in a given guitar before I'd decide to purchase one with maple. It'd be interesting to do a blindfold test to see how many players could accurately tell the two apart. -- Woody —It takes a lot of mussel memory to avoid clams. |
![]() Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 521 ![]() ![]() |
My impression is that the "conventional" wisdom is correct: maple is brighter, rosewood is warmer. Like Woody says above, it would be difficult to prove. Personally I prefer a rosewood fingerboard but its not that important to me- my primary guitar is a strat with maple. |
![]() Joined: Jun 03, 2008 Posts: 8 Seattle, WA |
I don't see how fingerboard material can make much of a quantifiable difference in tone on an electric guitar. After all, if you're playing the thing correctly the string is stopped at either end by the metal of the bridge and fret, the not the wood of the fingerboard. That doesn't mean people don't perceive a difference in tone. I agree with Woodsurfer: JS |
![]() Joined: Mar 16, 2007 Posts: 1342 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I have found the maple fretboard on my strat to be a bit brighter than the rosewood fretboard on my previous strat. But it's not a true A/B test since both guitars have other differences. However, one benefit I find with the maple fretboard is how much easier it is to see on a poorly lit stage. (FWIW) — |
![]() Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle ![]() ![]() ![]() |
When you are fretting the fretboard becomes the new nut. The frets are hammered directly into the fretboard and essentially become a new conduit for tone. The neck vibrates as well and the fretboard is directly inbetween the string and the neck. I'm sure you've held your ear to the neck of a guitar and listened, fretboard wood is essentially a buffer that the sound has to pass through first. A harder wood is going to allow more vibration to be passed than a softerwood. Which is why maple and rosewood fretboards have a difference on Fender necks. |
![]() Joined: Nov 22, 2007 Posts: 901 Portland, OR ![]() |
...and Steinberger wins another happy customer!!! |
![]() Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4540 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I agree completely I don't think there's any reason that the fingerboard material should be a major contributer to timbre. Now neck material probably plays a role in timbre and a one piece maple neck may have a different effect from a rosewood capped neck but I don't think this would be all that significant, just my opinion. I think that there's a lot to what you say about subconscious changes in fingering (and quite possibly the picking force) affecting sound. Even back to back A/B tests are vulnerable to this sort variation. I like the way you think Von_Zeke. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |