fretboard preference - why?

[Rog]

I guess each of us have a prefrence for the fretboard material we play on. F'rintsnce, I prefer rosewood for bass, but have a strong prefrence for maple on guitar.

The thing is - I have no idea why.

I personally can't hear any difference if someone else is playing, I just know it feels 'right' to me.

How about you?

[Bg]

I have maple on the strat and rosewood and bass and LP. I prefer rosewood as it feels better to me - perhaps I need to wear more of the poly of the strat neck? The rosewood feels better to my fingers and helps me to dig in for bends (for some inexplicable reason)

[Richy11]

I can't say I have any sort of preferance towards any neck would. Authough for some strange reason I prefer blocks instead of dots, as far as fret markers go.

[Tsuken]

Rosewood's my favourite of what I've played on; that being rosewood, maple, and (I think) bubinga. The rosewood feels right to me. It feels a little "softer", than either of the others - almost as if my fingers are gliding through it rather than fanging around on top. That doesn't really explain what I mean, but it'll have to do. Other than that all I can say - like Dr Rog - is that it "feels right" for me.

[MaloS]

hm...
i dont even know what my fretboard is made out of...black maple i think.
i have a double layer fretboard, one is "black maple?" (which is the top layer), and the other is cedar. I find it feels nicer. I do not like the black maple to the touch of my hand, but i do not press down strings far enough to touch with my fingers, while the cedar back is nice and soft.

[Gelato]

Anything scalloped feels right to me If I wasn't so scared of destroying my Ibanez neck, I'd have been at it with the files and sandpaper by now!
They say that some woods (like maple) have a brighter sound, but I can't say I can hear much of a difference...

[Tsuken]

I've never played anything with a scalloped neck. What's it like?

[GrantB]

I always found maple boards kinda "sticky" feeling - usually because of the lacquer on them. The new matt finishes have changed that a little, but I still prefer ebony and rosewood. My P-90 tele has an Ebony f/boarded Strat neck which is so smooth to play, even compared to my LP. I think it is definately one of those personal preference things - one is no better than the other.

[Jops]

My Sil Spec has a maple board and it definately feels harder than the Rosewood on my Gib. I think the hardness adds more twang when you hit the strings. I definately prefer rosewood though and Tsuken got it bang on when he said it feels 'softer'. And unlike Richy11 I actually prefer playing on dot markers to blocks, but block inlays look so good!

[Rog]

I certainly cannot qualify my preferences.
It just 'feels' right - there is no harder/softer/louder/brighter/darker etc

[Tsuken]

I always found maple boards kinda "sticky" feeling - usually because of the lacquer on them.

That's it: sticky's the word for how I find them too.

[B45-12]

The latest issue of the Aussie gutar mag's cd has an early maple board strat compared (same phrases and later rhythem/lead side by side) to a later rosewood and while the rosewood sounds brighter to me, it's not so startling that you could not get the same effect with different amps.

I find the feel of maple to be quicker under the fingers (others call is 'slippery') on both Fender (strat) and Gibson (L6S) but that is probably more to do with the older polyeurethane finish which ebony/rosewood does not have. Have not tired more modern instruments (oh yee har! what a lovely excuse to go trolling the music shops) and suspect the matt finish has more friction.

What I find more important is how much the neck 'rings' under your playing - if it has a lot of vibes then the instrument usually sounds good while few often seem to belong to a deadish instrument.

[ash]

I like rosewood from both a playing and building point of view. Rosewood really is a magical wonder wood. You can hear how musical it is when you pick up a blank fingerboard or bridge peice. That's probably why the good stuff is so rare now.

Maple definetly has something going for it, but its a pain in the arse to fret nicely.

My latest acquisition is a peice of padauk for fretboards which is really fantastic. I think it is nicer than the pretend rosewood that most factories use now and probably rivals the real stuff too. It rings like a bell when you tap it and is bright orange...

[Polar Bear]

Ebony is my pick, then maple, rosewood a distant third, however I'm willing to be swayed if a nice rosewood neck pops up out of nowhere...

[Champers]

gotta say rosewood, the varnish finish on maple feels kinda plasticy to me and i like the look of a dark fingerboard better. couldnt decide between dots or block inlays, just what suits the guitar best.