fretboard preference - why?
Moderators: Slowy, Capt. Black
- Rog
- The Self-Proclaimed Voice of Reason
- Posts: 9291
- meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2003 12:30 pm
- Location: Under de mountain
- Has liked: 20 times
- Been liked: 66 times
fretboard preference - why?
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?
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
- Site Admin
- Posts: 43366
- Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:13 am
- Location: Auckland
- Has liked: 2269 times
- Been liked: 3933 times
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)
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.
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.
My twitting tweets of twitterness
@ash lol/RT "@ChelseaVPeretti Had fun in the Cinema Tent tonight w @adultswim @robcorddry #bonnaroo #fonz #hottubtimemachineintonationjokes #childrenshospital #mud #pee" //by @Jenesis
Here be bloggins
@ash lol/RT "@ChelseaVPeretti Had fun in the Cinema Tent tonight w @adultswim @robcorddry #bonnaroo #fonz #hottubtimemachineintonationjokes #childrenshospital #mud #pee" //by @Jenesis
Here be bloggins
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.
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.
I've never played anything with a scalloped neck. What's it like?
My twitting tweets of twitterness
@ash lol/RT "@ChelseaVPeretti Had fun in the Cinema Tent tonight w @adultswim @robcorddry #bonnaroo #fonz #hottubtimemachineintonationjokes #childrenshospital #mud #pee" //by @Jenesis
Here be bloggins
@ash lol/RT "@ChelseaVPeretti Had fun in the Cinema Tent tonight w @adultswim @robcorddry #bonnaroo #fonz #hottubtimemachineintonationjokes #childrenshospital #mud #pee" //by @Jenesis
Here be bloggins
- GrantB
- ADMIN
- Posts: 15962
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2003 9:04 am
- Location: Where I need to be
- Has liked: 1377 times
- Been liked: 2107 times
Fingerboards
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.
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
-
- Fender
- Posts: 569
- Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2003 3:32 pm
- Location: Kaipara
- Has liked: 30 times
- Been liked: 88 times
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!
Re: Fingerboards
That's it: sticky's the word for how I find them too.*UNIQUE* wrote:I always found maple boards kinda "sticky" feeling - usually because of the lacquer on them.
My twitting tweets of twitterness
@ash lol/RT "@ChelseaVPeretti Had fun in the Cinema Tent tonight w @adultswim @robcorddry #bonnaroo #fonz #hottubtimemachineintonationjokes #childrenshospital #mud #pee" //by @Jenesis
Here be bloggins
@ash lol/RT "@ChelseaVPeretti Had fun in the Cinema Tent tonight w @adultswim @robcorddry #bonnaroo #fonz #hottubtimemachineintonationjokes #childrenshospital #mud #pee" //by @Jenesis
Here be bloggins
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.
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.
You can't do THAT on stage!
- ash
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 7505
- Joined: Mon May 10, 2004 4:01 pm
- Location: Auckland, NZ
- Has liked: 3 times
- Been liked: 5 times
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...
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...
Last edited by ash on Sat May 29, 2004 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
http://ashcustomworks.com for custom built electric guitars hand made in new zealand
- Polar Bear
- Burns BHM
- Posts: 6305
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2003 12:53 am
- Location: Wellington
- Has liked: 340 times
- Been liked: 342 times
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...
Zephyr - Wellington's Leading Covers Band
http://zephyrband.co.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/ZephyrBandNZ
http://zephyrband.co.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/ZephyrBandNZ