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Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | Just out of curiosity....does anyone here prefer a rosewood board over an ebony? On an electric I prefer a maple, and on an acoustic I prefer ebony. Given a choice, I would never request a rosewood, yet they are the most popular. Is it just a price issue? |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Mmmmm eeeebooonyyyy
I have only one guitar with Rosewood and I wish it was .. ebony.
It doesn't seem like it's even any kind of wood. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I believe it is more popular with manufacturers than with buyers.
So Yeah... It's a price issue.
Even Ovation dyes it's Rosewood Black on the TX's. |
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Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I've never noticed any difference. Like I said in another thread, if your fingers are touching the fretboard you're pressing too hard. The thing I DON'T like about ebony is that it dries out and cracks more easily than rosewood. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | by CanterburyStrings:
If your fingers are touching the fretboard you're pressing too hard. Oh? :eek: :confused: I wish someone had told me that Years Ago! |
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Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I changed out the rosewood neck on my strat for a maple neck. I'm with you DB - maple or ebony on electrics and ebony on acoustics.
That being said, I'm intrigued by some of the alternative wood possibilities - the walnut on the #47 is pretty cool. |
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January 2009
Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
by CanterburyStrings:
If your fingers are touching the fretboard you're pressing too hard. Oh? :eek: :confused: I wish someone had told me that Years Ago! |
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April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Originally posted by darkbarguitar:
Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
by CanterburyStrings:
If your fingers are touching the fretboard you're pressing too hard. Oh? :eek: :confused: I wish someone had told me that Years Ago!
Vic |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
I changed out the rosewood neck on my strat for a maple neck. Mike, I looked for a good pic of your Strat and couldn't find one. But that's one AWESOME git!  |
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October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
I changed out the rosewood neck on my strat for a maple neck. I'm with you DB - maple or ebony on electrics and ebony on acoustics.
That being said, I'm intrigued by some of the alternative wood possibilities - the walnut on the #47 is pretty cool. Yep. Maple on electrics, ebony or walnut on acoustics. |
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August 2009
Posts: 381
Location: Miami | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
Yeah... It's a price issue.
Even Ovation dyes it's Rosewood Black on the TX's. +1
I just played a second TX and I gotta tell you, the difference between the American and the Korean is really bothering me now. They went from ebony to Rosewood, and from a thin textured layer of paint to a layer almost twice as thick, defeating the whole purpose of using the textured paint instead of the gloss. Without the heavy gloss, the (American) textured T's get that unique sound that not even the glossed T's have. Now that unique sound is quite muffled because of the heavier coating.
They said the quality of the guitars should be the same overseas because they're the same parts. Simply not true. They're changing materials as well. And you can very much hear the difference.
Go ebony. |
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Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | My preference is ebony. All my guitars, but three, have ebony fretboards - even one of my Strats. That said, I really enjoy playing the two guitars that have rosewood boards (Gibson ES-335 and the old Washburn) as well as the maple Strat. The quality of the wood seems to have as much to do with the enjoyability of playing it as the type of the wood.
On another note, one reason (I am told) that manufacturers prefer rosewood is that ebony sawdust is much more toxic than rosewood. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I don't think rosewood is necessarily inferior to ebony. I've seen some really crappy ebony boards and I've seen some really nice rosewood boards. My Martin has a rosewood board. Beautiful piece of wood and plays very nicely. It just seems to have a nice warm tone. My 2000C has a rosewood board, and it is spectacular to look at and as I've said many times is absolutely my favorite neck (in total) of any guitar I have. Matches the rosewood bridge, too. And this guitar has a nice warm, mellow tone to it as well.
I have a few electrics with rosewood boards and I like them. I did swap out the rosewood on my stratocaster for maple ... seems like I can get a bit more bite out of it.
I also have a couple of acoustics with walnut boards, and some with ebony. I have electrics with ebony, and maple, and rosewood, and pao ferro. It all really boils down to if the wood is quality wood. Sorta like the difference between quality ice cream and the square box stuff. I like ice cream and it's a regular Cold Stone for me. So I don't mind it a bit when rosewood is the flavor of the month. |
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February 2009
Posts: 194
Location: Huntington Beach | My preference is ebony on guitars. Ebony or rosewood on bass. You rarely touch the board on a bass, but on guitar I find that rosewood squeaks and has more resistance against my finger when bending a note. Any remedy for this. |
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August 2009
Posts: 381
Location: Miami | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
I don't think rosewood is necessarily inferior to ebony. I've seen some really crappy ebony boards and I've seen some really nice rosewood boards... It all really boils down to if the wood is quality wood. Excellent point, and excellent guitars. A good rosewood neck is better than a bad ebony one. But I've had the same experience as 1617 with bending notes on the best Rosewood. All other things being equal, ebony necks are faster. |
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August 2009
Posts: 381
Location: Miami | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
I don't think rosewood is necessarily inferior to ebony. I've seen some really crappy ebony boards and I've seen some really nice rosewood boards... It all really boils down to if the wood is quality wood. Excellent point, Stonebobbo (and excellent guitars!) A good rosewood neck is better than a bad ebony one. But I've had the same experience as 1617 with bending notes on the best Rosewood. All other things being equal, I find most ebony necks faster. |
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Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | I prefer an ebony neck given the choice which is often not the case. |
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April 2009
Posts: 130
Location: London, UK | Whether or not your fingers touch the board, the strings certainly do, and I'd guess that ebony is going to be a little more resistant to being scuffed and dug out by the bronze/steel.
BTW, why are fretboards normally left unpolished? |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Depends upon the model. I like the walnut boards on the Adamas models, particularly those with a lighter stain similar to the 1187-247 appearing on the Adamas home page. For other models, my preference is ebony which I've upgraded to on several customs where it was not the standard offering. One exception is the koa VXT which just looks better with a rosewood board. A maple board looks very good in some applications, one in particular being the high gloss honey-stained application on Fender's '52 Telecaster RI. Another wonderful classic look is a Fender solid body in vintage white ash (where the grain shows through just slightly), tortoise PG, and a dark rosewood board. Lots of wonderful variety out there. |
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August 2007
Posts: 1008
Location: Tuscany, Italy | I like both. As Stonebobbo said, not necessarely the ebony is superior to rosewood. I have few guitars with rosewood fretboard and love it both for appearance and touch. As you all here said : my2cents. |
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January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | The "resin-impregnated" Walnut on my Adamas 1581-5 is sublime: warm in color and to the touch, hard as rock! I've always inclined to Ebony but now, I think, it's a toss-up. |
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January 2009
Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | "Hard as rock"...that's the thing! I have one rosewood boarded git (Takamine) and it just seems softer than my maple necked G&L or my ebony Ovation or Everett. I mainly notice it on bends, but I think I notice it on slides also. |
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January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | Is there something wrong with me? I can't tell or feel the difference. I've got a maple fretboard on my Strat but only because I like the look of it. Playing a friend's ebony Strat doesn't feel any different to me. |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Ozwatto sez, "Is there something wrong with me? I can't tell or feel the difference. I've got a maple fretboard on my Strat but only because I like the look of it. Playing a friend's ebony Strat doesn't feel any different to me."
Naw, It ain't just you...
It is all about the looks.
It's All Wood Folks! |
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Rosewood vs. ebony fretboard