Rosewood VS Maple

[Khartun]

I know there are a lot of guitar players here so I thought I'd pose a question for you.

I used to play quite a bit in the early 90s. Haven't picked up a guitar in a long time. The threads on here have made me want to pick it back up. I just talked my wife into letting me get another one. I've pretty much decided on getting a white standard Strat (Mexican made for now.) However, I haven't decided on the fretboard. I used to play rosewood and haven't really played maple much at all. With the Strat, I think they look way better with the maple neck. I will of course try them both out and I'll probably end up with the rosewood but I thought I'd ask you guys what your thoughts are.

Do you play maple? Do you play rosewood?
Which do you prefer and why?

Note: I didn't include ebony because that's not really an option for me at this point.

 

[theogt]

I generally prefer rosewood for look, sound and feel. With a white guitar, however, maple may look better. And sound can always be adjusted. But I just don't like the feel of maple.

Every strat I've had was with rosewood. But they were all darker bodies, so it matched.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I know there are a lot of guitar players here so I thought I'd pose a question for you.

I used to play quite a bit in the early 90s. Haven't picked up a guitar in a long time. The threads on here have made me want to pick it back up. I just talked my wife into letting me get another one. I've pretty much decided on getting a white standard Strat (Mexican made for now.) However, I haven't decided on the fretboard. I used to play rosewood and haven't really played maple much at all. With the Strat, I think they look way better with the maple neck. I will of course try them both out and I'll probably end up with the rosewood but I thought I'd ask you guys what your thoughts are.

Do you play maple? Do you play rosewood?
Which do you prefer and why?

Note: I didn't include ebony because that's not really an option for me at this point.

I am a huge fan of both. I love Rosewood on my Ibanez. It's very flat and the Wizard next is my absolute favorite.

Now, I used to own a Fender Strat and I had maple neck on it. Right before I purchased my new Ibanez, I purchased another Fender strat (this one mahogany) It had a rosewood fretboard. I ended up returning it. Not because of the rosewood, but because the sound and feel I wanted was an Ibanez.

If (better said WHEN) I buy another Strat, it will be a maple fretboard.

That said, this is your guitar. Get into a guitar shop and play both. Close your eyes and play it and think about what you feel and how it plays. That is the key.

So finally, it depends on the guitar I buy what type of fretboard I get. Fender, I go maple. What I say doesn't matter. This is your guitar. Let the fretboard tell you which one *YOU* want. You really can't go wrong with either.

Well, if you play really heavy metal, I would go rosewood and something other than a Fender strat. If you play a lot of stuff, you can't go wrong with a Strat and either fretboard.

 

[Wimbo]

Go to this site, then click on each guitar to see a summary of the wood characteristics, as well as notes on what kind of players each wood goes well with. Pretty cool, actually: http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/features/woods/BodyWoods/

note: there is also a series on top woods from this page.

 

[CowboyDan]

My Strat is Maple, my Damien 6 is a Rosewood fretboard on a maple neck, and I prefer the Rosewood. However, I really love the look of a worn out Maple neck. It just screams rock n roll. I also think that with a white body, Maple is the way to go.

For what it's worth, here's a little info on Rosewood fretboards:

The most common fretboard, Rosewood is naturally oily, and works well for any surface that sees frequent human contact. The sound is richer in fundamental than Maple because the stray overtones are absorbed into the oily pores.