Maple or Rosewood?

[slash hudson]

What is the difference between maple and rosewood necks? Rosewood seems to be more popular, but ive heard that maple necks are nicer to play on.
Also, can anyone tell me about Vintage Les Pauls (copies) and what theyre like to play?
Thanks,
Slash

[canuck7]

don't fret(yuck yuck),
this is a just a question of preference i think. rosewood is a really nice fretboard wood and i recommend it for you. but maple necks are supposed to be better if you are a HARDCORE shredder or something because you slide faster and bends are slightly easier. i think that if you're more experienced you'll be able to tell the difference better. but i say that you should stick with rosewood if you are planning on buying one with rosewood.

[slash hudson]

yeh, i though it was something like that. Thanks man. I already have a strat copy, and its rosewood and i really like the feel of it, so recently, instead of buying a pacifica, i opted for a Vintage Les Paul, but now some people are telling me thr Epiphones are better! Oh well, the twin gold humbuckers look great on it, so im happy enough. :D

Slash

[Lordathestrings]

Originally posted by slash hudson
...recently, instead of buying a Pacifica, i opted for a Vintage Les Paul, but now some people are telling me the Epiphones are better!...The axe in your hands is the best axe in (your) world! If you like a particular guitar enough to pay a stack of your hard-earned cash for it, the name on the headstock counts for nothing. How many of these people who claim to prefer Epiphone actually own one? I prefer Yamaha myself, (I own two 1984 SBG 1000's and a RGB 350 bass), but you tried a Yamaha Pacifica and decided you liked a Vintage Les Paul better. I believe that's why there are more than one kind of guitar available. Different tastes, styles, and preferences keep life interesting.

Enjoy your Vintage! :)

[N4Player]

Lordathestrings - I believe slash bought an LP copy (not Gibson). On the rosewood/maple neck question. I have both - the maple neck does feel smoother when playing - but I've found it has a much brighter sound than my rosewood or ebony fretboards. I prefer ebony myself.

[Lordathestrings]

Yeah, I got that. His axe is a Vintage LP. And all seven of my guitars have rosewood fretboards. To each, his own!

[Incidents Happen]

my Gibson Les Paul (like every gibson lp i've ever seen) is rosewood. You can't go wrong with rosewood, but maple is not only for shredders.

Maybe this is my ear, but when i played on a maple neck (fender strat, vintage noiseless pickups), it sounded much more bright in tone, and rosewood sounded warmer.

Ebony is awesome for fretboard wood, same with Brazilian Rosewood. At least thats my opinion, ebony feels so smooth, and brazilian rosewood is a lot like rosewood, except it looks a whole lot nicer (and costs alot more too!).

[canuck7]

IncidentsHappen,
i made the comment of maple being for shredders because the only people i know personally that use maple are shredders and nothing else.
you are right too, maple does give a brighter tone and is different from rosewood noticeably. i should have included that in my post. thanks for clarifying.

[griphon2]

If you are working, it's best to have variations of both.
I prefer the lighter instruments. Les Pauls have great sounds, but I won't play them at a 4 hour gig. Too heavy. If you are in the position to carry a few guitars per gig, you're lucky. I've found over the years a Fender like instrument, gives the best overall sound. Understanding in and out phase pickups and amp set up will pretty much handle all situations. I always carry at least 2 electrics.
A strat and telecaster. Money controls a lot of choices.
I prefer a maple strat, but I have and play the most is a rosewood strat. Only because, I can cover the majority of sounds. My favorite is a maple and swamp ash tele. (with a bender) It covers everything. Rock, country, slash and burn,
jazz, everything. Any reasonable acoustic and classical will
work great depending on your job. I try not to carry many instruments without security. I worry about theft, and 2, I am just lazy. Which solves 2 problems at once. Take one favorite and protect it. That includes effects and amp. Use as minimum as possible. In the long haul, you'll save lots of money, in terms of theft, damage, or just plain lugging the stuff around. The worst part of playing!

[Polera]

i believe maple is a faster fretboard, cause its smoother, but it wont make you noticible better. I have two rosewoods necks, and i must bring up this point, the rosewood on my fender is great but the rosewood on my epiphone les paul is kinda like plasticky, whats up with that, any info? o i also read in a report that rosewood creates more sustain then maple, however, i couldnt be exact as to how much more.

[aiwass]

The ideal fretboard, in my opinion, is a graphite/carbon/composite fretboard, as found on Vigier, Parker. Of the woods, I'd say ebony, but if I had to choose between rosewood and maple, I'd choose maple. My American Deluxe Strat has a maple fretboard, and I must say, it feels (and most certainly looks) very nice.

[janir123]

I have maple and RW boards myself but ebony is still my number one choice. SOOOOO smooth and fast...

[Incidents Happen]

problem is, most guitar companies don't use ebony, cost factor.

[janir123]

Or you can get one but it's a special option that's gonna cost you helicopters. Warmoth does it quite cheap though...

[canuck7]

what's this about the composite fretboards? i've heard about them and i'm wondering if you could give me some more info about them. a description and/or a website would be helpful.
thanks

[aiwass]

http://www.parkerguitars.com

[Incidents Happen]

Originally posted by janir123
Or you can get one but it's a special option that's gonna cost you helicopters. Warmoth does it quite cheap though...

thats an option, if you have a Strat or something bolt on...


Check out Alembic, they make mostly basses, but they make good guitars, except their pickups suck, you'd have to replace those. Ebony comes standard on Alembics, and Alembic does literally anything you want...for a price....

i once saw a guitar on there, total beast of a guitar (looked really awesome)...price?

$19,700

check alembic out, they'll blow your mind.

http://www.alembic.com

(am in no way representing or advertising for alembic, blah blah blah, i am not affiliated with Alembic...)

[aiwass]

All Carvins come with ebony fretboards, and if you buy them factory direct, they all cost less than $1000. Unless you lay on heavily with custom options, that is.

[canuck7]

also, i heard that maple fretboards dent easily or something like that. what's up with that?

[aiwass]

Could be. Mine has a weird dent, and I have no clue how it got there. Looks like something sharp and pointy bumbed into it. But then again, it's kinda hard to dent a fretboard, seeing as you have both frets and strings protecting it. And it won't really affect the playbility either...

[canuck7]

doesn't seem to make sense to me either. but it was just something i heard.
but about composite fretboards:
what kind of stuff do they use?

[aiwass]

If you go to the parker website, it says there.

Composite fretboards be made from several things. Curbow makes their fretboards by soaking the wood in epoxy (this epoxy wood is called ebonol btw). Parker makes their fretboards with a composite of glass and carbon. Steinberger used pure graphite.

The list goes on and on. Pesonally, I prefer the Parker fretboards. Sooo smoooooth....

[Sam101]

Well apparently Maple boards are faster than your Rosewood Counterparts and I do preffer that harder wood beaneath your fingertips but it's all down to personal choice. Ebony and Pau Ferro are also good fingerboard woods might I add

[aiwass]

Then again, you feel very little of your fingerboard.

[Sam101]

Yes but I do think personally there is a difference benath your fingertips so you do feel you fingerboard in a way

[canuck7]

i can feel the fretboard when i play. i can tell that it's a different wood by playing it and feeling it. i mean, i don't like, rub the fretboard or anything. it's just in my technique, but i probably wouldn't realize the difference right away. it would make a difference anyway.