Anyone not like rosewood?

[bugbus]

For some reason, I like the look of ebony and maple fingerboards but not rosewood. Every time a see a nice looking guitar pic with rosewood it just ruins it for me and for the first time I realized that this might be unusual.

Anyone else feel the same way or is it just me?

 

[DrGonzo5150]

Just you...

I can appreciate the function, tonality, feel and look of maple, rosewood & ebony.

On occasion ebony does really stand out... But as i am aware ebony can also be quite brittle... so perhaps subconsiously i've always seen it in a tarnished light... Unless of course it's on a Koa Luke Or Petrucci...

Welcome to the forum..

 

[RedRadRocker]

I wouldnt want a Les Paul with a maple neck, and ALs will seem a bit odd on rosewood.

 

[Slingy]

I say more playing and less looking.

 

[k.gormley]

maple is almost exotic now.. I was in a music store today and except a few fenders there is mostly rosewood fretboards . So I kind of think the maple.......figured maple is exotic looking and classy.

 

[RedRadRocker]

I say more playing and less looking.

I find that very difficult to do with a BFR

 

[Chris G]

I'm not the biggest fan of rosewood - I prefer the look and feel of ebony.

I am told that ebony is more difficult to work and can be brittle (I assume this is why a fair number of guitars with ebony boards don't have much in the way of inlays). It is also more expensive than rosewood. PRS don't use ebony either as far as I know.

My experience of rosewood is that cheaper rosewood can look awful and doesn't feel that great but that expensive rosewood can have a very smooth feel and some lovely grain patterns. Needless to say EBMM only seem to use the decent stuff and thus I am very happy with rosewood on my Y2Ds.

As for maple it does seem to be on the decline. EBMM still offer a good number of maple options (Axis, Silo and AL?) but maybe it's not as popular as it used to be or as economical to make. The Ibanez RG550 used to be maple, now it isn't. Perhaps shops sell more of the rosewood option than the maple where both are offered on the same guitar and thus that's what they stock.

Either way wood is a finite resource (Brazilian rosewood is a good example of this) so supply, demand, cost and now environmental concerns all need to be factored in when a guitar is built.

 

[glockaxis]

I agree w/ the OP statements and like maple and ebony over rosewood myself. As far as ebony and inlays, Jackson used those sharksfin abalone ones on their high-end guitars.

 

[Sweat]

I like them all, rosewood is great, and soon to find out about ebony, to me whatever makes a guitar sound and look great is what I like.

 

[Astrofreq]

I like them all, but it all depends on the color scheme of the guitar. In my opinion, there has to be some sort of brown tones in the guitar for the rosewood to work. For instance, the Limited Edition Black/gold hardware looks terrible with rosewood to me. Ebony would look much better there.

I have a black sparkle ASS and the rosewood bothers me at times. I thought about dying the wood black.

 

[travs]

I wouldnt want a Les Paul with a maple neck, and ALs will seem a bit odd on rosewood.

+1
perfect quote!

 

[DrBob]

I wouldnt want a Les Paul with a maple neck, and ALs will seem a bit odd on rosewood.

I'd have to agree with the Les Paul but if truth be told I would actually prefer to see a Rosewood Board on the AL.

 

[jamminjim]

I would actually prefer to see a Rosewood Board on the AL.

Here! Here! +1 Would love to see that option available myself. But I'd like an AL in present form too... (who wouldn't) ,

as far as your question; maple is great on many guitars and so is rosewood. Rosewood has advantages of not looking dirty when it is. Which makes maple better in showing you when you need to clean it.

I like em all, sorry.

 

[threeminutesboy]

is that look strange to you ?

To me it looks sweet

 

[Barry]

is that look strange to you ?

To me it looks sweet

This pic looks stunning!!! Rosewood AL!! My God!!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I think they all have their place, though a nice Axis BFR with an ebony board would be very nice indeed!

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Anyone else feel the same way or is it just me?

I do.....


I'm looking to add to my guitar collection (not going to say that 3 letter "G" word) and have been looking at and playing a lot. I played 3 today that I liked, but 1 was ebony and 2 were rosewood and it was enough to sway my decision to "wait" over "buy".

Looking at what I own....I only have one guitar with a maple fingerboard and it is by far my favorite. I sold my OLP which was also maple.....maybe I should have picked another one to thin the herd back then.

jack

 

[INMT]

Hey, most ebony is not black, a lot of it can look similar to rosewood actually (in color). If you want an ebony fretboard on your rosewood equipped guitar. Then I suggest you do what most manufactures, dye the wood.
Black Fingerboard Stain at Stewart-MacDonald
Yes it can be done on a fretted neck, just tape off the back of the neck and any other wood you do not want dye on. It will wipe right off the fret wire and inlay.

 

[bugbus]

Fingerboard stain? Wow I learned something new!

That dargie delight looks bad. You should sell it. To me.

J/K it looks hot... the question is would it look better in ebony or maple? Plus the fingerboard looks pretty dark in that pic. It's the faded brown rosewood that IMHO diminishes a lot of guitar color schemes.

 

[RedRadRocker]

is that look strange to you ?

To me it looks sweet

*gulp* I take that back. Give me 1 please.