- Thread starter KevinUK
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DrKev
Moderator
All-rosewood necks are awesome. Bass players have been experimenting with all kind of stuff for years but guitar players are a curmudgeonly lot who don't change easily. It took them a while to figure it out.
kimonostereo
Well-known member
As a kid, every single guitar I ever owned had a rosewood or ebony neck. I always wondered why the 80's rockers guitars looked so worn out and different than mine. I then realized they all had maple necks. For a while, every guitar I bought that had a bolt on neck was maple. Then I started to wonder why things didn't feel the way I remembered them. Ah! It was because I had all maple necks. Now I love both and realize they each have a different sound and feel too. Especially ebony fingerboards. I wish EBMM made that an option more often (but, I know... I know... enough options!)
R and R
Well-known member
I prefer the rosewood fretboard just because it looks cleaner. Dirt doesn't show up so obvious. I can't hear a difference between a maple board or rosewood.
Siddius
Well-known member
I don't know if the topic is actually rosewood necks or boards. I have never been too fond of rosewood boards. That is probably more of a visual thing. I do, however, love rosewood necks. They feel fantastic. I like the feel more than my old Y2d, but it isn't quite as smooth as the PDN roasted neck.
Ebony is the No 1 tops this is why I have black sparkle EBMM's with ebony fret board.
But rosewwod necks so smoooooth
DrKev
Moderator
The original question said rosewood neck. I therefore assumed that was all-rosewood neck, rather than rosewood boards (on a maple neck).
Personally , I don't like ebony or maple boards. I was never blown away by Pao Ferro but when the Honeyroast PDN run came out, Pao ferro with roasted maple was amazing!
Personally , I don't like ebony or maple boards. I was never blown away by Pao Ferro but when the Honeyroast PDN run came out, Pao ferro with roasted maple was amazing!
Tollywood
Well-known member
The ebmm rosewood neck is the best neck ever, in my humble opinion.
That was really cool when ebmm offered "a rosewood neck on whatever you want to order" for a month or so.
That was really cool when ebmm offered "a rosewood neck on whatever you want to order" for a month or so.
ozzyrules
Well-known member
Rachmaninoff
Well-known member
Hey EBMM, please bring us a full ebony neck !!! 
Tollywood
Well-known member
Hey EBMM, please bring us a full ebony neck !!!
I bet that would feel pretty slick and fast.
kimonostereo
Well-known member
I've never played a full ebony neck, but I would guess that it would be a bit heavier thank all maple and you'd have to be very careful with temperature changes. I think it would also be very expensive.
I'd love to see an ebony option for fingerboards on ebmm.
I'd love to see an ebony option for fingerboards on ebmm.
Stratty316
Well-known member
Pau Ferro is another one i would like to see EBMM do a special run with. I've played one from another builder and it was amazing! Wish I would have bought it, but it would have cost 2 EBMMs, my first born and a bag of chips...
MajtasticVoyage
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- Jul 7, 2014
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Rosewood necks are indeed smooth. Then again, so are properly finished maple, walnut, etc. I think it's mostly psychological. They are beautiful too.
I used to think rosewood boards looked cheap since every cheap guitar ever has them - until I got my JP13 that had the rosewood board. Then I ordered a rosewood board Carvin. I've also seen some amazing rosewood boards on Suhrs.
I think it all comes down to the craftsmanship and the specimen. But I will agree that the rosewood NECK thing is just a sales trend right now. Aside from the aesthetics, I don't see them as anything special.
I used to think rosewood boards looked cheap since every cheap guitar ever has them - until I got my JP13 that had the rosewood board. Then I ordered a rosewood board Carvin. I've also seen some amazing rosewood boards on Suhrs.
I think it all comes down to the craftsmanship and the specimen. But I will agree that the rosewood NECK thing is just a sales trend right now. Aside from the aesthetics, I don't see them as anything special.
Siddius
Well-known member
I don't think that calling them just a sales trend is quite fair. It is definitely being treated as a sales trend by both merchants and customers alike, but they are quite amazing, and while not as smooth as my roasted maple neck, my rosewood neck has a very distinct and pleasurable texture and grain to it. I think that it is fairly narrow and antiquated the way that different woods are being treated as gimmicks. It seems to me as a stubborn refusal to accept variations from the norm, even though they are perfectly functional, and dare I say different. Even if the changes did not bring much of a functional difference, what about that should lead us to dismiss the aesthetic difference? Are there not a thousand car models, a thousand burger joints, a thousand strats? With that same logic, why aren't we all still playing Fenders and Gibsons?
I know that the is may be an over simplification, but there’s a virtue to variation that we shouldn't shun or dismiss so willingly. I believe we are all playing the same 12 notes (except for those a - holes who try to impress us with that quarter tone gimmick), so as musicians we should know best of all that the most subtle variation, even to the point of arbitration, is crucial to any art.
Stratty316
Well-known member
The rosewood neck has some effect on the tonal qualities of the guitar. I almost bought a BFR Rosewood Luke 2 a few years back. I remember A/B ing one with a standard Luke 2 and the rosewood neck really gave the one I played a nice fat, glassy sound. I totally regret walking out of GC to think about it as when I returned a little over an hour later (had to buy the wife lunch) it was gone. I didn't let that happen the next time I played a rosewood neck with my HHAL... I bought the guitar AND THEN bought my wife dinner.
MajtasticVoyage
Well-known member
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- Jul 7, 2014
- Messages
- 213
For the record, I didn't mean 'sales trend' to indicate anything bad, but it is what it is. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE my AL HH with the rosewood neck; I can't honestly say the neck has any effect on tone though - as I'm not a believer in tone woods (several gimmicky guitars at NAMM proved that one even more for me...) but I love looking down; it's like I'm playing on a big bar of chocolate Also, when I first got my AL, the case had this really weird - almost noxious - smell to it. It still does but now that I associate that smell with the incredible feel and look of my AL I kinda like it lol. Anyway, thanks to EBMM, I now love both rosewood necks AND rosewood fretboards. I think the JP13 video where JP describes the rosewood fretboard as "more friendly" really hit home with me, and now I kinda feel ebony to be too dark and cold; to show my love for my JP13's fretboard, I even started this thread when I was doing a string change and oiled up the board. It looks truly delicious: For Those With An Aversion To Rosewood Fretboards... - SevenString.org
Here's a sneak peak of the above link:
Also, when I first got my AL, the case had this really weird - almost noxious - smell to it. It still does but now that I associate that smell with the incredible feel and look of my AL I kinda like it lol. Anyway, thanks to EBMM, I now love both rosewood necks AND rosewood fretboards. I think the JP13 video where JP describes the rosewood fretboard as "more friendly" really hit home with me, and now I kinda feel ebony to be too dark and cold; to show my love for my JP13's fretboard, I even started this thread when I was doing a string change and oiled up the board. It looks truly delicious: For Those With An Aversion To Rosewood Fretboards... - SevenString.orgHere's a sneak peak of the above link:
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