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I'm trying to get over my griping aversion to rosewood fingerboards - there's some real fine guitars out there outfitted with them but I've been unable to pull the trigger because I just don't like the looks and feel (mostly looks which shouldn't matter). I don't care if it's a '59 'burst LP (which I owned for a day, once, many years ago - sold it for $800!!) or a Peerless Monarch (which I covet because it's in my price range) or any of a multitude of other nice instruments. I'm the same way with Teles - I absolutely will not play a rosewood boarded Tele - gotta be maple or nothin'! Am I just weird or what? On the other hand, Eastman makes some fine guitars with ebony fingerboards but I hate their streaky finish and ugly peghead. An Eastman with a Peerless headstock would be just about right- I could live with the color. I also like ES165's and some 137's and I can afford one but again, there's that dreaded rosewood. Please HELP!!!
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03-16-2016 03:21 PM
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Well different strokes for different folks.... I love rosewood, on my Epiphones (Epi Sthathopoulo much preferred rosewood over ebony) and on my '60 slab board Tele too...
love how you sneaked in the burst there. That should have paid your mortgage now...
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all this time could be spent practicing...
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I used to be the same way with archtops and it is the reason why I now own an archtop with ebony fretboard. However, my opinion has changed a little. Since rosewood is softer, it'll sound warmer also. The ebony boards have a brighter and more percussive sound. I think both rosewood and ebony are good fretboard material. My next jazz guitar will have rosewood.
However, a telecaster HAS to have maple fretboard. There's no question
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You had to point out the 'softer'/'warmer' deal didn't you?
Originally Posted by roegtr
I used to be the same way with archtops and it is the reason why I now own an archtop with ebony fretboard. However, my opinion has changed a little. Since rosewood is softer, it'll sound warmer also. The ebony boards have a brighter and more percussive sound. I think both rosewood and ebony are good fretboard material. My next jazz guitar will have rosewood.
However, a telecaster HAS to have maple fretboard. There's no question
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Yep!! Bought it for $260 with brown Lifton case and sold it to a dealer friend of mine the next day for $800, then I think it might have gone to Gruhn's. It was a plain top, though - no flame. That was in the late 70's when they were only bringing about a grand. I also had a mint '47 Super 400 that I shouldn't have traded - I think it ended up in a museum somewhere. Oh, and there was an ES-5 Switchmaster and a '54 LP Custom 'fretless wonder' and an ice tea sunburst L4C that went for $450 and the blonde Johnny Smith that I was only into $700 and so many more......sometimes it haunts me to this day!!! Originally Posted by fws6
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I have rosewood and ebony guitars. I really don't notice a difference a feel nor a consistent difference in sound that could be attributed to the fret board material. The only reason I dislike maple is I think it looks weird.
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Yep Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
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Focus on playing music. All else is trivial bullshit.
All four of my archtops (Heritage 575 Custom, Peerless Monarch 16, Ibanez AF125 Custom, Epi Sheraton II) have rosewood boards and they all play/sound great. I also own a Yamaha LS 16M acoustic. it has an ebony board and it too plays/sounds great.
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Absolutely what fred is saying. First of all I have yet to see any substantial and consistent evidence to suggest that despite the fact that the strings don't touch it, and that it's glued to a thick solid POLE, the fretboard material changes the sound.
Secondly, you don't play nor do you listen to music with your eyes.
Getting caught up in something so trivial as this is just an excuse not to play. You should be looking for the opposite; excuses to play.
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Oh, I agree for sure that these are all valid arguments and nothing has stopped me from playing but I'd hate to spend $1000+ on an instrument that I didn't really want to look at. I can PLAY a rosewood board with no problem and don't even notice a difference in tone but it's a visual thing - rosewood, to me, just looks cheap on an expensive instrument - I'd even go with that artificial black plastic stuff that they're using nowadays knowing that rosewood (especially Brazilian) is high dollar stuff. I'm sick , I tell you - sick ....sick...sick!!! Originally Posted by Marwin Moody
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@ Marwin,
Right on, brother man!
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All my guitars have rosewood fretboards (including the Tele). I just like the sound and feel.
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Me too (including my Tele). My Shelley Park has Ebony but the rest are Rosewood. Looks good, sounds fine, but I totally get what Skip is saying... it's a visual thing. I feel the same way, but in reverse. I don't care for the look of Maple boards. Guitars are for making music, but they're more than that. A beautiful guitar can be a work of art or an ugly mash of bad design. We each have our own ideas about what makes a good looking instrument, but visual aesthetics have value. I love playing my guitars, and I enjoy looking at them too. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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Your new guitar ?
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when gibson was having "endangered wood" troubles with the feds, they used "baked" maple for fretboards...hagstom is using a synthetic material on their fretboards..and many basses particularly fretless, use ebonal..a synthetic ebony
if its just looks, you could always dye the fretboard..many ebony fretboards are dyed nowadays anyway, as much current ebony is streaky..we had a thread about darkening the fretboard recently
cheers
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I'd rather play a git that sounded great with a richlite FB than a git that sounded crap with ebony, and there are a few of each I've owned. Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
Here's your options... dye the rosewood, get over it, see a shrink, toughen up your fingers so you don't "feel" the FB, or resign yourself to missing 80% of the world's GREATEST guitars!
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Maybe I'll keep trying to find a used Peerless with an ebony board that I can afford.....or even a natural Eastman (the peghead's not THAT bad). Good suggestions, Gary, but I've got 54 years of callouses - I don't think they'll get any tougher and besides, like I said, I can PLAY 'em OK - I just don't like to look at 'em. oh, and my shrink is a guitar player and he agrees with me!!
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i like rosewood. I like ebony too. It's hard to generalize about woods based on opinions formed even 10 years ago because much of the best ebony and rosewood was over-harvested. I had a very good luthier tell me that the ebony that is available today doesn't sound as good as the rosewood that is available today so he no longer uses ebony. (he wasn't talking about appearances either)
At any rate, it's silly to obsess about any single type of species. It's like saying you will only go out with blondes...
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There is one very notable exception to the over harvesting: Indian rosewood. They do a very good job of managing their rosewood trees (and apparently all of their hardwood resources). Originally Posted by jzucker
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some have said that indian rosewood doesn't sound nearly as good as Brazilian. Dunno about that but brazilian sure looks better. I have it on several guitars. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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You look in a mirror while playing? UR beyond hope, stick with the rosewood :-) Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
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I have the opposite affliction; I don't like maple boards! Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
Despite this, I have two guitars I use for surf music that have maple boards.
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Once upon a time that was probably true but by the late 60's most Brazilian was stump wood or remains that were salvaged off the forest floor. Most people consider Brazilian more appealing visually (just as they consider Madagascar Rosewood more appealing visually) but Indian rosewood has the advantage of much greater availability which ultimately means stricter quality controls leading to a more consistent structural quality and proper drying conditions. Originally Posted by jzucker
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Yeah, I play surf, too - love it!! Have a lead on a '64 Jazzmaster but may just get a MIM Strat - I need a whammy bar on about 3 or 4 songs. I built a Tele with a Strat tremolo and ended up selling it... it was pretty neat! Originally Posted by GodinFan
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