The following are GENERAL tonal characteristics of maple, rosewood, and ebony fingerboards: Maple--this is a bright, tight-sounding wood with a defined bottom end, a tighter midrange, and a crisp, detailed top end. maple requires a finish, so a lot of guys tend to think the fingerboard feels a bit "sticky." however, the use of satin finishes as of late has been a big step towards improving the feel of a maple board. maple is often favored by cats who want a bit more top end or definition in their tone or for brightening up a warmer-sounding guitar. Rosewood--this is the most popular fingerboard wood and has a warm, rich tone with less top end than maple. rosewood doesn't require a finish, and lots of players like the feel of it because of its slightly oily nature. rosewood fingerboards are often favored by players who want to warm up a guitar further or for attenuating the highs on a particularly bright guitar. Ebony--this is the hardest and densest of the three woods and has a tight, crisp tone which is even brighter than maple. ebony doesn't require a finish and has a very tight grain-because of this, people often refer to ebony as "fast playing" or "slick." it's easily distinguishable from dyed rosewood by its closed grain pattern as opposed to rosewood's open grain pattern. ebony fingerboards are often favored by players who want a very glassy and crystalline top end or a lot more definition and tightness in their low end. for this reason, it's often preferred by bass makers.
ok, it came out here late.. i think he mods can move the one from the beginner's q&a section here and delete this one..or else its okay..
Wow !!!! That's a lot of technical stuff for a relative beginner to digest :nw: ... could you break it down for me a little ??? like for example ... "defined bottom end, a tighter midrange, and a crisp, detailed top end" for maple ... that went sailing over my head : Besides ... I am very curious to know what type of fretboards are used by the masters ... like say , Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, Petrucci , etc ...
Well all I have is a Yamaha Pacifica with a maple fret board ... dont have much choice on that count as this is the first and only good electric guitar that i have played ... all the previous ones being Indian made ones which arer no match for the imported guitars ... :rockon:
well, its quiet hard to explain it other way..it was about frequency ranges...the higher frequencies mean higher pitch...the lower are the bassal frequencies... @zohaib, i'm playing on a rosewood fingerboard which i love.
