I find the darker the rosewood the more attractive the guitar looks and from my experience the darker the wood the more dense and firm the wood is. You don't get all those ugly deposits mentioned earler in this post and it seems to handle the abuse over years of playing better. I have an old 64 jag with an amazing slab of rosewood that has held up so well and is so dark it almost resembles a chalk board.

Tony, that is a nice piece of wood you got on that american standard man. You're very lucky.

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"New Guitars Have No Soul"

I had a 2007 American Deluxe, and it had the same darker rosewood, like yours. It seemed especially dark when I compare (in my mind because its gone) to the 2007 MIM 5760 Reissue, which has a lighter rosewood, with more grain on it. I prefer the darker color. I always wanted to have an ebony fretboard on a strat, but Fender doesnt make one.

Good one.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

Wow, all i have to say.
I really prefer dark fretboards.

lucky, you got that direct from fender.

hope you like it =]

I actually like the look of that fretboard.

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I really love the shading of that fingerboard and prefer the darker ones myself. Like others have said, it really sets off the red on the body!

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

FWIW the new EJ rosewood's that I have seen have had lighter boards than your new guitar's

i don't know what type of rosewood is used on the EJ's - but my friend has one , it's at my place right now and it sounds unbelievably woody! just a really nice organic tone that makes you wanna play clean!

it puts my older EJ (maple) to shame in the neck position.

all of my guitars have been maple , so i'm not up on the diff types of rosewoods, just so yours sounds nice i'm sure it's fine (the darker shouldn't be an issue according to the comments you have received) , pickup one of the Strat or elec guitars in general setup / maintenance style books out there and do some searching online on diff types of rosewood, there's prob plenty of good info out there

Mine has a bloody dark fretboard - look at my youtube. Almost black!

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