I have yet to get my hands on both, but wanted some input to think about in the mean time. What do you think or hear is the difference between a guitar with a rosewood neck and one with a maple neck? Can you hear the difference or is it more a matter of feel?

Thanks!

It's mostly personal preference. I like maple because it feels fast and smooth to me. I also notice a slightly different sound, but not too much. I like both, but prefer maple.

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-Classic 50's Strat.
-Std. Telecaster.
-Mike Dirnt P-bass.
-Custody of SE Strat.
-Peavey Predator/Dean Evo/Epiphone DR150/Gibson Slide (much older than me).

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Maple: bright and somewhat "ice picky" tone.

Rosewood: warmer tone, and IMO better control, especially when bending strings.

Rich

I hear it like Mr. Costanza.

I have two identical 2004 American Standard strat hardtails. One has a roeswood fingerboard and the other maple. I hear a brighter sound out of the maple board. I like the way the maple sounds for chords and ened up stringing it with a heavy bottom set of strings (10 to 52) and using it for songs that I chord a lot in or want a cleaner sound. With a maple board, you aren't really feeling the wood at all, are you? There is a layer of finish between your fingers and the wood unless you have hit a bare spot on yer Road Worn series.

The rosewood fingerboard seemed a lot more forgiving to me. I could bend strings on it without a problem from day one. I have her strung with standard 10's (10 to 46) and I would lean on this instrument if I wanted to play too many note too fast.

Someone is probably going to tell you that this topic has been discussed many times before and to look it up. It doesn't matter. This is a brand new day with brand new responses to your question. I promise.

I personally like rosewood better because I feel rosewood fretboards help a neck be more solid ....also there is a difference in tone but maple is alright too

I can see the sound difference too, but do you really think there is? I'm convinced thats just something to do with the mind because ones dark coloured, and ones light coloured.
I suppose theres a difference in feel. Maple alot more harder, and rosewood has softer feeling.

I like them both the same. I have two maple necked strats
My advice is for a bright coloured strat = rosewood - Dark coloured strat = maple.

I think someone with 2 guitars with maple and rosewood neck, same pickups and all, should do a blind youtube test. Playing a solo or an instrumental song on clean settings with both of them.

Like, Guitar #1 and Guitar #2, and only reveal each after both guitars have been played.

Like it has been said

The maple is brighter and the rosewood is fuller. Personally for me on a traditional strat a 1 piece maple is the tone i'm looking for.

I do have both on strats the rosewood tends to beef up the neck a little, but it is a little more fluent with bends.

The maple chords really nicely plays fairly fast. My opinnion if you wanna find the differance for yourself is to hit up a guitar store and spend some time with both.

There's no audible difference in tone.

Also, neither fingerboard wood makes bending or chording "more fluid" or better or easier or whatever.

The difference is purely cosmetic. Virtually all basic tonal difference, especially whether the guitar sounds "brighter" or "warmer" is a function of how the player strikes the strings.

I have seen Vince Gill, for example, play the brightest, most brilliant top-end twangiest chicken pickin' in the entire world - sounds anybody who heard them sight unseen would assume were being made on a maple-boarded Tele - on a rosewood board Strat. With EMG's.

It isn't the arrow, it's the archer.

True enough, if you know how to setup an amp, and EQ you can get whatever tone you want out of the same guitar.

As for tonal differances between the identical setups, it's hard to say whether or not there is or isn't could be that we hear a differance because we want to or because there actually is one, hard to say.

As for chording bending etc the differance in finish and oils in the wood do give different feels, A laquered maple board feels much different then a rosewood board, in my experiance the maple boards aren't as fat as rosewoods, so it's easier to get bare chords or ackward shapes.

The rosewood board tends to bend a little nicer because it doesn't have the laquer and it's got natural oils in it, so when your finger rubs the board it doesn't skid against the lacquer.

My 2 cents everyone has their own opinnion

The different boards and even neck type can effect a difference in timbre because they all can change the way the neck allows vibration along the length of the string. Even quality and cut of the wood can do this.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I have one of each and other than visually being different colors I find the maple neck smoother but do not notice a difference in tone. I would also note that when I self tune my guitars I go by the vibrations I feel in the neck, not the sound, and both necks feel the same so I don't think the different woods transfer energy any differently in my opinion.

That's a touchy variable as I've tried many American Standards with all sorts of rosewood and maple necks and the thickness feels different from one another regardless of the rosewood or maple.

When you think about it though a neck being cut and finished in a different fashion such as a V , soft V , C whatever would have to vibrate somewhat different because of the wood shape being disimular. A long square shape piece of wood is going to vibrate different then a long round piece of wood. Also one piece necks, multi piece necks even a quartersawn neck with its grain as such. Now if the difference is going to always be noticable I doubt it but I think its always there and can be noticed on many of them.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I have an 88 Plus strat with rosewood and a 97 am Roadhouse with maple and the only difference I hear is the gold laces in the plus and the texas specials in the roadhouse. I like the feel of rosewood and its look but I very much like maple especially 1 piece necks. Ol leo went to the rosewood for looks because the maple got dirty and the finish wore off and looked "bad" now people pay good money for that messed upmaple look. my 78 tele I sold a year ago had the messed up maple and all the rub spots from my aom(also on bottom a lot of years playing sitting down) and it showed the as grain real nice,but even I thought the fretboard was kinda ugly and I did it to it myself with 30 years of playing even held one of the tuning heads with the paper from a paper match and a vice-grip crimp,ahhh the good ol' days
if you zoom in you can see where the finish wore off the board. it was much darker in person and without the flash