I am considering pulling the trigger on a strat that has a rosewood fretboard with darker and light streaks. I personally like the look very much but I had heard many comments about players preferring darker rosewood fretboards. I like the guitar but I am always thinking about resale so I was curious on how the rest of you feel about multi-shaded streaked fretboards?

Some of my guitars have streaky grain, and I really like a RW fretboard that way. If I see a neck like that I am more likely to buy the guitar.

I prefer tight-grained rosewood of a uniformly dark color. But I believe it's really a cosmetic issue only -- to be decided on the basis of personal preference. As for any anticipated resale value, I doubt that it makes any difference to the average buyer.

JMOOC

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

i much prefer RW boards with a bit of grain and interest to them. but then id prefer maple of that aswell

Oftentimes, fingerboards are stained to give the appearance of a uniform and/or 'expected' color. Regardless of blatant streaks or one perfect shade, it doesn't necessarily mean anything one way or the other. Rather, one should be more concerned with the inherent quality of the wood itself.

As to resale, some like a 'lively' looking board, others prefer a more 'dignified' one. In terms of "The Big Picture", it is for the most part, irrelevant. Again, the quality of the wood would be the chief deciding factor.

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You dig?

My son's rosewood fingerboard has some light bands going along the grain. It adds a nice bit of contrast.

I haven't noticed any playability issues...

As always for me...it is a musical instrument first...it should feel great and sound great...to you. If it also looks like a work of art...all the better.

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1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
1975 Fender Stratocaster
1981 Rickenbacker 360
2002 BC Rich Bich
2007 Fender Standard Stratocaster
2012 Taylor GA3-12
2012 Squier Telecaster
2017 Les Paul Kit


"Make every song you sing your favorite tune."

Rosewood supply also has a large effect on this, due to the endangered species act and the restriction of using certain rosewood from off limits countries.

If you wish for a darker rosewood, resembling ebony you could always order fingerboard dye from LMI < www.lmil.com > actually their website explains the rosewood versus ebony and what has happened as far as restricted supplies due to over harvesting....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Link doesn't seem to work.

Art

That is because instead of copy and paste I just typed it.....Sorry this should work.

http://www.lmii.com

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Mo Betta! Thanks!

Art

Hi, John. Any pictures?
I think streaks would be cool.
Most everybody else has a solid dark rosewood neck.
Yours will stand out. I'd love to see the streaks.
Toppscore

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The streaks are cosmetic and mean nothing.

Went to a Taylor Guitars Road Show where a lot of this was discussed.
According to the Taylor Rep, Taylor Guitars is a major supplier of Rosewood and Ebony to other manufacturers. As well as being part owners of two plantations in Cameroon which supplies ebony.

Years ago they saw what might happen with these woods and began making long term plans.

Oh, and the guitars they had on hand to play and purchase were just truly outstanding!
I just didn't have the $4,000-8,000 with me to buy one.
Makes buying a Custom Shop seem cheap!

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Thanks for the Taylor info.
But, cosmetic streaks I gotta see.
Are they blondish on a dark background?
Toppscore

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More typical is dark reddish streaks but all variations are possible. From lighter hues to what almost looks like ebony.

Do a image search on GOOGLE for "rosewood streaked fingerboards" and you'll see plenty.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

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