[bostjan]

Am I the only person who is getting tired of RW FB's?

I saw Allen guitar sells their Pau Ferro boards cheaper than their RW ones a few months ago and thought, "Dang, who would choose RW over PF at these prices?"

My first real electric had a maple board. I've always loved maple. Ebony is really sweet, too, but more expensive.

Why are guitar manufacturers in love with RW? It's cool as a choice, but it seems to be the only thing available anymore.

Or am I just weird?

I know what I like best. Tell me your favorite with the poll.

I limited it a bit. There are about fifteen choices I know of. Not included are composite fretboards, that's for another topic. I didn't bother putting Wenge, Bubinga, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Satine/Bloodwood, nor Palisander/Spanish Rosewood, but these might be popular, too.

[David]

I like maples. No, I love maple fretboards. If I could, every guitar I bought, would have a maple fretboard.

[Popsyche]

Big maple fan! Love the bright tone, hate the dirt!

[Mark. A]

I voted for maple, but ebony is extremely nice too.

[dpm]

I don't like the look of Pau Ferro.
Indian rosewood is much more readily available than most fretboard woods in large quantities. Consider also that most factories are in or near Asia, so it could well be extremely economical to buy and ship IR for them.
Apart from that, people are familiar with it, so it's easy to sell.

[bostjan]

Originally Posted by dpm

I don't like the look of Pau Ferro.
Indian rosewood is much more readily available than most fretboard woods in large quantities. Consider also that most factories are in or near Asia, so it could well be extremely economical to buy and ship IR for them.
Apart from that, people are familiar with it, so it's easy to sell.

It seems to be the case. It just seems that there were more choices in beginner guitars back when I started playing. But then, those guitars would be expensive by today's standards.

Pau Ferro is inexpensive and durable. It just happens to be a kind of icky brown/yellow, but it doesn't look so bad laquered up. But then IR is kind of an icky reddish brown color. I guess I'm just saying I wouldn't mind seeing a few more options on the mass market.

[jtm45]

I really don't like maple boards at all! I just can't see the appeal in any way(unless you're looking for that snappy maple-boarded Tele sound).

I've only ever owned one guitar with a maple board and that was an Ibanez Blazer which my parents bought me for Christmas when I was a kid.
It was a quality guitar and sounded pretty good too (very similar set-up/sound to a standard Strat) but as well as the fact that i personally don't like the look of a maple board it just didn't feel right having lacquer on my fretboard.
I find rosewood far more satisfying on the eye and i personally prefer the feel and sound of it.I also think that the tonal qualities of a rosewood board balance perfectly with a maple neck construction and prevent the guitar sounding overly twangy.
The only problem I have with rosewood is that these days a lot of manufacturers tend to use lower grade rosewood(very plain looking with a lot of open pores and stuff) but i'd still go with that rather than maple every time.
Visually i think a nice solid-black Ebony board looks the best but a lot of the time they seem to use it as an excuse to bump the guitars price up.In reality it doesn't cost much more than rosewood at source and if you want a nice quality piece of rosewood it'll cost more than the Ebony even.
I played a Blackmachine 7-string in a store in London a few years ago that had a Snakewood fretboard and that was truly beautiful.It had a very similar feel and tone as Ebony but it's shockingly expensive stuff unfortunately.

Fuck! I just reminded myself how badly i want a Blackmachine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mark. A]

How would I go about cleaning my maple fretboard?

[Firebeard]

Originally Posted by Mark. A

How would I go about cleaning my maple fretboard?

Extremely light Steel wool...possibly. I used some to knock down grit on a rosewood fretboard once. But you may wait for someone to call me nuts or agree with me.

[Dive-Baum]

I have 4 electric guitars. Well 3.5. I am building a 7 string with an ebony fretboard. I obviously haven't played it yet but I can already tell it will be my favorite. It is smooth as glass. I can honestly say I have never felt anything like it. My other guitars are a RG 440 with Rosewood which was my fav. Then a Gibson Explorer (OK) then an old Peavey Patriot with the fretboard made of the same material as the neck (I think maple) and it sux but it is an ultra cheap guitar. It was my first and I can't part with it. Ebony just seems like it will be worth the xtra bucks.