Maple neck vs rosewood neck on a Tele

[bitraker]

Do you find there is more friction fretting a maple neck like that on a Tele or Strat, the increased friction meaning more finger drag?

Why would one chose a Tele rosewood neck over maple? Tonal properties? Seems a stretch (crank overdrive and well...)
Thanks Bruce

[Gypsyblue]

Rosewood will give a Tele a little fuller and slightly warmer tone.

Just a little.

You'll get a little more spank from a maple fingerboard.

Just a little.

I'd go rosewood.

Easier to refret too.

[buckallred]

There's lots of talk from people who claim they can hear a difference. . . the phrase used to describe those people is "cork sniffers" (from tdpri.com). They also claim to be able to hear the difference in various types of body wood (which in Fender guitars, are covered in a thick layer of polyurethane) and also different brands/metal compositions of tele bridge plates and saddle combos.

To me, it is purely an aesthetic question. . . and I really like the look and feel of rosewood necks on teles. Especially with a Dakota red body.

That said, the correct answer (predictably) is that you need at least one of each. . .

[muscmp]

i chose my tele based upon the sound that the guitar provided, not the neck. it just so happened that the american vintage 58 in olympic white CAME with a maple neck. i love the look of the maple with the white.

play music!

[Xtremca]

If the finish is the same on both necks, then I can't personally feel the difference. Where I can is when one neck has a thick finish and the other bare. My MIM tele has a thick poly finished neck including on the fretboard where my US is what appears unfinished. As far as tone, I'd be hard pressed to find anyone that could blind test and hear the difference after coloring the signal through the pickups and amp.

[Danley]

Solid wood can make a subtle sound difference, finished or not, though not one evident without direct comparison, and likely not one that consistent generalizations about wood type can be easily drawn from; there's likely as much variance between two pieces of whichever wood you're looking at, as between two of different species, with the exception of woods on the opposite ends of extremes.

A 2mm sliver of Rosewood as opposed to Maple is not something I can foresee detecting a difference between. However, depending on the quality of the rosewood, the finish on the maple, and the height of your frets, there's definitely a feel difference.

I prefer maple unless the Rosewood is particularly even and smooth. I dislike fretboards with an excessive amount of grain pitting.

[clintj]

I didn't care for the feel of finished maple until I played one with a deglossed fingerboard. Now I like both equally well, especially with the taller frets I prefer.

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[The Growler]

Originally Posted by clintj

I didn't care for the feel of finished maple until I played one with a deglossed fingerboard. Now I like both equally well, especially with the taller frets I prefer.

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There you go. I think the OP is referring to finger boards and not necks.

[51 Relic]

Satin finished maple all the way

[Steel and wood]

I believe maple fingerboards to be slightly "snappier" but you could probably only tell if you plucked/strummed both (maple and rosewood) unplugged to compare.

My Telecaster has a maple fingerboard, but I don't really have a maple/rosewood preference. (Other than I think some of the Fender custom colors look better with each). It just so happens that my Fender Stratocaster has a maple fingerboard also.

[Gypsyblue]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

I believe maple fingerboards to be slightly "snappier" but you could probably only tell if you plucked/strummed both (maple and rosewood) unplugged to compare.

My Telecaster has a maple fingerboard, but I don't really have a maple/rosewood preference. (Other than I think some of the Fender custom colors look better with each). It just so happens that my Fender Stratocaster has a maple fingerboard also.

I've owned quite a few Teles over the last 50 years or so.

My first was a '51. I now have a '54. Real...not reissues.

There is definitely a little more "snap" or, as I call it, "spank" to a Tele (or a Stratocaster) with a one piece maple neck/maple fingerboard - like my '51 and my '54. And like the Fender Nocaster which I've also owned.

Teles with alder bodies sound different from those with heavy northern ash or light southern swamp ash too.

I suggested rosewood to the OP because it's easier to refret and because the guitar will sound a little warmer and fuller, and most players tend to like that.

But my favorite sounding Teles are those with a southern swamp ash body (very light) and a one piece maple neck.

Although my Tele Custom has a rosewood fingerboard and an alder body. I have it set up for slide.

I can only assume that players who don't acknowledge those differences in tone are those who've never taken the Tele seriously enough to have owned more than one Tele - vintage or otherwise.

Sorry kids: there's quite a difference.

[Eric_M]

Originally Posted by buckallred

They also claim to be able to hear the difference in various types of body wood (which in Fender guitars, are covered in a thick layer of polyurethane)

Many Fenders are finished in nitrocellulose. The cork-sniffers' preferred finish

[Gypsyblue]

Originally Posted by Eric_M

Many Fenders are finished in nitrocellulose. The cork-sniffers' preferred finish

Sorry kid. There is a difference.

[Eric_M]

Originally Posted by Gypsyblue

Sorry kid. There is a difference.

No argument here ... gramps?

[rmp]

the friction is more obvious I think with vintage style frets.

larger frets (medium or jumbos), you really wont "feel" the neck as much.

I think if you're gonna have a Tele it *has* to have a maple board...

I've got two strats, one w/maple and one w/rosewood, the rosewood is a bit warmer but it's not a tremendous difference. Pickups of course have a bit to do with this of course, (not the same pickups but they are close)