Why don't I see any Maple fretboards?

[Mostsmarterest]

I have a fantastic maple fingerboard on a strat and was just curious, since they are beautiful to look at too.

[Jim Comeaux]

Ummm....because they are the wrong colour?

[charles Tauber]

Maple gets and shows dirt looking bad fairly quickly. Film Finishes on top of a fingerboard tend to peel and chip and make the finish makes fretting more cumbersome.

[jaymarsch]

We have become accustomed to the fretboard and bridge matching on acoustic guitars. So, ebony and rosewood seem to be the top choices. I haven’t seen a guitar with a maple bridge. Not saying it isn’t possible but pretty rare. Electric guitars don’t have wood bridges so no matching necessary.
Best,
Jayne

[Tannin]

As Jim says, people don't like the colour, but it is a perfectly good fretboard material, as a zillion Strat players know. It is normally given a clear coating for cosmetic reasons. Some players don't like the feel of the coating; most don't like the dark finger stains that accrue without a coating. (The same thing happens to rosewood and ebony fretboards; the difference is that you can't see it.)

In reality, maple makes a lot of sense. It's a pretty common and sustainable timber, it's durable and sounds good. Rosewood and ebony are in shorter supply every year and forward-looking builders are switching to a range of more sustainable alternatives. From this part of the world new 12-string uses River Sheoak to good effect; Satin Box is very well-regarded (that's another light-coloured one, I don't know if they coat it or not); Mulga and Gidgee are in the mix. Elsewhere some Strats are using Indian Laurel and there I'm sure there are many others I don't know about.

(PS: All of the materials I just mentioned - sheoak, Mulga, Gidgee, Satin Box - are used for bridges too.)

[tadol]

I’m sure you could pay a builder to build one for you - but it’s not something alot of players are gonna want -

[M Hayden]

I think I’ve recently seen acoustic instruments with dark colored roasted maple boards.....

[Acousticado]

I owned an original ‘58 Strat with a maple neck from ‘76 to ‘02 when I decided to sell it. Best ROI I’ve ever realized from anything. The aged clear coat was worn off to various extents in many places where the wood took on a greyish kinda look. Probably permeated grime from over the years. That might seem weird, but the guitar was a player and was beautiful in its vintage way. The neck was fast. I now own an American Strat ‘57 Strat Reissue with a maple neck and a cheap Strat with a rosewood neck. I much prefer maple on a Strat.

On an acoustic, a maple neck might look good on a guitar with maple back and sides with spruce top and a maple bridge. Personally, such a guitar wouldn’t appeal to me, but it would probably look and sound just fine. I agree that most players like darker contrasting woods on an acoustic, so it probably wouldn’t be popular enough to mass produce. It would have to be a small shop commission, likely difficult to sell later.

[jayhawk]

Very rare but I do remember once playing an Ibanez acoustic of some kind that did have a maple fretboard. Think it might have been from the 70’s. Only one I’ve ever seen, let alone played.

If we have have some Ibanez experts out there, they will probably know more about it.

[Taylor Ham]

Maple strikes me as a good choice, at least not the worst. But the complaints about showing stains are a fair counterpoint. I wouldnt like it. Maybe a thing to think about when wiping down, even if they blend into an ebony or rosewood board.

I could get behind using alternative woods for the fingerboard and bridge- even better if they can be permanently colored all the way through. The ammonia "smoking" Taylor is doing to their new eucalyptus boards seems like it works. It can also be done on other woods like Oak, but not Maple. If it holds frets well, doesn't wear down under your fingers, sounds good, and looks good, I'll take the sustainable option.

[Robin, Wales]

Mountain dulcimers are most often made with cherry or walnut fretboards. The Gibson J-15 is walnut I believe? There are plenty of alternatives to rosewood and ebony that could hold frets just as well (and possibly be less prone to fret sprout than rosewood).

"Traditional" in terms of steel string guitar making has come about mainly due to the cheap availability of a wood and its ease of use for mass manufacturing.

[pieterh]

I have a book on acoustic guitars where there are a few models that had maple fingerboards. I guess the reason why they aren’t more common is due to tradition (guitars usually have dark wood boards) and taste (most people probably prefer rosewood, ebony etc).

It wouldn’t sunrise me if baked maple becomes more common for sustainability reasons - my 335 Studio has baked maple and to be honest works as well and looks almost as good as any genuine dark wood.

If I remember correctly the reason why maple is usually coated with laquer/varnish as it is a very dry wood, as opposed to eg rosewood which responds well to oils etc. The coating is there to protect the wood from damage as much as discolouration. As far as I can recall Rickenbacker are unusual in that they cover rosewood boards with a varnish.

[27R]

Deering dyes maple for some of their Goodtime banjo models - they call it "midnight" maple and boom, you still get an instrument that looks the business, plays and sounds great. Surprised that some acoustic guitar makers have not cottoned onto that yet.

[Tannin]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

On an acoustic, a maple neck might look good on a guitar with maple back and sides with spruce top and a maple bridge.

Sssshh! Don't tell Brucebubs.

(He is trying not to buy any more guitars.)

On a more serious note, 27R, I didn't know that. I had understood that maple was difficult to dye other than as a surface finish suitable for (e.g.) backs. No idea where I "learned" that misinformation.

[27R]

Originally Posted by Tannin

Sssshh! Don't tell Brucebubs.

(He is trying not to buy any more guitars.)

On a more serious note, 27R, I didn't know that. I had understood that maple was difficult to dye other than as a surface finish suitable for (e.g.) backs. No idea where I "learned" that misinformation.

I suppose it could certainly be "difficult" but obviously not impossible. You see stained maple necks all the time - more common in the electric guitar world obviously but Taylor stains maple for their 6xx series necks and it looks pretty sweet.

Stained fretboards are rarer I guess. This is quite impressive here from a creative and technical standpoint, although has nothing to do with making a light coloured wood dark: