All my guitars are rosewood (or ebony), simply because I like how it looks. What made the biggest difference to me was scale length. Second biggest was weight. And this is why I play SGs exclusively these days.
I'm the same way about liking dark wood fretboards the most based on the aesthetic. I used to own a strat with a maple fretboard, but now all my guitars have rosewood or ebony. From my understanding, ebony should be pretty similar to the "sound characteristics" of maple because it's a pretty hard wood. I really don't think fretboards make a difference to a guitar's sound anyways.
Of all the small things that affected my playing (string guages, switching to jazz picks, etc), the absolute biggest game changer for me was changing the position i hold the guitar. Ive been playing for 16 years, and 14 of those were just like any other right-handed bedroom guitarist: guitar contour nestled on my right thigh. I dont know why, but randomly i switched to a "classical guitar" position (guitar on my left leg, my right foot farther back, and the guitar neck more vertical) and this unlocked potential i never knew i had. I play electric and mainly lots of drop b or drop c metal. My playing got much more accurate and less awkward, my hands, wrists, and shoulders were able to relax much more, my fingers moved faster. Completely blew me away that something so small and less common could impact my playing so much.
The thing that changed my playing the most was just not having a guitar that was like a crappy first act guitar. Something that just stayed in tune and was playable really made a difference.
I like maple because I can see the strings easier against the maple. I also find it hard to believe the fretboard material plays much role in tone. The physics of how strings and pickups interact, the amp, the speakers, play the largest role (IMHO).
I prefer maple as well, but I’ve ended up with some Strats with rosewood fingerboards along the way. We did blind tests to see if we could hear the difference and with all things being equal save for fingerboard wood, I couldn’t hear a difference. Neither could the other 3 of us. Pickups, pots, scale and other facets of construction determine the sound of an instrument, not the fingerboard wood.
And I like the dark fretboards like Rosewood better because I can see the strings easier. I lose them as well as my orientation on the fretboard with a light colored board. Plus I started on a rosewood fretboard. Maybe that has something to do with it
The most important factor is the rigidity of the structure between tuners, nut, bridge and tail. All of the input fed into the pickups is there, all of your sustain is there. The electrics just shape and boost. They can't put back what was lost. A soggy piece of rosewood will absorb some frequencies and resonate with others. You may or may not like the result. A hard piece of roasted maple will reflect every frequency equally. You may or may not like the result.
I’ve been saying this for years and so happy to find someone else who says this too! Within reason, with processing I can make a guitar sound like anything I want. What I can’t change is the way it feels! Thank you for being the voice of reason.
You're exactly right! I have a friend who plays professionally and he told me the exact same thing! He made the point that someone playing a crappy guitar and (complains about the guitar) could put the guitar in either his or another good players hands, and make that crappy guitar sound great...even if it isn't the easiest or most comfortable to play! The guitar player will sound like himself...no matter what guitar is in his hands.
Scale, string gauge, and singleVShumbucker. One thing that made me play more and and therefore BETTER was to NOT put the guitar in a closet or under the bed. Keep it out, in reach. Get a stand or wall hanger. Cheers.
My takeaway… it’s all about “the angle of the dangle”.🤣 Honestly, the thing that made the biggest difference is the finish on the neck. The first time I had my local guitar tech satin the neck and dress the fret ends on one of my old guitars it was like being handed a totally new guitar. Knocking down all that sticky gloss finish was a game changer. For me, the neck is what I truly interact with and whatever I can do to make that feel better makes the guitar exponentially better. That first experience was 20+ years ago and now it is the first thing that every new guitar gets. Thanks Dylan for the great channel and awesome pickups. Love the DAF’s.
Thanks so much for not trying to A/B this as you did a great job. I prefer a Strat neck of the Affinity. It’s called a Slim C Type. Whereas my acoustic is regular C Type on my Yamaha Series A AC1M. Both C Types but totally different in size and how they are held and played. Always prefer playing with Rosewood or similar. Never Maple. Just doesn’t feel or look right for me on mine. Biggest change for me was changing to 8’s on my electric guitar allowing me to practice a bit longer than 20-30 minutes due to my neurological pain in my fingertips. Still holds me back.
Thumb over guy here. I had a revelation that for me (again,me) the neck is the instrument. If it’s a satin finish, medium thickness, tall frets, easy to fret low E with the thumb, I’m going to enjoy playing it. The body, pickups , color, brand etc. , that’s all about inspiration. Meaning, with a great neck and a cool vibe / look to it, I’m down to play.
Biggest change I heard on my squire Strat was changing the bridge and trem with sold steel aftermarket parts. Completely changed the feel and sound in a very good way. I don’t think people pay any attention to the bridge and saddles
I prefer the look of maple fretboards because of Eric Clapton live at Ronnie Scott's. However, since I do my own refrets, I have come to accept rosewood as I find it easier to work on.
Very thought-provoking stuff! I love rosewood, but my #1 guitar (an '81 Strat -- a good one from that era) has a maple fretboard. For that one, it just works. To answer your question, though: the biggest single thing that changed my interaction with my guitars was when I switched to playing almost exclusively with my fingers. I suddenly was much more aware of muting, dynamics, and how using different fingers to pluck the same string can yield very different tones. Things like that carry over even when I do on rare occasions use a pick.
Don’t know if this counts as in the signal chain, but… THE thing that changed my tone most was an amp stand… It lifted my Katana off the floor and angled it at my ears, and got 100% improvement… who’d have thought shins weren’t very good for listening Love the channel
Floating the trem on my S-type guitar was a mind-blowing experience. It had been decked against the body. Raising it softened everything up and made me realize string tension is a real thing. On my guitars that don't have a trem system, I wound up going down in string gauge to get a similar feel.
The things that I look for in a guitar that make it comfortable for me are: neck profile, neck radius, weight, balance and smaller body size. All of them contribute to how comfortable they make me feel when playing it. As far as fret board wood I like ebony, rosewood and maple. They all feel a little different and make me play a differently. So does the fret height and thickness of the frets. The string gauges may feel stiffer or lighter depending the scale length.
Well said! Yea, if it feels "right" in your hands, then it's a great guitar. My soft V shape maple neck Tele and my Gibson Les Paul Tribute are the best out of my collection "for me" since they feel "right" in my hands. I use those two the most while my custom shop and Historic collection guitars are gathering dust, ha ha
I've played for about 50 years. My all-time favorite guitar was my 71 Les Paul Custom. I decided to get a Strat and I wound up getting a 91 Strat Plus with a maple neck. The Strat was what I'd thought at the time, was the perfect Strat. However, I quickly discovered my Les Paul was miles above the Strat. I'd wanted the single-coil sound. But this Strat had the brand new, at the time, Fender Lace Sensors. They were okay, just not the sound I was looking for. The neck profiles seemed similar to me. The tremolo was a new "stay-in-tune" system with a roller bridge, double roller nut, and Fender locking tuners. It did a fairly decent job of staying in tune once I got to know its quirks. When I bought the Strat, I didn't know about the scale length difference. There was just something about the Fender neck I didn't like. I've learned a ton of stuff about them since. I no longer have either of those guitars, but I have an ESP LTD Les Paul copy and a Sire FM7 with a roasted maple, untopped neck. The Sire is the first guitar I've liked as much as my beloved LPC. So all my theories went out the window. I've learned since then, essentially what you're saying. For me, it comes down to feel. How it feels with my eyes closed, how easily my fingers contact the strings on the fret end, and how easily bending or vibrato feels. FYI my go-to strings are GHS Boomers, 9-46 or 42, but I prefer the sound of the 46. All 4 of these guitars had/have medium jumbo frets.
I find it difficult to say my preferences on feel but one thing that really makes it so much more enjoyable to play is the finish put onto the wood. Thin or not finished fretboards are so awesome to use.
The single most important tonal choice I have ever made in my life was to go with a pick that had a little bit more flexibility to it. I played Dunlop yellow for a long time, and then switched to orange. With that little bit of extra flex it means I can play faster funky stuff without getting resistance, which causes you to grip the pick harder, which causes you to attack the strings harder, which completely screws up your tone. I hold that pic just tight enough that it might almost fall out of my hand. But then, if I squeeze with my right hand fingers it bends the pick a little bit and tightens it up, and then I could get a really hard attack for something like fast metal runs, or have a combination of harder softer for some thing like Bluegrass boom chuck. Tons of tonal difference right there in the right hand, and it’s only possible because I use a pick that is flexible enough to go up or down with my choices. The guitar doesn’t really matter in this situation. I can pick up a Les, Paul, a telecaster, an acoustic, a resonator, or whatever, and they all respond exactly how I want them to.
Thanks for your thoughts Dylan. I'm an acoustic player and have an old cheap nasty laminate guitar with a wide flat neck. There is no seperate fretboard, just one piece of wood, painted black. I also have a much nicer guitar with a solid spruce top (laminate sides & back), with a narrower rounder rosewood fingerboard. Although the nicer guitar sounds a million percent better, I grab the cheap nasty one, because I like the flat wide fretboard.
To the ear... most people won't be able to tell any difference. So, soundwise it's a moot point. What's much more important is the difference in "Feel". To me, Rosewood feels way different to a maple fretboard... softer on my fingertips and more comfortable. It's the comfortable feeling of your fingers interacting with the fretboard that's way more important than any tiny sound difference if there is one at all. The "feel" is what we should be concerned with. As you made clear in this video.👍👍👍
My first guitar has a rosewood fretboard, I always prefer the rosewood, but I do have a few maple necks that I really love too now, I think it's because there oiled instead of having lacquer, nitro or any of the other finishes. But in my personal opinion the rosewood necks give me a warmer tone and the maple necks give me a brighter tone🤘
Hey Dylan, thanks for the video. I totally agree it's all about the feel. As soon as you pick up a guitar you can tell. There is something about quality guitars versus cheaper instruments. I remember when I first bought a USA Stratocaster going from a Squier. I just couldn't believe the difference. It was almost like the first time I heard a CD and the sound just blew me away. Once I switched to the USA Strat my playing improved over night just from the inspiration alone. Now I always go for the USA guitars, they just feel better and inspire the music more.
The biggest difference maker for me? Finally getting through my fat head that I'm not Stevie Ray and dropping down to 9s (instead of 11 or 12s) for standard tuning. Ah, *THAT* was the sound and FEEL that I was looking for!
One major “tone affector” that is so seldomly mentioned is WHERE on the guitar you strike the strings. With everything exactly the same, you can make it sound like a completely different guitar based on how far from the neck or bridge you’re picking or strumming. And I’m with you. How could the fretboard material POSSIBLY make enough of a tone difference that it could be detected by the human ear. A days worth of dust on your guitar would have more effect.
Very true. A welcome contribution to the eternal tone debate. However, beyond touch, tone, technique and technology there is the music that results from the player/instrument partnership and that is an emotional, psychologically grounded and shared experience. I would argue that what a guitar does to you is even more important than what you do to the guitar. The guitar I have that makes the biggest difference to the way I and others play and the music that results is my hollow body Guild CE-100 D. Yes, it's technically a beautiful guitar to play but what makes the biggest difference is the respect people have for the instrument. Somehow, it is a guitar that commands respect from guitarists. That respect affects how they handle the guitar, how they play the guitar and what they play on it. Me and the other people who love it play better simply out of respect for the Guild. Of course it all boils down to respecting and valuing the music you make and respecting yourself as a musician. The guitar that makes you to respect yourself more as a musician, for whatever reason, is the guitar you need. If your Chinese nylon string cheapie makes you play like Andrés Segovia treasure it and pay no attention to what other people say. We have different emotional relationships with all of our instruments and I feel that is really where our sound, and more importantly where the music we make starts.
To me the main difference with maple & rosewood (or ebony or whatever), is how it feels to my fingers I used to always go with rosewood or ebony, passed on feel Finished maple boards felt slippery tome, and so I avoided them Now I am okay with any wood for the board, although I still prefer rosewood or ebony. So agree on the feel bit, it does make a difference. Although that can change over time
One thing that I've noticed over the years is that hardware on lower cost import instruments lacks the durability of higher priced models. I am a tech and I find myself replacing frets, pots, switches and tuners more frequently on the cost effective imports. I don't worry about it that much as I do my own setups and repairs. Still, I have a PRS SE Custom 24 that had visible fret wear with just over a year of use and find myself using more contact cleaner in the pots and switches than on my more expensive guitars, and I play them all about the same amount, I love the guitar and for me, it played great right out of the box. I like dark wood fingerboards [I've been specifying Pau Ferro on my custom builds] without position markers [side markers only] and stainless steel frets. I have one guitar I've had for several years with stainless steel frets that has no signs of fret wear and I play it more than the SE listed previously. I do prefer shallow C wide necks.
Neck radius. Thought all the hype about 59 baseball necks were the key. How wrong I was. I'm not young, nor have long fingers but the guitars I have with flatter slimmer necks are my comfort zone. Rolled edges are a must, and radius boards help a lot. Upper fretboard accessibility is a must have. What's the point in having frets you can't reach comfortably .
great video.thanks.thing that changed my playing was when I had my guitar set first time by good luthier. I have guitars with maple and rosewood fretboards and that does not matter.
I've been considering this recently and someone pointed out that a big difference is with rosewood you can feel the grain with your fingers, whereas with maple it's actually lacquer you are making contact with and since it is a smoother surface it gives you the illusion of speed. If the neck itself is made of maple with a rosewood fretboard, it may feel different but not affect the tonal spectrum really. Ive always played rosewood necks but love the look of a well aged well played maple fretboard with a nice golden patina
7.25” think neck on a 72 reissue telecaster. I was amazed. I didn’t know why that felt so different. Still love my 9.5” strats, but vintage specs have suddenly become my new fixation.
For me important easy full access to 24 fret, polished slippery frets, and ergonomic body shape, so I can use any of guitar positions, jazz, rock, classic, any of them. And light weight of the guitar. Dylan, thanks for your channel! 👍🏻✨☀️
I think many people spend too much time on what's better on a guitar rather than more time playing it. I have been playing guitar for over 35 years and I have my favorite I call #1 and the list goes on from there. I do prefer maple on a Strat because to me I hear more bite and jingle if that makes sense. Can I get bite out of a Rosewood neck? yes. To me the guitar is all about the feel and sound. Nothing is more important to me. We can talk about tone woods and the radius of the necks, the thickness, and so on. You know what matters more? How much you play it and what you want from it period. My Les Paul is a Custom Shop R8 and its rosewood and a thicker fat neck that has something more than my Strat to me. Keep in mind I play my Les Paul different than how I play my Strat and for good reason. I don't pay as much attention to raidus or thickness, I pay attention to how I interact with it. We need to play more rather than what is the best and why. You know you have something good when it feels great in your hands and it even resonates without it plugged in. Try it yourself, you will know. No one can tell you what feels the best, only you will know that.
Pick thickness and material will drastically change tone. Much more so than fretboard wood. My favorite pick to play with (Wegen gypsy jazz) is also one of the worst sounding picks for the tone I want, so I use a pick that sounds better but is tougher to play with.
What i usually do is cut my maple neck in about half up to the 7th fret and then cut a rosewood board maple neck to the 8th and glue them together. I usually go with a pre-vintage radius of 4.25 . Killer tones.
Wow the black guitar with the p90s looked badass as hell. TTG and DTT strikes again. Actually Dylan the fretboard doesnt matter too much to me. Most of the time if I buy it I like it. You and the Mrs. take care and Thanks.
I have "Rosewood" fingerboards on my Strat and my Tele. The Squire VM70 has actual rosewood (if I would have ordered it two months later, it would have been "rosewood-like") The Tele (clone) has "rosewood-like" . I just like the "look" of dark rosewood.
The greatest influence I had on my playing and tone was when both of my grandfather's told me to stop trying to copy my father because I didn't hear or feel what he did so I would not be able to copy him. I needed to learn to hear and feel the music for my self. Thanks for asking
Personally, I like rosewood fretboards more because they don't chip or stain like lacquered maple fretboards with regular use. Also, if you ever have to replace frets down the road, it's much easier to hide any damage caused by the fret tangs.
Most important things for me the shape of the neck, is the scale length, set neck VS bolt on and the fret size. I hate X Jumbo frets for exemple or the narrow tall Fender puts on his American Pro. The fingerboard can make me play differently as well. I'm a rosewood freak, ebony seems too hard to me, maple a little as well but not a big deal if there some bound with the guitar. The number one reason I play differently is the "connection" with the guitar. My number one S-style has a neck a little big for my test on the 12th fret, but man! Every time I pick this guitar, it is inspiring, it's easy to play even if I still think the neck could be a little thiner. I've tried many guitars, shape, scale length, price range and sometimes.. Bam! There is something.
To me it does not matter what wood the guitar is made of, it either sounds/plays good or not and EVERY guitar is different because of the sum of its parts (including the wood). I will try out electric guitars acoustically first. If I like the feel of the neck and tone of the acoustic sound, then I will progress to plug it in. What makes up my tone: the pick material & size along with the attack angle, position on strings (closer or further from bridge) and dynamics of my pick hand. Here is a study I would like to see: "Feel" what is it? Is it that guitar players adjust the dynamics of their pick hand depending on what they are hearing? I say ABSOLUTELY YES! Not enough gain...dig in. Too much gain...lighten up. Some tones are easier to play and some harder but which sounds best to you?
I suppose mainly for psychological reasons, I never liked the glossy, light color maple fretboards. Always feel better with a dark wood like Rosewood (my LP) or Ebony (my Parker). I have 1 with maple; the EVH Wolfgang and I like it because it does everything else so well.
As for me the bigger feel difference is a 7.25 radius and vintage style real thin frets. Maple is a brighter as for me, but like both rosewood and maple, depends on a mood :)
Love the video. Turned expectations on its head. We’ll played sir. Video idea- something I have find nothing about: planning what controls and how many and what to think about based on different pickup types. I know much may be preference but why does Gibson have 4 for LPs and PRS does 2 or 3? Etc
Great video. You nailed it on how you interact with a guitar is the most important thing. I'm glad you didn't go down the rabbit hole of A/B'ing the maple vs rosewood. Any difference in tone is negligible and in a band mix makes no difference in my experience. Find a guitar you like and play it. On a different note, on one of my next builds thinking of using P90's and am seriously thinking about your P90's. That's a late winter/early spring project.
Personally, I find rosewood and maple sound different. Generally speaking, I prefer the feel of rosewood, but when a maple fretboard does not have lacquer, it feels much better to my hands than the glassy alternative. To my ears, Maple equals faster attack with accentuated, highs and lows whereas Rosewood equals accentuated mids with slower attack in comparison. that said, I do agree with you completely about one’s physicality, how we hold the guitar, and everything else about our hands that determines how we sound
When I stopped trying to play like other people. Due to some major injuries, I can't grip with my left hand like most guitarists do. For years I just noodled around for a while and said "I can't do this" and put the guitar down. Eventually I quit caring whether or not I would ever be able to play like a normal guitarist. I do my own thing and it sounds so much better.
started playing a tele a few months ago after 30+ years with a strat. bridge changes my picking angle slightly. One thing that I have a hard time with Les Pauls is where the pick up selector is. Hit my thumb off of it sometimes. Probably like a Paul player hates where a Strat volume knob is.
I have small hands and prefer a smaller radius neck , I use 10 guage strings and cant really define why. I used to be strictly a maple fretboard guy , now I use my Gold Top les paul more than my strat , the Gold Top has a rosewood board and p 90s I really like how I can get that heavy Leslie West tone with it.
Overall, I prefer the feel of Rosewood, but something about a Maple neck that seems to "react faster" to me. What do I mean by that? Maple seems to deliver a crisp sound that is more immediate. Funny thing is Ebony has a similar characteristic (to me) but I do not care for the feel as much. Trying to get over that. Also, thick picks with a sharp edge. I have been using primarily Jim Dunlops either 1.14 or 1.5 for lots of years, however, recently (last couple of years) I started using the smaller JD Jazz picks 1.5 mostly sharp point. I'm finding the choked up grip provides better control and tone. Another funny thing is I have always thought spending time on your electric guitar NOT PLUGGED IN, makes you develop everything you're talking about here. Because it makes you pay attention to what you're doing instead of paying attention to all of the pedals, delay, distortion, etc. IMHO. Good stuff! God Bless!
What turned my playing around is I was asked to play bass in a band so I picked up the bass and had to learn the neck learning where the notes were changed everything
Cool idea - unfortunately not an even match (with the Silver Sky models) - I have the US Silver Sky Rosewood - the US model is 1000% times better quality with better quality quality tonewood. My personal experience playing the same US model (even color), is that the maple isn't as loud or have a wide a range of tone. The rosewood is full and even at high, mid and low frequencies where the maple is very mid-focused - probably explains its popularity in "twangy" music. The Fiore is more like a G&L, bigger magnets, different tone, higher output, where the Silver Sky is aiming at Mayer's '63/'64 strat. If you can A/B any guitar - it's a US PRS of the same model, check out "Rather Be Riffing" channel's 594 comparison, they're more consistent than any other builder. Good video, nice guitars ✌🏻.
Biggest thing I noticed about the instrument is playing 11s on electric, because I press down hard and I was pulling string s out of tune when i would play a simply chord
I don’t get caught up in the differences too much. I switch between different fingerboard types, radius, neck profiles, and nut widths on the regular. No big deal. I think what made the biggest difference for me was consistency. I spent a long time buying whatever strings were the cheapest, using whatever pick I could find, etc… When I decided what I liked, started using quality equipment, and stuck with it, things started to clean up for me. But I would also argue that this happened when I started to be more serious about playing the instrument, so what is REALLY responsible for the improvement? With all this said, I only have one guitar with a 7.25” radius. I haven’t been able to jive with it. Maybe there are other factors there too, but that’s the difference that stands out to me. I won’t argue too hard against anyone who says that’s just in my head though. 😂
I like maple fretboards with no lacquer. I find them more snappy and I like the way it feels. I like ebony as well for that reason. May sound weird but I don’t really enjoy playing a rosewood fretboard. 😄
After 30 some odd years playing, finesse is something I've recently learned and you're correct. Dylan is saying more with the finesse than some flashy nonsense.
@@vintagepipesnightmares Nah man, check out how he changes his picking technique and how it allows the pickup to open up. At least, that's what I hear 👍
For this conversation I'll say rosewood. I like the look and feel of a nice rosewood fretboard and the way it ages. But if this comparison included ebony, I'd go with ebony.
Of the three usual suspects, I tend to stick with Ebony or Maple with the gloss coat. I don't think the fingerboard material plays into the sound enough to be significant. It's more of a feel thing to me. For me, gloss maple or ebony is the equivalent of using a high-end mechanical keyboard, whereas rosewood is like those cheapo $5 office space keyboards that feel gummy and lifeless. The only rosewood guitar I have is a Heritage 535, and I hit the fingerboard with increasing grits of Micro-Mesh until it is slick as glass. Unrelated, but polishing the frets with Mothers Mag Polish and a dremel buffing tool do wonders.
The most important part of the guitar is the interaction. After that its the weight, then consider the Tone (pickups for tone) most importantly use a better amp for tone.
Rosewood or Indian Laurel over both ebony & lacquered maple based purely on feel. 7.25 or 9.5 radius, 24 (mustang) or 25.5 (Strat) scale. And it was feel not sound that got me off a cheap knock off Les Paul in the 80s.
lately I lean more towards lighter basses. Turned 54 few days ago ang after 35 years of giging I do like to spend more energy on the playing itself rather than the carrying of the instrument... Also found the lighter bodies resonate a bit more especially with nitro finish, which gives me a tighter bond with the instrument. so less than 4 kilos (or better yet 8 pounds) it is.
Been playing since 1990 and still can't hear tonal differences between different species of wood. However, the way a guitar looks and feels will affect the way a person plays, and the way a person plays will affect the way they sound. ***Edit*** Which is pretty much exactly what you said. Perhaps I should finish videos before commenting :)
I really loved and feel the most comfortable neck of Fender modern necks with 9.5 radius. I have thin and small finger and huge palm. Thick are always pain in the neck for me :d
I tend to hear a brightness or snap from a maple board that's not there with a very similar guitar with a rosewood board. Both are fine , but my 1st choice is Ebony which seems to have a growl to it. Again this is just what I've noticed from playing a lot of guitars over the years .
For me it's the neck profile . When I grab a guitar and the neck just feels cumbersome in my hand , that guitar is not for me. Then there's that magic when you grab the right profile . From there it's fretboard radius , fret size and neck heel ..
I'm happy to play maple, rosewood, ebony, laurel, whatever. I think I prefer the feel of ebony. Mostly it's about aesthetics for me. Some bodies just look better with a dark fingerboard and some look better with maple.
Dylan pickups. Ok shameless plug for you. I love the set of your pickups I have. For me it's down to set up. By watching your videos, I learned how to set up my guitar to play like I want it to.
I hate maple fretboards - varnished maple is sticky under the fingers. Unless it's a scalloped fretboard, in which case it doesn't matter, because you don't actually touch the wood, only the string(s). Otherwise, I like slick woods like ebony and purpleheart best. I have big hands, so I like fat necks, and I really like super-jumbo (6100) SS frets. Thin "fast" necks cramp up my left hand.
I feel like fret board material is insignificant to sound..visual yes.. and feel.depends..thing is..when i was younger and heavy left handed I liked maple ..but I've learned to play light on fret hand heavy on pick hand..don't even notice the difference
New strings make a night and day difference in my guitar and bass since I sweat alot in my hands and change strings maybe once a year so It's always a different guitar with new strings. Also different guitar string gauges DO make a difference in tone, sound and playing because you play differently. If I strum 9s the same way as I strum 11s I'm gonna have problems. One is not better but different.
Personally I like Maple necks, because I love the look, but actually found out Rosewood fits my playing style better tonewise, a disaster... but I probably have to get used to it, maybe I try an unfinished maple neck
Three , 12 inch radius maple neck Teles and two with 9.5 rosewood. Pretty close to playing the same. I do have a 9.5 V maple neck tele changes the game
I just like the look of maple on a tele or strat. I like a bright looking fret board, something about it... It just pops compared to all the multitude of dark fret boards out there.
The biggest thing for me is the neck carve. I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand, so if a neck is too thin or has too much of a D shape it gets painful to play, while too thick i go numb after maybe 20 minutes. I have a preference for ebony fretboards because they feel slinky and have a little crisper tone, but have more with either maple or rosewood. Also like more rounded shoulders, like you said, and like the back of the neck to not be too glossy or sticky. I do find that i play a little differently on longer vs shorter scale length guitars.
@SergioFigaroa something akin to a u-shaped maybe 1959 les paul, or the current kinda beefy Tele c-shaped one seem to work best for me. I also have to try to keep the back of my hand aligned in a straight line with my wrist, and try to avoid putting too much pressure on with my fingers when fretting notes. I also try to avoid radii of greater than 12. The current year silver sky se one feels almost perfect in those regards.
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All my guitars are rosewood (or ebony), simply because I like how it looks.
What made the biggest difference to me was scale length. Second biggest was weight. And this is why I play SGs exclusively these days.
I'm the same way about liking dark wood fretboards the most based on the aesthetic. I used to own a strat with a maple fretboard, but now all my guitars have rosewood or ebony. From my understanding, ebony should be pretty similar to the "sound characteristics" of maple because it's a pretty hard wood. I really don't think fretboards make a difference to a guitar's sound anyways.
Of all the small things that affected my playing (string guages, switching to jazz picks, etc), the absolute biggest game changer for me was changing the position i hold the guitar.
Ive been playing for 16 years, and 14 of those were just like any other right-handed bedroom guitarist: guitar contour nestled on my right thigh.
I dont know why, but randomly i switched to a "classical guitar" position (guitar on my left leg, my right foot farther back, and the guitar neck more vertical) and this unlocked potential i never knew i had. I play electric and mainly lots of drop b or drop c metal. My playing got much more accurate and less awkward, my hands, wrists, and shoulders were able to relax much more, my fingers moved faster. Completely blew me away that something so small and less common could impact my playing so much.
The thing that changed my playing the most was just not having a guitar that was like a crappy first act guitar. Something that just stayed in tune and was playable really made a difference.
I like maple because I can see the strings easier against the maple. I also find it hard to believe the fretboard material plays much role in tone. The physics of how strings and pickups interact, the amp, the speakers, play the largest role (IMHO).
I prefer maple as well, but I’ve ended up with some Strats with rosewood fingerboards along the way. We did blind tests to see if we could hear the difference and with all things being equal save for fingerboard wood, I couldn’t hear a difference. Neither could the other 3 of us. Pickups, pots, scale and other facets of construction determine the sound of an instrument, not the fingerboard wood.
And I like the dark fretboards like Rosewood better because I can see the strings easier. I lose them as well as my orientation on the fretboard with a light colored board. Plus I started on a rosewood fretboard. Maybe that has something to do with it
The most important factor is the rigidity of the structure between tuners, nut, bridge and tail. All of the input fed into the pickups is there, all of your sustain is there. The electrics just shape and boost. They can't put back what was lost.
A soggy piece of rosewood will absorb some frequencies and resonate with others. You may or may not like the result. A hard piece of roasted maple will reflect every frequency equally. You may or may not like the result.
I’ve been saying this for years and so happy to find someone else who says this too! Within reason, with processing I can make a guitar sound like anything I want. What I can’t change is the way it feels! Thank you for being the voice of reason.
You're exactly right! I have a friend who plays professionally and he told me the exact same thing! He made the point that someone playing a crappy guitar and (complains about the guitar) could put the guitar in either his or another good players hands, and make that crappy guitar sound great...even if it isn't the easiest or most comfortable to play! The guitar player will sound like himself...no matter what guitar is in his hands.
Scale, string gauge, and singleVShumbucker. One thing that made me play more and and therefore BETTER was to NOT put the guitar in a closet or under the bed. Keep it out, in reach. Get a stand or wall hanger. Cheers.
My takeaway… it’s all about “the angle of the dangle”.🤣 Honestly, the thing that made the biggest difference is the finish on the neck. The first time I had my local guitar tech satin the neck and dress the fret ends on one of my old guitars it was like being handed a totally new guitar. Knocking down all that sticky gloss finish was a game changer. For me, the neck is what I truly interact with and whatever I can do to make that feel better makes the guitar exponentially better. That first experience was 20+ years ago and now it is the first thing that every new guitar gets. Thanks Dylan for the great channel and awesome pickups. Love the DAF’s.
Thanks so much for not trying to A/B this as you did a great job. I prefer a Strat neck of the Affinity. It’s called a Slim C Type. Whereas my acoustic is regular C Type on my Yamaha Series A AC1M. Both C Types but totally different in size and how they are held and played. Always prefer playing with Rosewood or similar. Never Maple. Just doesn’t feel or look right for me on mine.
Biggest change for me was changing to 8’s on my electric guitar allowing me to practice a bit longer than 20-30 minutes due to my neurological pain in my fingertips. Still holds me back.
Thumb over guy here. I had a revelation that for me (again,me) the neck is the instrument. If it’s a satin finish, medium thickness, tall frets, easy to fret low E with the thumb, I’m going to enjoy playing it. The body, pickups , color, brand etc. , that’s all about inspiration. Meaning, with a great neck and a cool vibe / look to it, I’m down to play.
“Angle of the Dangle”, love it!
Biggest change I heard on my squire Strat was changing the bridge and trem with sold steel aftermarket parts. Completely changed the feel and sound in a very good way. I don’t think people pay any attention to the bridge and saddles
I prefer the look of maple fretboards because of Eric Clapton live at Ronnie Scott's. However, since I do my own refrets, I have come to accept rosewood as I find it easier to work on.
Very thought-provoking stuff! I love rosewood, but my #1 guitar (an '81 Strat -- a good one from that era) has a maple fretboard. For that one, it just works. To answer your question, though: the biggest single thing that changed my interaction with my guitars was when I switched to playing almost exclusively with my fingers. I suddenly was much more aware of muting, dynamics, and how using different fingers to pluck the same string can yield very different tones. Things like that carry over even when I do on rare occasions use a pick.
Really have been enjoying your comparison series lately man. For me it's Rosewood on my Les Paul and maple on my Strat and tele.
Don’t know if this counts as in the signal chain, but… THE thing that changed my tone most was an amp stand… It lifted my Katana off the floor and angled it at my ears, and got 100% improvement… who’d have thought shins weren’t very good for listening
Love the channel
Floating the trem on my S-type guitar was a mind-blowing experience. It had been decked against the body. Raising it softened everything up and made me realize string tension is a real thing. On my guitars that don't have a trem system, I wound up going down in string gauge to get a similar feel.
Switching to a smaller size jazz pick was a game changer for me, felt more precise and confident with my right hand
"Rosewood or Maple..." Ah, Yes Please! Give me Ebony and Pau Ferro too.
I can already hear Glen Fricker screaming
The things that I look for in a guitar that make it comfortable for me are: neck profile, neck radius, weight, balance and smaller body size. All of them contribute to how comfortable they make me feel when playing it. As far as fret board wood I like ebony, rosewood and maple. They all feel a little different and make me play a differently. So does the fret height and thickness of the frets. The string gauges may feel stiffer or lighter depending the scale length.
Well said!
Yea, if it feels "right" in your hands, then it's a great guitar.
My soft V shape maple neck Tele and my Gibson Les Paul Tribute are the best out of my collection "for me" since they feel "right" in my hands. I use those two the most while my custom shop and Historic collection guitars are gathering dust, ha ha
I've played for about 50 years. My all-time favorite guitar was my 71 Les Paul Custom. I decided to get a Strat and I wound up getting a 91 Strat Plus with a maple neck. The Strat was what I'd thought at the time, was the perfect Strat. However, I quickly discovered my Les Paul was miles above the Strat. I'd wanted the single-coil sound. But this Strat had the brand new, at the time, Fender Lace Sensors. They were okay, just not the sound I was looking for. The neck profiles seemed similar to me. The tremolo was a new "stay-in-tune" system with a roller bridge, double roller nut, and Fender locking tuners. It did a fairly decent job of staying in tune once I got to know its quirks. When I bought the Strat, I didn't know about the scale length difference. There was just something about the Fender neck I didn't like. I've learned a ton of stuff about them since. I no longer have either of those guitars, but I have an ESP LTD Les Paul copy and a Sire FM7 with a roasted maple, untopped neck. The Sire is the first guitar I've liked as much as my beloved LPC. So all my theories went out the window. I've learned since then, essentially what you're saying. For me, it comes down to feel. How it feels with my eyes closed, how easily my fingers contact the strings on the fret end, and how easily bending or vibrato feels. FYI my go-to strings are GHS Boomers, 9-46 or 42, but I prefer the sound of the 46. All 4 of these guitars had/have medium jumbo frets.
I find it difficult to say my preferences on feel but one thing that really makes it so much more enjoyable to play is the finish put onto the wood. Thin or not finished fretboards are so awesome to use.
The single most important tonal choice I have ever made in my life was to go with a pick that had a little bit more flexibility to it. I played Dunlop yellow for a long time, and then switched to orange. With that little bit of extra flex it means I can play faster funky stuff without getting resistance, which causes you to grip the pick harder, which causes you to attack the strings harder, which completely screws up your tone. I hold that pic just tight enough that it might almost fall out of my hand. But then, if I squeeze with my right hand fingers it bends the pick a little bit and tightens it up, and then I could get a really hard attack for something like fast metal runs, or have a combination of harder softer for some thing like Bluegrass boom chuck. Tons of tonal difference right there in the right hand, and it’s only possible because I use a pick that is flexible enough to go up or down with my choices. The guitar doesn’t really matter in this situation. I can pick up a Les, Paul, a telecaster, an acoustic, a resonator, or whatever, and they all respond exactly how I want them to.
Man, that is the greatest. Rooted out some Dunlop orange picks and straight away noticed more feel than my normal ernie ball mediums. Thanks.
Thanks for your thoughts Dylan.
I'm an acoustic player and have an old cheap nasty laminate guitar with a wide flat neck. There is no seperate fretboard, just one piece of wood, painted black.
I also have a much nicer guitar with a solid spruce top (laminate sides & back), with a narrower rounder rosewood fingerboard.
Although the nicer guitar sounds a million percent better, I grab the cheap nasty one, because I like the flat wide fretboard.
To the ear... most people won't be able to tell any difference. So, soundwise it's a moot point.
What's much more important is the difference in "Feel". To me, Rosewood feels way different to a maple fretboard... softer on my fingertips and more comfortable. It's the comfortable feeling of your fingers interacting with the fretboard that's way more important than any tiny sound difference if there is one at all.
The "feel" is what we should be concerned with. As you made clear in this video.👍👍👍
My first guitar has a rosewood fretboard, I always prefer the rosewood, but I do have a few maple necks that I really love too now, I think it's because there oiled instead of having lacquer, nitro or any of the other finishes. But in my personal opinion the rosewood necks give me a warmer tone and the maple necks give me a brighter tone🤘
Hey Dylan, thanks for the video. I totally agree it's all about the feel. As soon as you pick up a guitar you can tell. There is something about quality guitars versus cheaper instruments. I remember when I first bought a USA Stratocaster going from a Squier. I just couldn't believe the difference. It was almost like the first time I heard a CD and the sound just blew me away. Once I switched to the USA Strat my playing improved over night just from the inspiration alone. Now I always go for the USA guitars, they just feel better and inspire the music more.
The biggest difference maker for me? Finally getting through my fat head that I'm not Stevie Ray and dropping down to 9s (instead of 11 or 12s) for standard tuning. Ah, *THAT* was the sound and FEEL that I was looking for!
One major “tone affector” that is so seldomly mentioned is WHERE on the guitar you strike the strings. With everything exactly the same, you can make it sound like a completely different guitar based on how far from the neck or bridge you’re picking or strumming. And I’m with you. How could the fretboard material POSSIBLY make enough of a tone difference that it could be detected by the human ear. A days worth of dust on your guitar would have more effect.
Wearing the guitar higher was a gamechanger for me
Very true. A welcome contribution to the eternal tone debate. However, beyond touch, tone, technique and technology there is the music that results from the player/instrument partnership and that is an emotional, psychologically grounded and shared experience. I would argue that what a guitar does to you is even more important than what you do to the guitar.
The guitar I have that makes the biggest difference to the way I and others play and the music that results is my hollow body Guild CE-100 D. Yes, it's technically a beautiful guitar to play but what makes the biggest difference is the respect people have for the instrument.
Somehow, it is a guitar that commands respect from guitarists. That respect affects how they handle the guitar, how they play the guitar and what they play on it. Me and the other people who love it play better simply out of respect for the Guild. Of course it all boils down to respecting and valuing the music you make and respecting yourself as a musician.
The guitar that makes you to respect yourself more as a musician, for whatever reason, is the guitar you need. If your Chinese nylon string cheapie makes you play like Andrés Segovia treasure it and pay no attention to what other people say.
We have different emotional relationships with all of our instruments and I feel that is really where our sound, and more importantly where the music we make starts.
Tone changers. Ability, post production, speakers, amp, pedals, pickups.
Nice job with this video Dylan. Great presentation.
String gauge, scale length, weight and gloss vs satin necks were the biggest eye openers outside of signal chain for me.
To me the main difference with maple & rosewood (or ebony or whatever), is how it feels to my fingers
I used to always go with rosewood or ebony, passed on feel
Finished maple boards felt slippery tome, and so I avoided them
Now I am okay with any wood for the board, although I still prefer rosewood or ebony.
So agree on the feel bit, it does make a difference.
Although that can change over time
One thing that I've noticed over the years is that hardware on lower cost import instruments lacks the durability of higher priced models. I am a tech and I find myself replacing frets, pots, switches and tuners more frequently on the cost effective imports. I don't worry about it that much as I do my own setups and repairs. Still, I have a PRS SE Custom 24 that had visible fret wear with just over a year of use and find myself using more contact cleaner in the pots and switches than on my more expensive guitars, and I play them all about the same amount, I love the guitar and for me, it played great right out of the box.
I like dark wood fingerboards [I've been specifying Pau Ferro on my custom builds] without position markers [side markers only] and stainless steel frets. I have one guitar I've had for several years with stainless steel frets that has no signs of fret wear and I play it more than the SE listed previously. I do prefer shallow C wide necks.
Neck radius. Thought all the hype about 59 baseball necks were the key. How wrong I was. I'm not young, nor have long fingers but the guitars I have with flatter slimmer necks are my comfort zone. Rolled edges are a must, and radius boards help a lot. Upper fretboard accessibility is a must have. What's the point in having frets you can't reach comfortably .
great video.thanks.thing that changed my playing was when I had my guitar set first time by good luthier. I have guitars with maple and rosewood fretboards and that does not matter.
I've been considering this recently and someone pointed out that a big difference is with rosewood you can feel the grain with your fingers, whereas with maple it's actually lacquer you are making contact with and since it is a smoother surface it gives you the illusion of speed. If the neck itself is made of maple with a rosewood fretboard, it may feel different but not affect the tonal spectrum really. Ive always played rosewood necks but love the look of a well aged well played maple fretboard with a nice golden patina
Biggest thing for me was changing to a lighter touch on the fretboard. For my personal taste, I love ebony boards and tung oil necks.
7.25” think neck on a 72 reissue telecaster. I was amazed. I didn’t know why that felt so different. Still love my 9.5” strats, but vintage specs have suddenly become my new fixation.
For me important easy full access to 24 fret, polished slippery frets, and ergonomic body shape, so I can use any of guitar positions, jazz, rock, classic, any of them. And light weight of the guitar.
Dylan, thanks for your channel! 👍🏻✨☀️
Playing with the lightest touch possible made the biggest difference in my tone and playing!!!
I think many people spend too much time on what's better on a guitar rather than more time playing it.
I have been playing guitar for over 35 years and I have my favorite I call #1 and the list goes on from there.
I do prefer maple on a Strat because to me I hear more bite and jingle if that makes sense. Can I get bite out of a Rosewood neck? yes. To me the guitar is all about the feel and sound. Nothing is more important to me. We can talk about tone woods and the radius of the necks, the thickness, and so on. You know what matters more? How much you play it and what you want from it period. My Les Paul is a Custom Shop R8 and its rosewood and a thicker fat neck that has something more than my Strat to me. Keep in mind I play my Les Paul different than how I play my Strat and for good reason. I don't pay as much attention to raidus or thickness, I pay attention to how I interact with it. We need to play more rather than what is the best and why.
You know you have something good when it feels great in your hands and it even resonates without it plugged
in. Try it yourself, you will know. No one can tell you what feels the best, only you will know that.
Pick thickness and material will drastically change tone. Much more so than fretboard wood. My favorite pick to play with (Wegen gypsy jazz) is also one of the worst sounding picks for the tone I want, so I use a pick that sounds better but is tougher to play with.
What i usually do is cut my maple neck in about half up to the 7th fret and then cut a rosewood board maple neck to the 8th and glue them together. I usually go with a pre-vintage radius of 4.25 . Killer tones.
Wow the black guitar with the p90s looked badass as hell. TTG and DTT strikes again. Actually Dylan the fretboard doesnt matter too much to me. Most of the time if I buy it I like it. You and the Mrs. take care and Thanks.
I have "Rosewood" fingerboards on my Strat and my Tele. The Squire VM70 has actual rosewood (if I would have ordered it two months later, it would have been "rosewood-like")
The Tele (clone) has "rosewood-like" . I just like the "look" of dark rosewood.
The greatest influence I had on my playing and tone was when both of my grandfather's told me to stop trying to copy my father because I didn't hear or feel what he did so I would not be able to copy him. I needed to learn to hear and feel the music for my self. Thanks for asking
Personally, I like rosewood fretboards more because they don't chip or stain like lacquered maple fretboards with regular use. Also, if you ever have to replace frets down the road, it's much easier to hide any damage caused by the fret tangs.
Most important things for me the shape of the neck, is the scale length, set neck VS bolt on and the fret size. I hate X Jumbo frets for exemple or the narrow tall Fender puts on his American Pro.
The fingerboard can make me play differently as well. I'm a rosewood freak, ebony seems too hard to me, maple a little as well but not a big deal if there some bound with the guitar. The number one reason I play differently is the "connection" with the guitar. My number one S-style has a neck a little big for my test on the 12th fret, but man! Every time I pick this guitar, it is inspiring, it's easy to play even if I still think the neck could be a little thiner. I've tried many guitars, shape, scale length, price range and sometimes.. Bam! There is something.
To me it does not matter what wood the guitar is made of, it either sounds/plays good or not and EVERY guitar is different because of the sum of its parts (including the wood). I will try out electric guitars acoustically first. If I like the feel of the neck and tone of the acoustic sound, then I will progress to plug it in. What makes up my tone: the pick material & size along with the attack angle, position on strings (closer or further from bridge) and dynamics of my pick hand. Here is a study I would like to see: "Feel" what is it? Is it that guitar players adjust the dynamics of their pick hand depending on what they are hearing? I say ABSOLUTELY YES! Not enough gain...dig in. Too much gain...lighten up. Some tones are easier to play and some harder but which sounds best to you?
I just like the feel of roasted maple
the angle of the dangle is a great shredder album title.
I suppose mainly for psychological reasons, I never liked the glossy, light color maple fretboards. Always feel better with a dark wood like Rosewood (my LP) or Ebony (my Parker). I have 1 with maple; the EVH Wolfgang and I like it because it does everything else so well.
As for me the bigger feel difference is a 7.25 radius and vintage style real thin frets. Maple is a brighter as for me, but like both rosewood and maple, depends on a mood :)
I like the XL fret size. I don't have to push down so hard, and the notes stay in tune better because of less pressure.
I agree that every link in the signal path changes the game. I also think that the feel of the neck and body makes or breaks a guitar.
Love the video. Turned expectations on its head. We’ll played sir. Video idea- something I have find nothing about: planning what controls and how many and what to think about based on different pickup types. I know much may be preference but why does Gibson have 4 for LPs and PRS does 2 or 3? Etc
Great video. You nailed it on how you interact with a guitar is the most important thing. I'm glad you didn't go down the rabbit hole of A/B'ing the maple vs rosewood. Any difference in tone is negligible and in a band mix makes no difference in my experience. Find a guitar you like and play it.
On a different note, on one of my next builds thinking of using P90's and am seriously thinking about your P90's. That's a late winter/early spring project.
Personally, I find rosewood and maple sound different. Generally speaking, I prefer the feel of rosewood, but when a maple fretboard does not have lacquer, it feels much better to my hands than the glassy alternative. To my ears, Maple equals faster attack with accentuated, highs and lows whereas Rosewood equals accentuated mids with slower attack in comparison. that said, I do agree with you completely about one’s physicality, how we hold the guitar, and everything else about our hands that determines how we sound
When I stopped trying to play like other people. Due to some major injuries, I can't grip with my left hand like most guitarists do. For years I just noodled around for a while and said "I can't do this" and put the guitar down. Eventually I quit caring whether or not I would ever be able to play like a normal guitarist. I do my own thing and it sounds so much better.
Biggest non-signal chain difference:
#1: Scale length.
#2: Bridge type (Floyd vs strat).
#3 Maple.
started playing a tele a few months ago after 30+ years with a strat. bridge changes my picking angle slightly. One thing that I have a hard time with Les Pauls is where the pick up selector is. Hit my thumb off of it sometimes. Probably like a Paul player hates where a Strat volume knob is.
I have small hands and prefer a smaller radius neck , I use 10 guage strings and cant really define why. I used to be strictly a maple fretboard guy , now I use my Gold Top les paul more than my strat , the Gold Top has a rosewood board and p 90s I really like how I can get that heavy Leslie West tone with it.
Overall, I prefer the feel of Rosewood, but something about a Maple neck that seems to "react faster" to me. What do I mean by that? Maple seems to deliver a crisp sound that is more immediate. Funny thing is Ebony has a similar characteristic (to me) but I do not care for the feel as much. Trying to get over that.
Also, thick picks with a sharp edge. I have been using primarily Jim Dunlops either 1.14 or 1.5 for lots of years, however, recently (last couple of years) I started using the smaller JD Jazz picks 1.5 mostly sharp point. I'm finding the choked up grip provides better control and tone.
Another funny thing is I have always thought spending time on your electric guitar NOT PLUGGED IN, makes you develop everything you're talking about here. Because it makes you pay attention to what you're doing instead of paying attention to all of the pedals, delay, distortion, etc. IMHO.
Good stuff!
God Bless!
What turned my playing around is I was asked to play bass in a band so I picked up the bass and had to learn the neck learning where the notes were changed everything
Great video, thank you - my dad bought me a much better guitar for Christmas 1978 and its lower action made all the difference for me.
Cool idea - unfortunately not an even match (with the Silver Sky models) - I have the US Silver Sky Rosewood - the US model is 1000% times better quality with better quality quality tonewood. My personal experience playing the same US model (even color), is that the maple isn't as loud or have a wide a range of tone. The rosewood is full and even at high, mid and low frequencies where the maple is very mid-focused - probably explains its popularity in "twangy" music.
The Fiore is more like a G&L, bigger magnets, different tone, higher output, where the Silver Sky is aiming at Mayer's '63/'64 strat.
If you can A/B any guitar - it's a US PRS of the same model, check out "Rather Be Riffing" channel's 594 comparison, they're more consistent than any other builder. Good video, nice guitars ✌🏻.
#taptested
Biggest thing I noticed about the instrument is playing 11s on electric, because I press down hard and I was pulling string s out of tune when i would play a simply chord
The biggest change fir me was from Fender scale to Gibson scale.
For
I don’t get caught up in the differences too much. I switch between different fingerboard types, radius, neck profiles, and nut widths on the regular. No big deal.
I think what made the biggest difference for me was consistency. I spent a long time buying whatever strings were the cheapest, using whatever pick I could find, etc… When I decided what I liked, started using quality equipment, and stuck with it, things started to clean up for me. But I would also argue that this happened when I started to be more serious about playing the instrument, so what is REALLY responsible for the improvement?
With all this said, I only have one guitar with a 7.25” radius. I haven’t been able to jive with it. Maybe there are other factors there too, but that’s the difference that stands out to me. I won’t argue too hard against anyone who says that’s just in my head though. 😂
I like maple fretboards with no lacquer. I find them more snappy and I like the way it feels. I like ebony as well for that reason. May sound weird but I don’t really enjoy playing a rosewood fretboard. 😄
i prefer a dark fretboard for the looks.
I don't fucking get why people say Dylan's bad at guitar, he brings the finesse
After 30 some odd years playing, finesse is something I've recently learned and you're correct. Dylan is saying more with the finesse than some flashy nonsense.
He is really bad . What finesse? He looks lost all the time.
@@vintagepipesnightmares Nah man, check out how he changes his picking technique and how it allows the pickup to open up. At least, that's what I hear 👍
@@diarrhea_splatter please don’t!!
You are a nice person. He is awful!
Pink looks good on You. 😀
Looks good on most people… they just don’t admit it
For this conversation I'll say rosewood. I like the look and feel of a nice rosewood fretboard and the way it ages. But if this comparison included ebony, I'd go with ebony.
I like both of these guitars. Maple or rosewood 4 me depends on the guitar. Unless its a Tele. Then maple all the way! Lol
Good video, thanks!
Of the three usual suspects, I tend to stick with Ebony or Maple with the gloss coat. I don't think the fingerboard material plays into the sound enough to be significant. It's more of a feel thing to me.
For me, gloss maple or ebony is the equivalent of using a high-end mechanical keyboard, whereas rosewood is like those cheapo $5 office space keyboards that feel gummy and lifeless.
The only rosewood guitar I have is a Heritage 535, and I hit the fingerboard with increasing grits of Micro-Mesh until it is slick as glass.
Unrelated, but polishing the frets with Mothers Mag Polish and a dremel buffing tool do wonders.
The most important part of the guitar is the interaction. After that its the weight, then consider the Tone (pickups for tone) most importantly use a better amp for tone.
To me it is the aesthetics. I think maple looks better on a Fender. Dark wood on Gibsons. I do have a Strat with rosewood that I like very much.
Rosewood or Indian Laurel over both ebony & lacquered maple based purely on feel. 7.25 or 9.5 radius, 24 (mustang) or 25.5 (Strat) scale. And it was feel not sound that got me off a cheap knock off Les Paul in the 80s.
lately I lean more towards lighter basses. Turned 54 few days ago ang after 35 years of giging I do like to spend more energy on the playing itself rather than the carrying of the instrument... Also found the lighter bodies resonate a bit more especially with nitro finish, which gives me a tighter bond with the instrument. so less than 4 kilos (or better yet 8 pounds) it is.
Been playing since 1990 and still can't hear tonal differences between different species of wood. However, the way a guitar looks and feels will affect the way a person plays, and the way a person plays will affect the way they sound.
***Edit*** Which is pretty much exactly what you said. Perhaps I should finish videos before commenting :)
I really loved and feel the most comfortable neck of Fender modern necks with 9.5 radius. I have thin and small finger and huge palm. Thick are always pain in the neck for me :d
Ebony fretboard is the best. But since most guitars don't come with this wood, I'll always choose the rosewood.
I tend to hear a brightness or snap from a maple board that's not there with a very similar guitar with a rosewood board. Both are fine , but my 1st choice is Ebony which seems to have a growl to it. Again this is just what I've noticed from playing a lot of guitars over the years .
For me it's the neck profile . When I grab a guitar and the neck just feels cumbersome in my hand , that guitar is not for me. Then there's that magic when you grab the right profile . From there it's fretboard radius , fret size and neck heel ..
I'm happy to play maple, rosewood, ebony, laurel, whatever. I think I prefer the feel of ebony. Mostly it's about aesthetics for me. Some bodies just look better with a dark fingerboard and some look better with maple.
Dylan pickups. Ok shameless plug for you. I love the set of your pickups I have. For me it's down to set up. By watching your videos, I learned how to set up my guitar to play like I want it to.
I hate maple fretboards - varnished maple is sticky under the fingers. Unless it's a scalloped fretboard, in which case it doesn't matter, because you don't actually touch the wood, only the string(s). Otherwise, I like slick woods like ebony and purpleheart best. I have big hands, so I like fat necks, and I really like super-jumbo (6100) SS frets. Thin "fast" necks cramp up my left hand.
I've found that rosewood and ebony adds high end to the tone while maple is more mellow and less schrill on the high end.
I feel like fret board material is insignificant to sound..visual yes.. and feel.depends..thing is..when i was younger and heavy left handed I liked maple ..but I've learned to play light on fret hand heavy on pick hand..don't even notice the difference
New strings make a night and day difference in my guitar and bass since I sweat alot in my hands and change strings maybe once a year so It's always a different guitar with new strings.
Also different guitar string gauges DO make a difference in tone, sound and playing because you play differently. If I strum 9s the same way as I strum 11s I'm gonna have problems. One is not better but different.
Personally I like Maple necks, because I love the look, but actually found out Rosewood fits my playing style better tonewise, a disaster... but I probably have to get used to it, maybe I try an unfinished maple neck
Biggest difference for me came from a V profile skinny neck - which, for some reason, I naturally play with a lighter touch.
Three , 12 inch radius maple neck Teles and two with 9.5 rosewood. Pretty close to playing the same. I do have a 9.5 V maple neck tele changes the game
I just like the look of maple on a tele or strat. I like a bright looking fret board, something about it... It just pops compared to all the multitude of dark fret boards out there.
The biggest thing for me is the neck carve. I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand, so if a neck is too thin or has too much of a D shape it gets painful to play, while too thick i go numb after maybe 20 minutes. I have a preference for ebony fretboards because they feel slinky and have a little crisper tone, but have more with either maple or rosewood. Also like more rounded shoulders, like you said, and like the back of the neck to not be too glossy or sticky. I do find that i play a little differently on longer vs shorter scale length guitars.
Hey, as far as carpel tunnel goes, What carve has seemed to be the best for you? My hands fall asleep after too intense playing around maybe 45 min,
@SergioFigaroa something akin to a u-shaped maybe 1959 les paul, or the current kinda beefy Tele c-shaped one seem to work best for me. I also have to try to keep the back of my hand aligned in a straight line with my wrist, and try to avoid putting too much pressure on with my fingers when fretting notes. I also try to avoid radii of greater than 12.
The current year silver sky se one feels almost perfect in those regards.
I’ve had carpal tunnel release surgery on my fretting hand. I agree, a thin neck and/or a flattened radius both fatigue the hand fast.