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The vast majority of guitars manufactured have rosewood fretboards more so than any other wood. Is there any specific reason?

Cheaper than ebony, and it's got the dark look. Maple = bright, rosewood = dark. If you put in more money you get ebony which is darker! Dun dun

At least that's how I see it. If it's not the reason then it'd probably be because of its tonal proprieties.

Durable...good tone...pleasing to the eye...fairly cheap


Originally Posted by PierreCheaper than ebony, and it's got the dark look. Maple = bright, rosewood = dark. If you put in more money you get ebony which is darker! Dun dun

At least that's how I see it. If it's not the reason then it'd probably be because of its tonal proprieties.

Ebony is a bright wood actually.

Electric guitars tend to have very prominent highs. Rosewood helps to tame that brightness. Also, it was traditionally used on Acoustic guitars and Jazz boxes, so it was just sort of a natural evolution to the electric from there. It also requires no finish, which is one or two less steps than a maple neck.


Originally Posted by FretFireEbony is a bright wood actually.

I meant color wise. I don't know how to say the contrary to dark in English.

ebony is hard to work with as it's very brittle while maple fretboards takes too much work to finish and if left unfinished, it gets dirty very quickly.


Originally Posted by PierreI meant color wise. I don't know how to say the contrary to dark in English.

Light. Though that could also mean that the guitar isn't heavy. English is confusing, even to native speakers.

I think price and durability are the main reasons for rosewood. But that's just my take on it.

My guess is because it's quite plentiful, and it's a decent sounding wood.

i like rosewood much more than maple, personally. look wise and highly playwise.....


Originally Posted by xerxesi like rosewood much more than maple, personally. look wise and highly playwise.....

I'm partial to maple on Fenders (and clones), rosewood/ebony/something dark on all others.

a nicely finished maple is my second choice for a fretboard wood, next to ebony. I like to get good attack from the fingers so they suffice. Not to say I don't like rosewood fretboards, I actually like them a large amount, they just seem to be a middle ground for me between shredderiffic(ebony) and vintage bendalicious(maple). It's meaty, counteracts a maple neck well, and requires a lot less attention than the other two popular options.

I originally thought I was an all maple neck kinda guy, but through time I've come to really appreciate that subtle top end smoothness that rosewood fretboards provide. Rosewood fretboards sound great with maple and mahogany necks and tons of different body woods: alder, poplar, basswood, maple, mahogany just to name a few. I'm strange in that I just never understood ebony fretboards. Just too bright for my taste (it seems easier to add brightness to a darker tone than to make a bright guitar darker).


Originally Posted by big_blackI'm partial to maple on Fenders (and clones), rosewood/ebony/something dark on all others.see, i find maple boards on fenders and clones to be incredible sticky...

11 cents a indian rosewood fretboard slab, not to mention u dont need to finish it(cheaper) and its easy to work with all while not sounding like crap

Sorry to say this, but many you are making statements based on assumption... That´s good sometimes.... but, this isn´t one of those times, we´re talking about history here, and history is facts, not speculation

So: Why Rosewood (LOL, in 4000 characters or less, this should be interesting)

The forerunner of the guitar was the Lute....Lutes usually had one piece necks (commonly alder or oak) and were strung with pigs-gut or cat-gut, and VERY many lutes developed warping problems over the years. At some point in time it was discovered that making the fretboard from a separate slab added strength, and essentially solved this issue.

By the time the first spanish luthiers were making the first classical guitars, most european nations had become quot;seaworthyquot;..... On expeditions to south america, the Spaniards discovered ebony, rosewood, mahogany and other exotic woods, and of course brought them back to spain.

Luthiers started experimenting with these materials as soon as the supply bacame steady (until then the materials were for the royals only), and quickly fell in love with Ebony as a fretboard wood.. It´s fine, smoothe texture made playing near effortless on the then ultralow frets (frets were also made of gut wrapped around the neck for the first 200 years or so, btw...), and it´s tone was the perfect combination of snap, crackle, pop and grumble for the guitars.....Over in Mid-Europe (Mittenwald, Markneukirchen, both in Modern Germany...), these materials still weren´t known of, but it was discovered that Maple was also a wonderful wood for fretboards due to it´s rigidity, but it needed a finish....Ash was also very common, and Walnut wasn´t too rare, either....

Once the guitar had made its quot;final transformationquot; to what to this day is a standard classical guitar (Although every maker has their nuances and some have mildly differeing desings..but the general principle is the same) it also became more widespread as an instrument, and demand increased..... Ebony was expensive, rosewood much cheaper and looked similar enough, while having a similar stability, so rosewood boards were quot;inventedquot;.... Luthiers also noticed that rosewood was easier to work with than ebony, making it easier to get guitars built a bit faster (although then typical build times were 6 months and they cost you almost everything you had, not really an issue)

At some point in time the german and Spanish guitars got quot;cross-bredquot; and the Flamenco guitar with it´s bright, plucky tone and cutting voice was born.... but that´s kind of a side topic.....

At some point steel strings were discovered, and truss rods invented to counteract, the stabililty of the exotic woods was no longer enough....

Soooo, Why do we still use Rosewood today? There are other materialy which are stronger or sound better or , or or...

Because it´s become traditional over the last few hundred years, it sounds nice and round (in fact, the natural oils attenuating the highs make for a better beginner instrument IMO, because mistakes aren´t quite as instantly apparent.) Oh, and of all the dark woods, it´s the cheapest.... in today´s economy, very possibly the main reason (maple is even cheaper, but not dark)

Great post, Zerb. Quite interesting. I has always assumed rosewood was used for ease of construction and economical reasons, but that made it pretty clear why rosewood is dominant.

Excellent post Zerb! Everything makes sense now.

GOOD GOD ZERB!!!!!!How 'bout quot;cause it's purty!!!!!

I actually dig maple, rosewood amp; ebony....I have no preference other than I like BirdsEye Maple necks amp; boards.

My Hamer is ebony....love it
My Tele is maple.....love it
My Goldtop, old Strat amp; newer Tele is rosewood.....LOVE 'EM.

My assumption is aesthetics tonal characteristics cost = a very prevalent neck!!!

Woaaa that's a cool story, thanks Zerb!

It sucks to be a fingerboard snob. I have never played ebony but my Charvel model 4's neck is VERY dark (ebony dark) while still being rosewood, so now all the time I see a light rosewood I just can't stand it anymore