Clearer Fingerboards

[Kaux]

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/P10ENat/

 

Hi, I wonder why is it that nobody makes fingerboards with clearer woods. like that parker. Is there any good reason?

 

I remember loving maple necks back in my bassist days

[fmw]

Tradition, I suppose. Fender puts maple necks on almost everything but I sure don't see it much on acoustics. Nothing wrong with a maple neck and/or maple fingerboard.

[pixelchemist]

yeah mostly tradition.... that and other woods sound and play differently... a maple neck sound very different than a rosewoodneck.... same with ebony.

 

i actually think that ebony sounds the best for electric but would be too dark for an acoustic

[Gary Palmer]

Maple fingerboards exist, but aren't in as much demand as the more traditional Ebony or Rosewood and their rarity has more to do with a general lack of popularity among acoustic players than tradition amongst makers.

 

Maple fingerboards would be far more plentiful if acoustic players wanted them.

[Bitt81]

Tradition certainly plays a role in it. I have heard very positive things about that Parker but to my eyes, the non-traditional body style just doesn't do it for me. As far as the maple fingerboard goes, there is a starkness to the colors of that guitar that I don't care for. Too many light colors. Ebony or rosewood treatments on the fingerboard offer a nice contrast to the light color of a spruce top.

[bsman]

i actually think that ebony sounds the best for electric but would be too dark for an acoustic

 

 

I thought that virtually every Taylor ever made (as well as many, many Martins, etc.) came standard with ebony fingerboards, and "dark" is one description I've never heard applied to the Taylor line as a whole.

 

 

 

 

Personally, I think that for an acoustic, so much of the tone is dictated by the top wood, (and backs and sides) that the influence of the fingerboard is probably lost in the noise...

[Cripes]

I don't really care for the lighter fingerboards. I have a maple neck on a Strat that looks great but I've seen examples of maple used on acoustics and it looks anemic. I prefer ebony boards, bridges and headstock veneers on acoustics.

[fmw]

So there you go. It isn't tradition. It is fashion.

[Kaux]

i would like to try a maple fingerboard

 

That particular parker is ivoroid, wich is synthetic i believe...

[martinipm]

Makes the guitar look albino.

[Gary Palmer]

I would like to try a maple fingerboard That particular parker is ivoroid, wich is synthetic I believe...

 

 

One particular set of problems with unplasticised synthetics and some natural materials evolves from their interaction with ultra violet light. Over time they can suffer from fading, discolouration and - eventual - embrittlement with prolonged exposure to ultra violet light.

 

In other words, they aquire a tan and can deteriorate structurally.

 

Two drawbacks with maple boards are their natural tendancy to gather grime/dirt and show wear and tear - hence the reason behind the common need for surface treatments. Historically not unheard of, maple steadily moved out of fashion as harder wearing ebony and rosewood - from the new world and Africa - became more readily available and gained favour among luthiers working on acoustic instruments.

 

Function basically overcame fashion.

[DonK]

Keep in mind that the Parker fingerboard - which I assume is what you're really referring to - isn't wood: it's "ivoroid", i.e., celluloid plastic. Martin used a white fretboard on its limited run "negative" guitars, using Micarta, a synthetic material made of linen and resin (Martin uses black Micarta for the fretboards on a number of it's mid-line guitars: it feels a lot like ebony IMO).

 

Hard-rock maple is the wood most commonly used for "white" (or more accurately, "light") fretboards on electric guitars and would presumably be the material of choice on an acoustic if one were so inclined. I suspect that a lot of makers simply don't think the aesthetics of light-colored maple are amenable to the average acoustic guitar. In addition, maple boards are usually finished with lacquer (poly or nitro), in either gloss or satin, but in either case have a slicker feel than rosewood or ebony and thus might turn off some players.

 

Personally, I'd love see a few mainstream acoustics become available with white Micarta, since I think light fretboards are cool, and because Micarta feels so much like ebony (at least to me).

[Kaux]

 

In other words, they aquire a tan and can deteriorate structurally. Two drawbacks with maple boards are their natural tendancy to gather grime/dirt and show wear and tear - hence the reason behind the common need for surface treatments. Historically not unheard of, maple steadily moved out of fashion as harder wearing ebony and rosewood - from the new world and Africa - became more readily available and gained favour among luthiers working on acoustic instruments.

 

 

That seems to be a good reason...

[halmot]

Hagstrom players can attest that there isn't necessarily anything wrong with a synthetic fretboard.

[Kaux]

How about this:

 

 

:love:

[Gary Palmer]

How about this: :love:

 

 

Not my cup of tea at all. It's so far overboard that there's little chance of rescue. Even by helicopter.

[garthman]

Ebony and rosewood are much harder than maple so are more resistant to wear. A maple fretboard soon develops ruts and grooves and, as Gary mentioned, they show tend to get dirty. Maple is used a lot on electric guitars but the wood is almost always protected with a thick coat of varnish.

 

And if you go for that horrid "Luna" thing you get to wear the pink shellsuit.

[EvilTwin]

 

In addition, maple boards are usually finished with lacquer (poly or nitro), in either gloss or satin, but in either case have a slicker feel than rosewood or ebony and thus might turn off some players.

 

 

That also means fretboard funk is more noticeable. Maybe it's because I sweat a lot, but my maple-board Strats usually need cleaned more than my guitars with rosewood fingerboards...and that's just with .10 gauge strings.

 

OTOH, some old "blond" Kay archtops were...very blond:

 

[YOUTUBE]co8ZZszkAeU&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Bubbalou]

Personally, I think that for an acoustic, so much of the tone is dictated by the top wood, (and backs and sides) that the influence of the fingerboard is probably lost in the noise...

 

 

I agree