So, Ebony or Maple?

  • Thread starter Thread starter glpg80
  • Start date Start date

Ebony or Maple Fretboard Material?

  • Ebony

    Votes: 35 56.5%

  • Maple (Quartersawn, Birdseye, Flame, etc.)

    Votes: 27 43.5%
  • Total voters
    62
glpg80

glpg80

Well-known member
curious as to RT's preference here :rock:

(excluding rosewood and all other exotics here, strictly an ebony versus maple comparison)

this is a "have to choose" example for those that like both - after you cast your vote post up which you chose and why :rock:

ill go first:

gotta go with maple, even though i hate birdseye for a fretboard/neck. maple in the general sense seems to be much quicker to me, more stable than ebony, and also requires less maintenance. although the tone from maple can be over-bearing ebony is a great wood for milder maple tone so IMHO tone wise i like ebony better. but i hate the way it plays :(
 
I go back and forth. Right now liking maple just because I think it resonates a little brighter. Ebony is probably a little smoother, but I voted maple because it is my flavor of the day.
 
I have owned them all.....but love a good maple fretboard the best!! :thumbsup:
 
Ayrton":ujom08uz said:
I have them all, but it depends on the guitar.
Click to expand...

What if you had to choose? lets use the obligatory mah/maple top unknown neck material, which would you go with?
 
The applicability of maple is more narrow in my use than ebony. That being said, there's some misconception about maple being 'bright'... According to several in the know, ebony is in fact 'brighter' sounding than maple. Just the messenger, don't shoot me. I have 4 ebony equipped axes, and I love how smooth they play and there's definitely a SPANK when playing them. I got my Suhr with maple neck wanting something different, and indeed it is different...I love it, very smooth and slippery, awesome tone, it goes so far beyond the maple though - SS frets are key too. ANYWAY, I like 'em both, but something interesting from Mr. Suhr himself, of all the maple fingerboard/neck failures he's had to address, the highest incidence was with birdseye maple. The better the birdseye figuring, the more inconsistencies in the wood itself lending towards structural deficiencies and so forth.

I picked ebony because I've chosen ebony over all the others historically - but I love my maple necked Suhr...

Peace,
V.
 
i much prefer the tone of maple, but when it's on a guitar you're gigging it's a bitch to keep clean, ebony always looks it's best
 
Although I think ebony is one of the nicest looking woods for a fretboard, it really has no positive effect on the tone of electric guitars. I came to this conclusion years ago when more often than not I found myself preferring the tone of Jackson Student models (rosewood) over their costlier Custom (ebony) counterparts in most cases. The ebony issue was confirmed for me years later when respected luthiers like Tom Anderson and Rand Havener made similar comments about its poor tonal attributes. Bottom line is that in most cases it adds a high end harshness that is ultimately detrimental to most players sensibilities (acoustics are a different story). I guess there's a reason you don't see builders like Anderson or Suhr offer it as an option.

Before all you ebony lovers stark squawking about how great your guitars sound, I don't doubt it. I have a Les Paul Custom and an old Jackson Soloist Custom that both sound great...but they'd probably sound a bit better with rosewood boards.

Beyond tone issues, ebony requires greater care and is much more prone to cracking.
 
Either one will yield identiical results, so pick based on looks.
 
Love em both! They're both better than rosewood, unless it's an LP.
 
EBONY all the way. I just got a LP custom with it and and wow! very blown away feels amazing!
 
i like ebony or rosewood better than maple on most guitars.
 
For me it really depends on the quality of the type of wood. I like all of them. I have had Maple that was outstanding and Maple that was just ok. I like pau ferro, ebony, and I have a Suhr with Brazilian board that is awesome. It feels like chocolate. Just depends on the particular piece of wood. I had a Vigier that had an awesome Maple neck. Had some flame in it and just had this aged feeling to it. Really nice. Depends on the cut.
 
For me, ebony over maple anyday. Although, my fave is rosewood.
 
Ebony/Maple--I love the look of maple on most guitars, but love the playability of ebony.

Rosewood is my least favorite fret board species. I'd take just about anything over rosewood.
 
i hate that snotty feel on ebony - its why i mentioned maple to be more controlling and faster/quicker, more stable so to speak. it feels really wierd to me, i dont think its something i could get used to especially in a live situation. studio i could probably handle it playing sitting down, but its just a slippery snotty feeling that does not lend stability to how i anchor my fingers for guitar runs.

cannot deny that ebony being all black looks really badass though.
 
rosewood used to be my fav until i got maple

and even though 2 of the 3 guitars i own have ebony i still prefer maple alot more

it just feels so damn comfy under my fingers
 
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