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I have never seen maple fingerboard on both acoustic and classical guitar. And every person I ask is saying NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! YOU CAN'T! But no one have reasonable argument.

So..you have?

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Sure you can do it. But just remember that you're going to have to finish over it, it's going to look 'weird' to most people and the finish makes doing refrets a big PITA.

Lots of them on electrics. No physical reason I can think of not to use maple. Not my cup of tea but not my guitar....!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

That's part of my question... why do we have to finish?

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Cause it gets grimey and can't be cleaned. look at an old 50's telecaster where the nitro has worn off.
If that look is acceptable to you, go for it.

You don't have to nitro over it, any finish will work. I have never left a fretboard with nothing on it, either Stew Mac's fretboard finishing oil or Tru-oil. Best part about the oil is that if it does wear it is easy to fix, and any player can be taught to take care of an oiled neck or fingerboard. Maple will just show that wear and grime long before any dark wood, if the owner wants to keep it looking nice it would take minimal work, like put a coat of Tru-oil on once a year or so....which reminds me, I have a maple neck that is about due for its yearly coat. It still looks like the day I finished it, but it has only been one year.

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

I've been wondering the same thing. As a new to building guitars guy....but a hands on wood guy for a long time, I see the beauty in the "negative" look you have here. The combinations are endless. I've been wanting to try a light hardwood fingerboard myself.
I do see a potential issue with darkening of the fretboard...because of some types strings and how certain fingers react to those strings. I rarely play my steel strings...but the strings I have on mine do turn my fingers black and I can see how that could transfer right to the board. I don't know if its my body chemistry that does this....much like some people react with black oxidation on the fingers from rings made from different metals.

KB

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Awesome, Filippo! Are they yours? Both of them are sugar maple / birds'eye? Did you heard about different types used as fingerboard..?

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

One cautionary note re; staining.
I recently finished a "Hundred Mile" guitar & the only local wood I could find that was hard enough for the fingerboard was Garry Oak.
I got the oak well protected with several coats of Tru-Oil before polishing the frets, but it went quite grey during the fret polishing.
I spent some time rubbing out the stain, but the fingerboard is still darker than the (same oak) bridge. Still looks fine, but definitely darker / greyer than it was.
Filippo... I'd be interested in how you got around this issue. Your maple fingerboards look pristine.

This topic regularly comes back and the same answers are given each time. The "vintage" look is well accepted on electrics, less so on acoustics, and definitely not on luthier built instruments.
It all depends on the player's body chemistry: some people's sweat is highly corrosive, will kill a set of fresh strings in 10 minutes and corrode frets at the same time. With this kind of player, a maple fretboard will look grey to dark grey in no time.
Others can keep the same set of strings for a year, a clean fretboard, no finish abrasion, and that seems to be the case with Filippo.
Also maple is much less resistant to abrasion than ebony or the harder rosewoods. Go for it, change the fretboard when it gets grimy…

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

There is not a single string instrument in a classical orchestra with finish on the back of the neck. Some of these instruments in the viol family are hundreds of years old and do not have a staining problem. As someone already stated, "Keep your hands clean".

No ribs, no buffalo wings and no fried chicken before you play.

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Filippo, clean hands do not prevent sweating. Fender maple necks have been around for more than 1/2 century, just look at them. Even the '70s Fenders with a thick polyester coating become black where the finish has chipped out.

Bert, your statement is inaccurate. Every violin, viola and cello I know that is not brand new has a grey to dark grey maple neck. Precisely because the neck is not finished, and just has a ground coat on it. After a few centuries the varnish would come off in any case. I have a late 19th century French violin with a curly maple neck that is a nice dark grey. It was like this when my teacher gave it to me last millennium, and probably had been like this for decades.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Well now, Filippo. You can notice in a previous post that I recomended Ti-Roux he tries it.
I, and others, just provide caveats.
Posting the same pics of your two guitars each time the subject comes up does not negate the experience of most others.
As for Tellies from the '50s being in the hands of punk kids… Thankfully, not anymore, if ever.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Thanks for the replies, we have several points of view here, and the debate extended to the necks, and that's such a good thing, 'cause i'm gonna use curly maple as neck wood for a curly maple OM soon.

So, for the FBs, I can't conclude that the best thing is to talk to the customer, to tell him the pros and cons.. And if discolaration is not such a problem for him...

And to continue on the way of necks and back/sides, are they're better finish than other to prevent staining of all the maple on the guitar? And, by the way, some dudes told me that airsprayed finished gives a better 3d effect to the curly, and that a handfinish gives more deepness. Agree, disagree?

Thanks again!
Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Francis;
You might get more replies on this topic if you posted a fresh thread.
Given the same degree of "shine" I haven't seen much difference in the 3D effect. Hard to know for sure unless you treated sister pieces with different finishes & compared the results.
I finished one of my Maple bouzoukis with a catalysed polyurethane finish & the result was quite milky. Especially noticeable in direct sunlight. I have seen some maple finished with waterborne urethanes which had a similar appearance.
Once bitten, I only use lacquer on maple now.
Any finish that seals the wood should prevent staining, as long as it in intact.

Maple fretboards are not something I would consider on my instruments -- not because they can't look good (as Filippo's guitars stand testament to the contrary) but because it wouldn't mesh with my "style". But here are a couple thoughts

1) You do have to consider the negatives from a business standpoint (if you intend to sell your instruments). There is a general perception that Maple fretboards will look bad after years of use - whether this is true or not is up for debate. I recently decided to switch fretwire from Stainless to Evo Gold wire because of a small percentage of folks who insist they cause guitars to sound tinny. I think it is an entirely bogus claim but it isn't worth fighting against. I would rather have my guitars feature appointments with no "controversial" components. So that perspective is something you may want to take into account.

2) If you are inclined to use a Maple fretboard, then run some experiments. Take a piece of Maple and polish it up like you would a fretboard -- and then try and duplicate heavy use. That is the only way you can be sure.

We're talking about an absorbent, semi-porous, white surface that's being handled a lot by people. You can keep the gunk off by following a strict care and cleaning regimen, you could luck out and have extremely balanced sweat and completely non-oily skin, or you can do something to prevent it (ie: a protective finish). If you do none of those then it's going to look exactly like an absorbent, semi-porous white surface that's been handled a lot by people: gray and gunky.

In my case, I prefer to just pick up the guitar and play when I want to play, so I do none and nobody would touch my fretboard if it wasn't made of rosewood (I also change strings 1-2 times a year). I suspect my habits are the norm among non-classical musicians, and so not preventing the discoloration would be a special exception with a disclaimer given if I were selling instruments.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I can easily burn through a set of new strings in a couple of hours of playing. My strings show a green "rust" on them in about 1 weeks time after playing for only 3-5 hours per week. I'd hate to see what that would do to a piece of unprotected maple.

I'm like Bob, I like to pick up my guitar and play it when I want to, you know, ride it hard and put it away wet. I'd hate to think of the regeime I'd have to go through to keep a maple fingerboard looking pristine with my sweaty fingers. Summer time is the worst too. I've found no cure over the 25 years I've been playing. Just keep changing strings is all I do. I'd hate to see what my strings look like after 6 months of normal use if I left them on.

Regardless, I like a dark looking fingerboard on my acoustics. Just looks more classy to me.

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