Official Luthiers Forum!

Wondering if anyone has ever done this, what the pros and cons might be.
I'm considering a maple neck and Fingerboard on a rosewood body, spruce top.
If anyone has any photos of maple fingerboards on acoustics that would be great. At this stage I'm just trying to visualize how it would look.

Any thoughts apprectiated.

Thanks!

I was asking my self this question few days ago... and didn't find why we don't see it more often. Maybe 'cause maple is too soft (well, less dense than ebony, rosewood...) and that the string on a acoustic are bigger, usually... Then it may tend to use more rapidly..? don't know.


Don't you think that maple neck/FB with RW back and sides will be too much contrast?...

_________________
Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

A maple FB needs to be finished, preferably with a heavy and hard coating, otherwise it will absorb dirt fast and look grey.

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

I know I've typed this before. maybe on another forum. I was at merlefest ten years ago and in the contest tent one of the prizes was a gorgeous guitar with a maple fingerboard. it looked different, sure, but I also thought it looked great.

it had MOP inlay on the fingerboard which was real blingy but in a very subtle, noncontrasting, and understated way. i liked the effect.

i forgot who built it but i do recall it was someone i had heard of... gallagher or someone like that.

imagine something like this...
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217 ... C02494.jpg
... but a lot nicer, better, handmade, and ...well...different.

_________________
"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Right-on!

Sure cleaning and frequent string changes will help keep things looking cleaner for a while but there are about a gazillion examples of electric guitars with Maple fret boards out here that in time look dirty. The finish will also wear off in the busiest places and string corrosion, hand grime, even atmospheric contamination is bound to show more on a light colored fretboard than a dark colored fretboard.

Personally I like the look, but not the feel, of a maple fretboard on an electric but I do not care for the look of a maple board on an acoustic at all. Might be a bit of a Mary-Kay pink car to resell too....

Note I didn't say it's feasible or not…
I owned a number of vintage Strats and Tellies, most of them with maple necks. I do believe what was used at Fender was (and still is I assume) acer saccharum. All of them had this grimy look on the fretboard and necks at worn spots (before I acquired them), which looks uber chic on a vintage Fender, but an acoustic…
OTOH I think body chemistry plays a role. I had a student who could kill a new set of strings in 10mn. When he (finally) bought a decent guitar (an Ibanez Steve Vai, it was the early '90s…), the black hardware corroded in less than 3 months. Corroded in the way that bubbles appeared under the flaked plating. All pickguard and tremolo screws were corroded beyond use. His maple neck was literally blackish grey in the worn spots. Looked cool, in a r'n'r kind of way.
Not everybody has such an acidic sweat, but there must be a reason why maple necks are rarely seen in the acoustic world.
As Todd points out refretting is different than with ebony or RW, although Fender installed (and pulled) the frets sideways I think.
Besides, nothing beats the feel and durability of an ebony FB IMHO.
BTW cool looking guitar.

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

I guess, for the beginning builder, one advantage is that you don't necessary need a separate fret board. Once the neck is finished, you're read to cut slots. Of course the truss rod would probably be rear mounted then. FWIW the pearl dots are not visible on the maple when I play it.

Thats what I'm grappling with now.
This guitar is for a friend and he has asked about this specific combination. I was thinking that with the right binding scheme and rosewood headplate it could be quite nice. But Now im starting to think that a finished maple FB might be just a little too much.

Unless the look of plain maple is what you want, you could always stain or dye it a dark color, which would at least decrease the appearance of dirt on it.

Joe