Japanese Strat - Rosewood vrs Maple

[.50 Caliber Bob]

Okay, not sure if this waranted a new thread or if I should have stuck it in my old one, but thought it was specific enough to start afresh:

Having been pointed in the direction of premium reissue japanese strats by some very kind knowledgeable people on this forum (thanks guys!) I now have 2 more questions:

What difference does maple or rosewood make for a fretboard? I have a rosewood fretboard on my current guitar, and get on with it quite well, from what research I have turned up, says they have a slightly different sound, but also that some players say maple is faster, and others say they find it "sticky". Also, apparantly the laquer can wear off on the maple ones, so rosewood boards last longer?

I am looking at getting either a 57' or a 58' reissue, or a '62 reissue (the premium ones with the alder body). The '62 has a rosewood fretboard, the other two have maple. What are the other main differences with these guitars, since I cant see anything else from the specs.

(BTW I will be fitting it with BK Apaches)

Thanks for all your info so far, everyone on this forum has been incredible helpful, sorry for all my questions!

Mark

[indysmith]

maple 'boards will be noticably brighter, with a faster more agressive attack than your rosewood. Maple ages quicker which is good if you like the relic'd look on your strat, rosewood doesn't tend to show up the wear so much...

[willo]

I've a question regarding rosewood boards; do they get darker with age? Only, the older strats I've seen; the rosewood seems to be noticeably darker.

[Elliot]

I have a rosewood JV '62 (rosewood) and a mex 50s (maple)

In my view Apaches work better with maple than Rosewood - Maple is faster and brighter (which is not always a good thing on strats) but can feel either sticky plasticy or glossy (or smooth if you get a good one).

I prefer the feel of rosewood.

[Underground_Player]

Hi Bob,

Just thought I should add that the stickiness or smoothness of a maple fretboard isn't down to the wood, its down to the quality/type of finish. Rosewood boards don't need to be finished, so they'll feel more consistent from one guitar to the next. I don't know what finish Jap strat 'boards have... maybe something to check out.

[38thBeatle]

I have 2 r/w board Strats-I have played tons of Strats over the years and I would agree with those above that the maple boards are a bit brighter sounding but, to my ears, not by a large margin. I know Elliott suggests Apaches for Maple Strats and not for R/w and he has a point possibly but I have Apaches in one of my strats and it has been transformed. As for differences in the 50's and 60's reissues- the most obvious is, as you have said, the fretboard. Also, though, the scratchplate is single ply on the 50's and 3 ply on the 60's. Essentially it is a question of cosmetics and trying some out till you find one you like but in my experience, the japanese Strats are consistently good. Here is a link that might be of use to you- this guy imports non export Japanese Fenders and I have heard good things about him- assuming you are UK based of course! http://www.fareastguitars.co.uk/

[headtheball]

I was in the same situation about 10 years ago, when the Jap re-issues were still available off the shelf! I tried both back then, and from what i recall the maple neckes had a bit of a "v" to them. This may well not be the case now, but make sure you check the profile first, as i think they still vary slightly.

[Elliot]

I would add that I originally had the Apache in the rosewood necked JV and it was very very very good indeed - it was just better in the maple necked one when I moved it over

- its also possible that my JV is from 1983 and so made of basswood and so the Alnico V of the Milk reacts better with the slightly darker tone of basswood .