Selecting Wood For A Guitar Fretboard

In this video, I will explain some factors to consider when selecting wood to be used as a guitar fretboard. If you would like to help support my channel and get something cool in return, please consider:
www.eguitarplans.com/
/ highlineguitars
Links mentioned in this video:
cites.org/eng
www.speciesplus.net/species
www.wood-database.com/

[@hippocrazy4214]

For the last few years, I have been suffering with mental health issues... and for some reason, I started building tele style guitars. Started with buying the body, neck, etc. and now am making my own body...and attempting my 1st neck. I make unique guitars from things I find.. and like to reuse wood. At this point, I dont buy anything but hardware (and possible neck). I will use what ever scrap wood I can find...and see if I can make it work. For fretboards.... I have yet to make one. The cheapest I can get online is about $40...the shipping is the killer. So, I found an oak plank...and might do something with that. I found other pices of oak....and will use as my first neck. This venture has been very helpful for me... I have not even tried to sell any of them..they hang on my walls... but they look very unique. I use everything from chainsaw cylinder heads, primer buttons, rusted metal plate, lug nuts, water valves, hub caps, .... I't more an art at this point. Am not sure if anyone could have advice for me at this point...but at some point...I would at least like to showcase some of my work.

[@Selmer1430P]

I found a jacked Harmony acoustic guitar and made a new 4 piece top from a cedar fence post and fretboard from a piece of old cherry moulding( long grain). The guitar sounds great and the wood has not deviated at all in a year. And I'm in Colorado! It's fun going "against the grain" lol

[@mlb3164]

The mystique and stigma of the woods used in the "golden years" of guitars drives many of the choices for fretboard wood. Unfortunately not many options for Brazilian Rosewood anymore. Great point in talking about choosing in the hardness scale of woods as fretboard materials versus specific species.

[@darrylportelli]

Another feature to look out for is what tendency the wood has to chip/tear out ... Wood like merbau (which comes from africa) is SUPERBLY easy to get in Australia and i can make 2 fretboards for about 4AUD from a piece of decking merbau.. it is VERY hard (about 7,200N) but still workable , HOWEVER with increasing hardness usually comes increasing tendency to chip out , so if you have lots of inlay work, it might make the process more difficult. I do still use it to make mock fretboard blanks to use for trials of a new process before i go on to my actual work piece

[@HighlineGuitars]

I try to avoid woods that have a strong association with certain allergic reactions which Merbau does.

[@MET3]

I actually started using richlite for my fretboards. I don’t think I will ever go back to real wood for the fretboard. It’s not super cheap, but it is reasonably priced. It is super hard and stable without killing tools. And depending on what colors you get it can look AMAZING.

[@hijmestoffels5171]

It took me some time to discover that the fretboard of my guitar was made of Richlite, not ebony.

[@WeejeeJones]

I have a Richlite fretboard on an amazing sounding Martin, so even some of the large mfrs are using it.

[@LeChrizzle]

If you buy it in large sheets it gets significantly cheaper.

[@JasonQuackenbushonGoogle]

cheaper than 3A ebony and just as good.

[@darrylportelli]

Can richlite be glued with woodglue or do you have to use epoxy? I like the richlite on my gibson custom v so was thinking of using it on a build im doing

[@mistereblack]

Top consideration for me is looks honestly. I tend to like unique visible patterns so I tend to reach for a mac ebony over gaboon ebony. Currently playing with a nice cut of goncalo alves. Alternative woods can give visual individuality to each guitar. As long as it's in the janka range you described.

[@sgt.grinch3299]

After watching the video, I must thank you for a wonderful answer. I learned something today.

[@JasonQuackenbushonGoogle]

Richlite is a no brainer to me. hardness, workability, appearance, and regular availability at a price you can’t get a decent hardwood board at.

[@andrewmundenandcadfellmast4624]

We have some excellent fretboard timbers in Australia. My favourite is Gidgee - very hard, very strong, and a lovely dark drown colour which polishes beautifully. It can also have some gorgeous figuring.

[@brookchivell]

I’ve used gidgee on a couple of builds and mulga as well (I’m an Aussie as well). Great looking and feeling woods. We have so many amazing luthier worthy Timbers here.

[@LogicalQ]

I prefer rosewood or ebony for a couple reasons: Practically: I like to clean/polish my frets with 0000 steel wool. Maple will discolor during this process unless you tape off the fingerboard first. Rosewood or ebony are dark enough that this isn’t noticeable so taping off isn’t necessary. Visually: dark colors with high uniformity make the frets visually stand out.

[@The-Vibrant-Photography]

to answer your question I chose richlite fingerboards because I see it used in some modern guitars I really like. for example, some of the abasi concepts guitars

[@trance9158]

Excellent video.

[@WhoDaF0ok1sThatGuy]

I always go for either Maple or Rosewood. The feel of Rosewood is amazing but maple necks (which usually have maple fingerboards) just glide so easily. When it comes to aesthetic, I think Rosewood looks better on Strats and Les Pauls but super Strats and extreme body shapes USUALLY look better with maple.

[@LeChrizzle]

I am almost exclusively using richlite, it’s very workable, great looking in a large variety of colours, mimics grain figure when sanded due to exposed layers of compresed paper. Fuether it doesn’t require conditioning, cleaning with water is just fine, and of course it’s sustainable as a product made of recycled paper. I would be interested in your thoughts on this topic. Thanks for your excellent content. Cheers from another Chris

[@gijsbertuslaurensvandevooren]

The tone is everything.

[@bluglass7819]

I am very into using local woods. I lived in the Keys and had access to little known woods with similar qualities to the classics. I have used Sapodilla 2x, Buttonwood, Jamaican Dogwood and Texas Ebony . I like them all. I agree about contrasting .

[@bluglass7819]

If I have a crazy top I want a plain fretboard, if I’m using a more plain top I might use a figured fretboard.

[@harleyveejay]

Thanks!

[@patrickjoy9551]

This is informative. There is one thing you didnt touch on. Some of the exotics can cause allergic reactions to some people when working with it. Such as pau ferro can cause pretty nasty reactions on the skin is pretty common. Its a great wood for guitars just need to take precautions when sanding and cutting. There are a few others but they are less allergenic to most people.

[@picksalot1]

As a player, playability and tone come first. It's nice to have a guitar that looks cool, but I prefer that trees not be cut down. For the fretboard, I'd be happy with Richlite or a similar product. For the neck and body, carbon is sounding better every year Luthiers learn more about how to get full, rich tones from it. And for looks, I've seen beautiful images, including wood grain, printed on various materials, many of which I prefer.

[@TheIgnoramus]

I agree, but I would like to mention trees, if sourced ethically, are a renewable resource that CAN be good for the environment, if done right, and sustainably.

[@LeviBulger]

Feel is everything for me. Rosewood is my number 1, especially GOOD rosewood. Ebony and maple are also great though definitely not my first choice (although Ebony is a must on Les Pauls for that TONE). As for just about everything else, I just can't like anything more than those 3. I especially can't stand Pau Ferro. Blech. Feels like unfinished wood to me and has an ugly color, although it could look amazing and I'd still hate it.

[@14-BODHI]

The guitars are not the trees's problem

[@Oz-gv5fz]

Actually Richlite made from paper, so . . .

[@CheshireGrinGuitars]

Personally, I like Caribbean Rosewood (Chechen) for fretboards. It's great to work with hand tools, looks good, is suitably hard, all while not being CITES restricted so it's affordable and available. I've gotten some really nice boards of it from my local hardwood dealer over the years. I've done one with Bloodwood and that's a nice hard option with a much different aesthetic, but it's a bit brittle so I don't know how it would hold up during a refret.

[@TonberryV]

I have yet to feel anything that is as nice as Ebonite, or Richlite. They're the most wear resistant materials I've seen and the most consistent and repeatable as far as density and feel go. I don't feel like natural woods actually benefit the player or luthier anymore. Maybe Torrefied woods, but even then, the synthetic options have better performance, are impervious to the elements (and the player) and will ultimately be the most repeatable substrate for acoustic instruments.

[@Utaheyelid]

I’ve been hitting up Woodcraft for fretboards. They sell 3”x24”x0.25” boards in about 30 different varieties. I’ve used their Chechen, Pau Ferro, Leopard wood, Granadillo, and Ziricote, all with great results. They run $20-30 per board on average.

[@HighlineGuitars]

I always check Woodcraft when I’m there for fretboard blanks and curly Maple boards. Kind of pricey, but already cut and planed.

[@NightOwlGames]

i just chose a Black and white mexican fender stratocaster with maple fretboard because it looked better than the alturnative pau ferro, i have no idea what the differences are. the maple cost extra but i liked that one so i got it.

[@ZL1LoVeR]

This is great! Could you share insights about sourcing lumber? Where do you get cost effective good raw materials when it comes to “tone”wood that is also sustainable? Kiln drying, storage… etc. Would love to learn from your experience!

[@ZL1LoVeR]

Perhaps a future video idea? 😊

[@Apillicus]

I actually like using padauk. The best fret board I've made was padauk with tiger maple binding

[@maryannmoran-smyth3453]

My first choice would be Avity next would be rosewood and then Birdseye maple and everything else after that great show keep on rocking

[@corfo8433]

As a player, I love the look of ebony - especially the contrast of the board with the frets. As a builder, I looked for something which emulated ebony but didn’t have the environmental cost - and stumbled upon Blackwood Tek. The look is similar(ish) to ebony (as in dark) but the workability can, in my experience be awkward and unforgiving. I find you have to be very careful when working it or it will chip fairly easily. Anyone else tried this route? What were your experiences?

[@alexanderketterer9992]

I generally tend to go for contrast as well, but I don't have a hard and fast rule. Most of my guitars end up with PRS style stains, and I've been playing with staining the fretboards as well, so I end up with a lot of maple. But I also enjoy less common woods. Recently did one with a stunning camatillo board 😁

[@iyona14granturismogt6gtspo7]

I just dyed a maple fret with Blue Unicorn Spit,it looks amazing

[@HandlebarWorkshops]

There are a lot of U.S. domestic hardwoods that fit in that Janka range. Ash, Elm, Walnut, Hickory, White Oak just to name a few. I think when looking for fretboard woods, a big factor might be how brittle it is. My biggest concern would be holding in the frets, but if they're radiused correctly, there shouldn't be much force to rip wood fibers out. Another issue would be how open the pores are. Red Oak is at the high end of the Janka scale, but its open pores would not be comfortable. You'd probably want something that can get very smooth with close grain and small pores. Hence Maple.

[@craigsanderson3722]

I gravitate toward rosewood mainly because of the look and feel.

[@ukguitaryogi2888]

I used a piece of english white ash quarter sawn and the grain lines facing up for maximum stiffness for the neck. I noticed when I hammered the fret wire in it would not hold the ends down well and they kept popping up!!! I thought it was my rusty technique .. but I think in hindsight after this video it may have been to do with ability to hold the frets in the wood of the frets tangs??? it may have been also to do with sawing slightly not deep enough in a few spots on two frets.. I will need a fret depth gauge for this in future i guess or make a tool like this I had to hand press and super glue them all down after and clean and scrape all the glue off the board... have you experienced this with quart sawn vertical grain fingerboard of ash before? thanks

[@walterrider9600]

thank you

[@jimcox3380]

I'd like to hear your thoughts/experience on "oily" woods for fretboards and how to finish them (or not). For example, Rickenbacker (up until recently) put a gloss finish on all their fretboards, but some woods won't take certain finishes well. I ran into this with Wenge.

[@HighlineGuitars]

I almost never put finishes on oily woods. Maybe once or twice I had to clear coat Cocobolo, and to do that I wiped the surface with acetone before spraying my clear coats.

[@EricEdwards1]

I would love to see a video where you go over the factors in the design you feel effect the tone and sustain of the guitar.

[@HighlineGuitars]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKDTooJubKirbNksi=P9e8VUY-3XB4bWy8

[@uraymeiviar]

lol, tone effect on wood is microscopic, even the material of ur pants where u put the guitar will affect tone more because of vibration dampening

[@Dankma]

Another aspect to consider when choosing the fretboard is that it has to be able to hold the underneath pressure from the trussrod (Even if you close the chanel with a wood cap), considering that the TR runs along the grain, plus the FB it's "weakened" by the fret slots a liitle bit too.Thanks for the video and Keep the good work.

[@TheIgnoramus]

Considering they are all hardwoods, and the fact that the truss rod supports the vast majority of the stress, I don’t believe the fret board supports much. Some sure, but negligible. Ever put heavy gage strings on an acoustic made of thick hardwood and it gives anyway. Without a scientific comparison I cant be sure.

[@jimmooney5223]

Your point about the fret board being weakened by the fret slots isn't wrong, but the fret slots are filled and supported by the frets themselves so I don't see this as a major factor.

[@Dankma]

@@jimmooney5223 True. I think that a fret slot is an ideal point for a crack to be born lets say, although it's rarely seen.

[@jimmooney5223]

@@Dankma Again, you're not wrong but I've seen my share of busted necks and headstocks but I have a 12-string whose cracked neck was held together by the fretboard. I'm not seeing fretboards breaking unless the neck breaks.

[@nicoreynders2880]

Hi. Congrats for yours videos. In this one, at the end you said it s a better ideia to ajust others factors who has more effect on the tone that the fretboard. Could you talk about which ones ? And how ? 😀

[@HighlineGuitars]

It's all in the pickups. kzbin.info/aero/PL7TLAFxVOtrVBkmFgpiMwVWmPSzNhK6dw

[@berdeter]

I always prefer reclaimed wood and if not possible local European wood. For fretboard of course it should be as hard as possible. I've used birchwood with nice result and even Oak that can look great with ebonification. Oak tends to be a bit rough and you get a smoother result with Birchwood but hey Brian May's Red Special has an oak fretboard and it seems to have aged quite well...

[@TheIgnoramus]

Oak can vary a lot in density If I remember, May’s luthier probably chose the gnarliest toughest piece possible. Bet it was a b**** to shape out.

[@berdeter]

@@TheIgnoramus May's Luthier as you say was Brian May and his father. They had no money to buy a guitar so I doubt they invested in the finest oak piece. They just grabbed what they had. Many luthier have done replicates of Red Special for Brian in the mean time but his prefered one remains the original one.

[@yetigoosecreature8682]

Very informative. :) I have a guitar with a walnut fretboard. A strange choice I thought as its Janka Hardness rating (~ 1,000 lbf) is lower than ebony, rosewood and maple. And it looks naff to me so I'm about to apply ebony spirit dye. ;)

[@jmiewlsn]

I have some teak that I harvested from some outdoor furniture that I had. I know it's a very durable wood, but would it make a decent fretboard?

[@chocolatecookie8571]

No face close-up in the intro anymore 😢😁. Yes, that wood data base website is handy. However weight can be different even when using the same wood. On internet it is said that ash is lightweight and e.g. mahogany heavy. But I had guitars where the mahogany was lighter than the ash. And there are more examples that goes against the status quo. I tried to make a chronological order of the different woods but I gave up. Maybe you can highlight it for us in a new video. About fretboard wood I prefer maple tonewise but somehow it feels more stiff than ebony rosewood even though I dont really the fretboard. Somehow ebony or rosewood feels softer and also sound rounder. Malle fretboard gives it a raw growling sound like a beast wanting to roar.

[@atrumluminarium]

Does anyone have any experience using snakewood as a fretboard? I was considering woods harder than ebony for a personal fretless project and even though it's a bit expensive I thought it looked pretty lol

[@ghfdt368]

If we are really honest looking at it from a players eyes its about how it looks and feels under our fingers. I've played fenders for example with rosewood fretboards and I've not liked how they felt to play but the same fretboard wood used on a Gretsch,Gibson,PRS And Ibanez guitars have felt great. As a side note I'm glad there are so many other sources of good wood for guitar making, and I hope we continue as a society to repurpose and reuse old wood. It makes me sad to see old furniture like era Victorian cabinets and dressers made out of beautiful Oak, Mahogany,Ash,Birch etc being thrown into the trash and left to rot when you could make a beautiful instrument out of it.

[@rickstout5524]

I have watched your vids from time to time and stolen from them for my own builds, thank you, was looking at my Pinterest feed at a few SG's I had saved for ideas for a '66 Jr I have with a broken neck and saw Highline on a picture I had saved some time ago, yep I am amazingly slow to connect the dots. It was a natural finished semi-hollow SG with 2 'F' holes, a wood trapeze tail piece and sort of a jazz type floating bridge. Do you remember that one? Doesn't really have anything to do with selecting fretboard wood, but kind of does...

[@tsiggy]

In your experience and solely in terms of performance (not aesthetics, availability, price, etc), what are the most important properties that wood for a fretboard should have? Could you give us a range for each property as you did for Janka Hardness (e.g. 800-3000 lbf)?

[@HighlineGuitars]

Hardness is only property you need to focus on.

[@ianrose5505]

I tend to have many hats, Ian thinking how do I service the wood after its built and how easy i.e lacquered maple Vs rosewood, easy of working, look, and I am a sucker for figured wood if I can, I a look so we have on we eye on the colours and contrast as it's easy to get carried away and use all the techniques and different woods but you loose the simple beauty of simplicity if your not careful, I repair locally and it's definitely become a foot in both camps of maint Vs looks

[@iyona14granturismogt6gtspo7]

Can I do a Burlwood fret?

[@sparrowhawk81]

Are you aware of any downsides to staining one? I have a project guitar I tinker with that has a nice rosewood fingerboard and I thought hey I like black, so just before a refret I stained it black and let it dry out really well. It's been a few months and doesn't seemed to have caused any issues and looks great.

[@TheIgnoramus]

Nah staining tends to help hydrate and coat the wood if anything. Seen a lot of people do that. Depends how you did it of course. But most dyes are A OK

[@Ramplcro]

Ebony, 99% ebony. Dark jet black and the one with occasional small brown streaks. Mostly because it's a a contrast wood and black with lightly colored binding/inlays personally looks unmatched. The strait grain one (expensive) even if tough, is a dream to hand plane (lightly), others if not careful and without really sharp blade can tearout easily . High angle blade and scraper are really helpful (if you are trying to avoid sandpaper).

[@rauschguitars]

Assuming the wood is hard enough for a fretboard, I consider the aesthetics first - it needs to look good! After that, grain direction and hand tool workability. I did a wenge fretboard once. It still haunts me.

[@Thurgor_Supreme]

It's an easy choice for me. I don't really like the feel of rosewood and I HATE the feel of maple

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

Question about maple fretboards. What is the reason that they are typically finished with a glossy coating; i.e., Fender, Music Man? Do you do that to yours? If so, why/why not? I'm just curious. Myself, I do love Maple fretboards, even when they're finished like that, but I was just curious as to why it is done? Thank you!

[@HighlineGuitars]

Maple gets very dirty so applying a clear coat of some kind can make it easier to clean. Yes, I apply one.

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

@@HighlineGuitars Ah! That makes sense. Poly or Nitro? Thank you.

[@HighlineGuitars]

@@scottmartinezguitarandbass Both work fine. I like poly personally, but the choice will come down to what you like in terms of look and feel.

[@dalgguitars]

In order to "BE" Rock-n-Roll, you must first "LOOK" Rock-n-Roll.

[@voodoochild1975az]

My picks are easy. I have a few favorites based on feel under my fingers and how they seem to sound. Gimme a good slab of boring ol' rosewood and I am happy. I also like pau ferro, and ebony. I don't like Laurel, I've never really liked maple, finished or unfinished for a fretboard. I had ONE Maple necked guitar I liked in 25 years. So anyway, it's just personal preference. Why does rosewood feel good to me? No clue. Just does.

[@amitsapir2]

For me it's about appearance and feel

[@mixmixture7049]

It's Jatoba is good sir?

[@HighlineGuitars]

🤷‍♂️

[@sgt.grinch3299]

I thought we had to use the wood that we were born with. Who knew you could change wood? Looking forward to your explanation.

[@asafpelleh7594]

In my opinion, a fretboard should be super hard and durable. Maple is the minimum. I'd use wood like Ironwood and Purple heart...

[@Tomislav_B.]

Unrelated to the video, you often claim that tone and sustain are mostly in the setup and other factors that can be manipulated. The internet likes to argue its tonewood argument. It would be interesting to address in a future video that possibilities of manipulation. On the topic, anything goes for me, what I seriously dislike is when some rosewood fretboards have that washed out look, like it's been bleached. You can oil it and it looks great for a couple of weeks but then it goes back to original look. What's up with that?

[@HighlineGuitars]

I'm not sure I understand what you want me to address in a future video.

[@Tomislav_B.]

@@HighlineGuitars I was wondering about those manipulations, setup ect that in your opinion affect the tone and sustain and are more important than tonewood.

[@HighlineGuitars]

@@Tomislav_B. Selecting "tonewood" to shape the tone and sustain of a solid-body electric guitar is a fool's errand. Once you've selected the "tonewood" for your guitar and finished making it, you're stuck with that choice. If you don't like the tone or the sustain, what are you going to do? Are you going to start all over and hope your next selection of "tonewood" is going to do the trick? That would be ridiculous since it would be much easier and cheaper to modify or replace the parts on the guitar that can be changed like the pickups, pots, caps, bridge, fret wire, and nut.

[@TheIgnoramus]

@@HighlineGuitars I took my Yamaha Pacifica, set it up all weekend, and used your LSO method for the neck. Its awesome, and the setup is definitely 90% of its playability and sound. Can share everything I did If you like. On tonewood. - if your using pickups, poplar vs ebony vs rosewood basically sounds exactly the same. Im a percussionist, and unless directly struck, most woods have trouble actually “expressing” their unique tone. In drums, it’s all about the density and porosity of the wood, with the bearing edge. and not much else. That’s just from my experience.

[@feilgrep]

I wish more voices in the youtube luthier community would advocate using local woods. Most importantly, for sustainability and carbon footprint reasons. But also as a measure to stop us all from duplicating the classic 50s designs over and over. It's boring and predictable, and makes guitar owners everywhere miss out on all the great looking/sounding species that grow locally.

[@HighlineGuitars]

With the internet, the entire world is local.

[@feilgrep]

@@HighlineGuitars With the internet, products from the entire world is commercially available locally, you mean. There's a difference :) We need to stop shipping stuff worldwide when there's no need - endangered and scarce stuff especially. Enjoying your content, by the way. Thank you!

[@NunchucksHabit]

I swear I thought you were Dana Carvey. This can't be a unique observation, right? It's not an insult, lest it be taken as such. I fell in love with Richlite, I had a Godin with a Richlite board & I had never played such a smooth, consistent fretboard. I would assume putting stainless steel frets into Richlite, would be very difficult...

[@ericvernon1182]

Are we still pretending that this matters for anything besides aesthetic reasons?

[@HighlineGuitars]

Go for it.

[@jacobgreen6939]

how bout bamboozle

[@r.llynch4124]

I personally would never use fake wood on any custom build. If I'm spending hours of my time I will use the best wood I can find along with the best parts I deem necessary. If you can't afford a quality guitar there are options from china to waste your cash on.

[@billysmether6237]

Chris, you need a haircut or a pony tail ; ) . I go with pony tail. Any (hard) hardwood should work fine as a fretboard. My favorite is black walnut. Then maple. That gives me a light and very dark option for a fretboard. So easy to work with and readily available. Thanks for video!

[@HighlineGuitars]

Already cut it. Couldn't stand having long hair!

[@ErebosGR]

In terms of aesthetics, my favorites are pale moon ebony, ziricote, black limba, panga panga and roasted maple.