I have a small conspiracy theory Pao Ferro is actually a premium fretboard. Once upon a time, it was an option for custom shop orders and ultra high end strats. In the 90s and early 2000s, you got Pao Ferro to look down your nose at the plebs using mere rosewood..... I kid... But only exaggerate a bit. My wild conspiracy theory is that the pao ferro, actually a gorgeous and high end wood.... Is finished for shit in Ensenada on purpose. Take some steel wool, 0000 or finer. Just dust the wood up, you're not sanding . Then hit with good fretboard oil. Light coat, let soak in, repeat. After THAT Pao Ferro usually looks prettier than rosewood. Fender does not do this step on purpose so that the Mexi wont have a pretty, better feeling fretboard than the MIA next to it. Agree on vintage focused models. Agree on price hikes. Bit disagree to say Pao Ferro can actually be a badass fretboard.... But Fender is disincentivised to send them out that way. Every Mexi Pao Ferro is a DIY projecy needing you to finish the job and final polish and oil that board yourself.
It would definitely be nice to compare it with rosewood after doing that for sure. And i know it has been used as an exotic wood on a bunch of different guitar models. Like all wood there's probably nicer ones and okay ones too haha.
Pau Ferro itself can wildly vary in how it looks. Some are quite red, pale or look very close to rosewood. I've had two Pau Ferro boards on an American Professional Jazzmaster body. The first Pau Ferro board was super close to a rosewood board I have. I swapped to another Pau Ferro neck since it has a nitro neck, but the board was quite light. I managed to darken it with Montypresso's Relic Wax and I was quite pleased with the result. Rosewood will always be my first choice, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with Pau Ferro in terms of feel (and looks if you can find a dark one).
The Pau Ferro look just doesn’t work. It doesn’t make sense given the used market with Rosewoods. The Fender ones just look very Brown. They’re fine to play…but as stated in the video, the value plummets. For instance, I had a 2016 Epi SG with Rosewood. Bought used and it sold for same amount I bought it for cause the new Epi SGs didn’t have Rosewood.
Couldn’t agree more. One of the biggest selling points of the Mexico line was its affordability in comparison to anything else in its price point. While the player series has certainly improved immensely features wise, the constant price hikes aren’t justified IMO. I bought a player series in the middle of 2020 for 600 now the same guitar is like 850!
I really enjoy your channel, do at the rate that means you are enjoying it, your love of guitars shows, please don't let the grind of UA-cam dampen it!
I’m a big Strat guy. Last week I tried out a Fender Player Pau Ferro in Black and absolutely loved it. It’s actually on my to get list for the next year. Then again, the guitar store regularly maintained their gear which makes it harder to tell if it’s naturally drier. However, I agree on it sometimes feeling rough because it seems to get drier more than other types of wood. It’s in my three favorite woods but it’s barely even in there. Rosewood is just my favorite.
I remember when Pau Ferro was seen as a posh upgrade to rosewood ! I saw a 70s Squier strat with PF fingerboard and it looked like it was made from cardboard ! I have a Squier VM strat with Indian Laurel fingerboard and it looks real nice, kinda little bit redder than rosewood but I've seen rosewood that was more red than brown ! I think for the price you pay mexican guitars ought to have rosewood.
I definitely agree with you! Pau Ferro can definitely be nice, good pieces have beautiful figuring. But like you said, on the Mexican line it often looks really bad 😅
A few years back, I bought a 60th anniversary Jazzmaster in black. The first one they shipped to me had a bad grounding issue that yielded an intolerable noise level. The Pau Ferro fretboard was sort of streaky and predominately chestnut brown. I had it sent back and another one shipped in its place. The noise issue was remarkably better and much to my great surprise, the Pau Ferro fretboard was much, much darker. It is as dark as my other rosewood fretboards and, honestly, almost indistinguishable from my ebony fretboards. Coloration of Pau Ferro can vary wildly so be advised not to write them off across the board. After adding some additional shielding to the control cavity and a staytrem bridge, This guitar is beyond awesome.
This whole negative feeling that most have towards Pau Ferro guitars is damaging the resale and making them more accessible for the rest of us. I have a JM and a Jag with said fret boards and they sound great. Yeah they look slightly different but I'm sure it won't get you kicked out the band. Different strokes, I guess.
I agree that it sounds and plays great! Though guitar players are shallow, myself included. It often looks off without any added oils like Montypresso relic wax for example. It's great to hear that you like the newer boards man! 🙂
I tried a few Pao Ferro Fenders, Jazzmaster and Strat and I liked the feel. It felt well and unlike much of the rosewood boards it didn't have big pores. Very smooth. The color is very light like you say but it didn't look bad. I have American and Japanese Fenders. I have one Mexican but it has a rosewood board, it's a 2015 Fender Classic Player 60s Strat.
That's kinda my impression too. They played really well in general. It seriously is only the looks people don't vibe with (sometimes). Fenders pau ferro picks differ a lot from each other as well.
@@alexradsby I think the SRV Strat has Pao Ferro and this was long before it being the norm for Fender Mexico guitars. No one complained about it then.
I've seen SRV strats with pau ferro that is as dark as brazilian rosewood. I bet there is a difference in woods between a SRV sig and standard MIM guitars.
Yes, the MIM and Squire are both going up in price. I don't mind Pau Ferro, but the newer Fenders I pick up are generally heavy too, until you get to some MIA and Custom Shop. The partscaster is a risky route; I built one and lost 60% when I sold it on shortly after. Whenever I build a custom build it doesn't come out like I think it will. Great content and thoughts as always!
Thank you for your insights! Yes, definitely agree with the custom parts build. Definitely not for selling haha, if I build one I would have to keep it I think. 😅
I kinda like Pau Ferro. I just bought a MIM Player Plus Nashville Tele after trying it out at GC. On sale, next to a Vintera Strat it was a much better guitar, I felt. Yes, the board was “dry” looking and feeling. Did a bunch of research when I got it home, and ended up treating the fretboard with a homemade mix of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and amber shellac, with a splash of Weimar lemon oil furniture polish, and a splash of Scott’s Liquid Gold wood cleaner and preservative. It worked amazingly well. I first cleaned the board with a slightly damp paper towel, and got a lot of dirt off from previous players (it was hanging in the rack for a year). That worked fine also as a mild abrasive to smooth the board out. Then I applied the above mixture and didn’t let it sit but more than a minute before wiping it off thoroughly. Now it feels and looks fantastic. A nice light color with darker streaks of grain. Very “surfey” in contrast to the Opal Spark finish. Quite happy with the result. The only negative is the side dot markers blend in too much with the Pau Ferro and are hard to see. I’m thinking of adding little dots of bright nail polish on two or three of the dots to alleviate this. I think it’s a great guitar and a good value for the on sale price I paid.
Oh that's really nice to hear! Pau ferro plays well in my opinion for sure so it's great to hear your experience with them! I'm still kinda eyeing a Vintera Jazzmaster haha, they do look really nice 🙂
Welcome back Alex! Never played a pau ferro board but o agree with you that they look terrible. I don’t know what it is about it, but it just makes a guitar look cheap to me (which with current prices is not the case!)
Yes they all look super cheap because of it. It's annoying. I wonder what Fender sales are saying, has to be a reason why there aren't that many reviews of them on youtube no? Except for maybe the big youtubers.
I'm with you there. If the ONLY choices for non-USA guitars are either Pau Ferro or Indian Laurel, I'd go with Indian Laurel. It does look much better than Pau Ferro.
Hey! 2 1/2 year guitar player here. I mostly play punk and I'll be getting a new guitar soon. I've decided on a sherwood green player strat with a Pau Ferro fingerboard, and I'm doing some research about pau ferro. No, I haven't player a guitar with a pau ferro fingerboard, but I honestly don't think it'll make that much of a negative difference. Do you think I should get it?
Nothing wrong with Pau Ferro. Its just a visual thing for the most part for some of us. If you like it, go for it! The player guitars seems super solid! 🙂
This past week I saw a high-end Suhr guitar with a pau ferro neck (not just the fretboard, but the whole neck) and it was a thing of beauty - the figuring was lovely. Much better than what you would see on a MIM Fender.
I'm late in Fender Jazzmaster and since I prefer rosewood I bought a used MIM Jazzmaster for $850 Canadian. I'm just lucky I think to found one locally.
I don’t mind anything used anymore. I just bought another Burny Les Paul custom with a Floyd rose from the 80s. It has a broken headstock but I don’t mind it since it has a locking nut. Also rosewood Mexicans fender stopped making for the shortage in rosewood. Ebony, probably my favorite a perfect In between of rosewood and maple, is also a rarer wood to find on most guitars now. I would just buy a used MIJ fender or an older Mexican made one.
I also have a Burny LP Custom! Great guitars! Yes I'm definitely leaning towards MIJ or a used mexican for sure! Ebony is beautiful. I have it on my Jim Root Telecaster, feels damn great!
i have a blue vinitera Jazzmaster and mine is surprisingly darker than most which is nice. i got mine as a graduation gift and i am really happy with it personally.
I've seen that there are darker examples out there! That's awesome! The ones I played were really nice to play, my only gripe is my shallow thinking about it being lighter shade haha.
@@alexradsby you’re point that it’s too expensive is pretty accurate though. if it wasn’t my grad present i don’t think i would’ve ever considered getting it. very fortunate for that to be my case though i love the sound of the pickups and the matching headstock is so awesome to me!
I like pau ferro, especially on Strats - it has a pluckier sound and sharper attack than rosewood, which has a warmer/woodier sound and softer attack. With that said, if I were buying a Jazzmaster, I would want rosewood over pau ferro.
What kind of product would you recommend for cleaning a Pau Ferro fingerboard? There seems to be a lot of conflicting info online whether or not you should oil a Pau Ferro fretboard, and I couldn't find a definitive answer. I love my MIM Strat to bits and have absolutely no desire to accidentally ruin it, so any kind of help with this would be immensely appreciated! Thank you in advance!
I gotta agree with MIM guitars, the quality doesn't equate to the value of it today. I ultimately ended up modding my tele wiring/stock pickups which is more $... nevertheless, I love the neck/body color (Surf pearl) ! But as for Jazzmasters, after watching so many sound comparisons, at this point I'd settle for either a vintage modified or classic vibe + modify it to your liking! Get what you want + mod it how you want! That's why I love the later squier models!
Are Pau Ferro fretboards on MIM Player Basses finished at all? They feel horrible. That is a huge reason why I sent mine back. Found a great price but instead I'm building one out of Fender parts new...a bit pricier but it will be what I want and the experience is super fun for me.
I don't think they are finished, usually you don't finish rosewood or pau ferro.must just be you not liking the texture of it I guess? Doing a partsbuild is always a great experience! I really like doing them myself too.
@alexradsby yeah the texture must be it. I never realized I am a rosewood neck guitar and maple neck for bass guy lol. It's my second build but 1st all fender parts build with som CS '62 p PU. I'm pumped.
@guatobean2869 Haha its interesting how our preferences develop. Mine went from all maple to rosewood. I do like roasted maple necks though! Highly recommended! Sweet build!
When I got my first Jazzmaster, it was a made in Indonesia Squier. It sounded good and I love it, but ultimately I ended up saving all I could during two plus years and finally I could afford an american JM in 2022. It was worth it.
@@alexradsby It's an American Professional II Miami Blue, gloss finish with maple neck and alder body. It took 10 months to arrive because it was out of stock.
What do you think of a 2022 60s modified vintera? At my local shop they get a ton of product in and for the past 2.5 years I have played every fender product available. The problem is that its all junk and makes no sense.....I've seen squires play better than the ultras... How is that possible? Today I sat down with a few jazzmasters 1 professional 2 vintera 3 a road worn 4 ultra 5 and on ican't remember what they called it but it didn't have a trem or rhythm knobs. I found that the 60s modified vintera was the best but it had a pau ferro neck. They even had the same vintera in a different color and it wasn't similar at all.....the neck was chunkier and it sounded very weak. What the hell? The vintera 60s modified is 1039.00 without a case.....just a simple bag All have to some research on the pau ferro but I might go back and get it. Or I might just save my $ and spend it on a 15 dollar sandwich Thanks for the video
I think Pau Ferro plays well in general. My problem is purely visual. And I agree with you, I did the same thing trying out Jazzmasters. Apparently I like Squiers more than American Professional II? 😅 Super weird.
i bought a squire 40th anniversary vintage and it is amazing - once set up properly. i played a vintera and it didn’t seem with shelling out the extra money for one of those
@@alexradsby i went and tried a ltd ed player jazzmaster today and i liked that over the vintera to be honest you don't get the the rhythm circuit on that but apparently (dont quote me on this) its routed underneath so one can be retro fitted later if i wanted to go that route. i would need a different pick guard as well to accommodate it. thanks for your video btw way it was very helpful with lost of food for thought.
Pau Ferro is a superior fretboard wood that is more durable because of the tighter denser grain that will not actively collect dirt and debris like very porous rosewood will. Pau Ferro is a Custom requested type of fretboard wood that was even specifically used by Stevie Ray Vaughn too, a rather aggressive player no doubt. For me anyhow, Pau Ferro is an upgrade that can take abuse much more like Ebony and is less likely to crumble apart like old Rosewood is known to.
Yes I have no problems with it on how it plays. To me it looks bad. I've seen beautiful pieces of pau ferro but most Mexican fender ones look off to most of us.
Well, the looks of it take some getting used to. I just see it as a darker "Hotter" Orange version of the Maple neck look or a more interesting and "Fiery"striped version of the Ebony look; it can be seen as either one. @@alexradsby
This is true. It was definitely an exotic wood to use before, still doesn't mean people like it haha. I guess a lot of us are very traditional in nature. We like the standard vintage looks for our guitars overall. I do prefer a darker looking board myself, a bit shallow of course. Pau ferro plays nice though! Didn't feel that much different to me compared to what others say 🙂 Thanks for commenting Jesse, I appreciate it a ton!
As you already know, I agree with everything you said. I think that most of Japanese ones has 7.25 inch radius. Maybe you consider buyin loaded body on the stratosphere and than buy american pro neck here in Europe. :)
I do like 7.25 radius. It's one of the things I'd love on a new jazzmastee actually haha. Stratosphere might be a good bet for sure. Will look around a bit more for sure 🙂
Bought a MIM Jag HH recently. Great guitar but surprised I needed to sort sharp fret ends, but sorted and now plays great. A bit of Monty’s relic wax and the Pau Ferro looks like rosewood. Don’t really mind it and had forgotten it wasn’t rosewood! You could get a Squier J Mascis JM used for about £450. They are tremendous value albeit needs a pickup upgrade for true JM. Bought mine new and it is worth a little more now. I also have an AVRI 65 JM which is ace. Picked up 2nd hand a few years ago for £1200. Love it but still not perfect… vintage correct bridge is not much use if you dig in, strings pop off. Thanks for the vids 👍
That's actually really nice to hear you say that from experience! I appreciate it a lot! I always switch the bridge to a staytrem or mastery 🙂 The J Mascis is discontinued now too! Crazy. Such a good guitar! Prices for that one will definitely increase now too 😅 I'm looking at the Troy Van Leeuwen actually! It has the specs I like overall 🙂
I just found a MiM Monterey Strat with Jimi vibes and pau ferro board also really small frets, it literally plays circles around my US Corona strat with jumbo stainless frets i couldnt believe it. The finish not as good but the tone made up for it
Yes I actually played some pau ferro boards, to me they do play well, it's shallow to dismiss it because of looks but I guess a lot of us are stuck in traditions haha. I have seen some beautiful pau ferro boards too with beautiful figuring. Though a lot of the ones in the MIM line looks flat and unattractive to me. Happy to hear that you like yours! One day I might one I like, wouldn't gamble on one online though
Pau Ferro is so terrible. Fender needs to abandon it ASAP. I bought an older J Mascis Squier with rosewood that I upgraded some things on and it's really good, but honestly I still want a nitro JM.. Great vid man.
There’s some truth about your point of Mexican Fenders. I’m not sure if I want another Mexican Fender. Was lucky to find my Mexican that I’ve held on for years. The times we live in make stuff more expensive. That vintera Jazzmaster are fine, but I don’t desire one since I’ve gone the Squier route for mines. But eh, I lucked out
Most of the squiers I played yesterday were awesome! Definitely good instruments! Wouldn't mind using them for projects, buut maybe it's time to check out a MIJ instrument. Maybe. I do kinda like the Troy Van Leeuwen Oxblood Jazzmaster 👀
@@alexradsby as a Queens of the Stone Age fan I would wanna try that Troy Jazzmaster. But honestly, I agree with you trying a MIJ Fender, hell throw Tokai in the mix. I want to try those too cuz I have family/friends in the Philippines who have Tokai/Fender Japan. Kind of wish I try some when I visited them in July
I could careless about looks. I'm all about sound. Know Stevie Ray Vaughan's famous strat was ash maple with a pau ferro fretboard. Think it is hard to make fair comparison when it is not used on the high quality guitars. Objectively speaking
I'm not a fan of the feel of pau ferro, but I did find a way to make it darker: Monty's Montypresso relic wax. It can darken the wood, and the longer you leave it on, the better it works. I used it on my Reverend Dirt Bike (it has a pau ferro fretboard) and it took it from a light coffee color to almost to a tobacco color. That was two coats, about 15 minutes each time. It works even better on indian laurel. It makes it look like rosewood. It should work on maple as well as long as it's not sealed.
Used AVRI from 2000s would be excellent but yeah too much money. Might as well go boutique like I already told you 😉 I like the more chill feel of this video.
Haha yes if I'm spending $3000 then I would definitely check out boutique. I was hoping to spend $1000-1500 max. Either on my own build or a fender 🙂 Thanks man, I'll see if I can do it like this a bit more 🙂
The closest I came to buying a JM was an old fender Mexican classic series surf green one that popped up from like 2010. It was amazing looking. But they are a rare bird. It was only about €1600
I think jazzmasters are not hard to find second hand, since 4/5 years all the tourists are playing offsets now, so there’s a lot of import jazzmasters and jaguars on second hand listings. Yes the new mexicans are a bit expensives but it’s all guitar prices which have gone up not just mexicans. Comparing them to the japanese, if it wasn’t for Pau Ferro vs Rosewood they are almost identical (same woods, same parts, almost same finish, even mexican pickups are generally better, especially against those 90s/00s japanese fenders that people overprice so ridiculously, telling you that they are sooo much better than nowadays mexicans, see the jagstang for example, the best version of the 3 is the new MIM, not the fujigen made, not the tokai made). Anyway that pau ferro debate is now over since they went back to rosewood and see the success of the vintera2, that desert sand jazzmaster that you see everywhere, suddenly no one speaks cares about japanese made anymore now. Regarding those second hand pau ferro vintera1 which are coming on the market for half price now, reallt, 99% of the music audience dont know what pau ferro, no one will see a difference, girls dont care if your fretboard is light brown or dark brown , only population who cares is that guitar geek people of instagram that dont know shit about songwriting and music in general, and for which i couldnt care less about.
I don't get it, and totally disagree. These days the Player Plus is absolutely on par with the American Ultra. I know, because I own both. So in that sense the Player is still a reasonable priced guitar. And I doubt very much if a blindfolded person would hear any tone difference between Pau Ferro, Maple, or Indian Laurel. So you don't like the look of PF. Some people hate maple, it is just a matter of personal taste, that's all.
It's definitely a dumb thing. But visual things about guitars are a major point for a lot of people. Traditionalists as a lot of us are. But yes! I wouldn't not notice tonal differences at all. Thank you for commenting! 🙂
My strat is a Mexican road worn. Luckily, it’s from 2008/2009 and has a rosewood board. I love that guitar more than anything I’ve ever owned. It plays beautifully and sounds amazing.
I recently played a MIM Jazzmaster and it played like a dream and sounded fantastic through his period correct amp. The owner didn't shim the neck and left the stock 9's on it. He also got a decent deal on it new ($800) and is happy - and should be. It was smooth as melting butter.🧈
I hate the Pau Ferro necks! It’s not actually rosewood. Not the same species. I would prefer if Fender used richlite over PF.. I just bought a Troy Van Leeuwen JM and it has a Pau Ferro fretboard.. Huge Disappointment.. The PF is inconsistent and is a mess visually. What Fender could/should be doing is dying the Pau Ferro down several shades prior to cutting and sorting. They could potentially keep using it with better acceptance if they did this. It’s a shame that Fender are offering real rosewood on the new Vintera II’s and my TVL JM that’s a good $500.00 more has a Pau Ferro neck.. Fail.
I emailed the store I bought it from to get confirmation on the neck wood. I wouldn't accept Pau Ferro on this guitar at all for that price. Why not return it?
@@alexradsby The store that sold it says Fender is telling all retailers it’s RW.. I told the Seller that I want to see what Fender says because this is false advertising!
i literally choose to buy classic vibes over Mexican stuff because of how much nicer laurel looks on average than pau ferro. fender is dropping the ball for those of us that prefer the looks of a darker fretboard. theres no reason to buy MIM when MIJ stuff can be found for about the same price with more traditional woods. even american strats and teles used can be found on facebook for less than a vintera new guess ill keeping modding classic vibes LOL
Your problem with Fender is unfounded unless you are going to have the same "problem" with all guitar manufacturers including anyone who makes a guitar in addition to parts suppliers. Rosewood is an endangered species and was banned for export and import by new regulations added to CITES beginning in 2017. The ban was lifted for musical instruments in 2019 but traceable documentation verifying sources as "sustainable" and not "illegal" is still required for both exporters and importers which istin itself is a cost addition. This is the short short version of it but I suugest you spend an hour or so doing the same reseach I did for details and not shoot the messenger as you are doing with Fender. Pau Ferro compared to rosewood is identical in terms of hardness for durability and playability, the two main requirements for fretboard material. As a suitable alternate, the two major differences are color as a negative for some (ok many) and availability/cost as a positive. Over time the availability of rosewood is only going to be less and less which means the costs will increase even more as a result. For the larger manufacturers such as Fender or Gibson, this will naturally dictate which model lines have rosewood fretboards, and that would be their Top of the Line Models.
I've already read about all of this. People want rosewood, i realize its not feasible hence I would rather have Indian Laurel on all models below the American line. Looks nicer and plays just as well ad psu ferro 🙂 Thanks for commenting, I really appreciate it!
You're so right about Mexican Fenders. The value for money is simply not there anymore. And don't get me started on pau ferro (to think that even Squiers once came with rosewood...). The best bang for buck is the MIJ Traditional series - depending where you are in the world, you can get a vintage-specced Jazzmaster, with a rosewood fingerboard, for less than the price of a Vintera.
@@alexradsby That sucks that MIJ Fenders aren't so easily available in Sweden. Granted, I live in Australia, where they aren't too difficult to come by... I have 3 of 'em.
@@changestrangers I've seen so many japanese guitars I want in Australia haha. Mainly the thinline double bound jazzmaster, that thing just looks amazing to me.
I agree, I'll never purchase a guitar from the newer MIM Fender range. I own an older MIM Stratocaster and Jaguar and with some upgrades they are incredible guitars competing with my made in USA Fender guitars. But these went for around $500-$600 new at the time and had rosewood fretboards. Most of the Pau Ferro fretboards on the newer MIM guitars look ugly (too light and dried out) and the price of these Made in Mexico Fender guitars has skyrocketed. Better off buying spending a little more and buying a Japanese or American model these days in my opinion.
This is silly, buy a neck, buy whatever Fender you like...most Hot Rod their Guitars anyway these days...CTS pots, capacitors for treble bleed, ect no Problem, just business and they want you to buy "Premium" so why give you Rosewood if they know the people who care will pony up the cash.
Of course people will pony up the cash for what they want. I certainly did. That said, it's worth talking about because people aren't happy about it. 🙂
I will never buy a Fender with an ugly Pau Ferro fretboard. When Fender started using this ugly wood on $1100 and under guitars they officially lost me.
It’s not the wood type, but the look is absolutely hideous. Knowing a few people in the business these guitars are hard to sell and resell value is awful in comparison to maple for the same model. Just because Pau Ferro is so ugly.
I don’t see your problem. Life is about change so move on. I actually like the pau ferro colour, it has a nice shade to it and I think it looks more classy than Rosewood. The real problem are the cheap parts on a hugely overpriced Fender but this is what the market pays right now…
I won't buy a guitar if it doesn't have rosewood. I don't care what BS reason they use for not using rosewood. I can't get past the look of pau ferro-looks cheaper. I'll buy used Fenders with real rosewood before buying guitars with alternative woods. Been playing rosewood Fenders for 50 years and the other wood just doesn't appeal to me 😊. The only 3 Mexican Fenders i own are a 2006 & 2018 50s Baja Telecaster and a 2015 60s Baja telecaster with real rosewood. I wont buy any other mexican fenders today. There's a reason these Baja Fender's are commanding such high prices. I'm not glad i bought them when i did. I prefer played them over the pro II line of American Fenders.
I have a small conspiracy theory
Pao Ferro is actually a premium fretboard. Once upon a time, it was an option for custom shop orders and ultra high end strats. In the 90s and early 2000s, you got Pao Ferro to look down your nose at the plebs using mere rosewood.....
I kid... But only exaggerate a bit.
My wild conspiracy theory is that the pao ferro, actually a gorgeous and high end wood.... Is finished for shit in Ensenada on purpose.
Take some steel wool, 0000 or finer. Just dust the wood up, you're not sanding . Then hit with good fretboard oil. Light coat, let soak in, repeat.
After THAT Pao Ferro usually looks prettier than rosewood.
Fender does not do this step on purpose so that the Mexi wont have a pretty, better feeling fretboard than the MIA next to it.
Agree on vintage focused models. Agree on price hikes.
Bit disagree to say Pao Ferro can actually be a badass fretboard.... But Fender is disincentivised to send them out that way.
Every Mexi Pao Ferro is a DIY projecy needing you to finish the job and final polish and oil that board yourself.
It would definitely be nice to compare it with rosewood after doing that for sure. And i know it has been used as an exotic wood on a bunch of different guitar models. Like all wood there's probably nicer ones and okay ones too haha.
Pau Ferro itself can wildly vary in how it looks. Some are quite red, pale or look very close to rosewood. I've had two Pau Ferro boards on an American Professional Jazzmaster body. The first Pau Ferro board was super close to a rosewood board I have. I swapped to another Pau Ferro neck since it has a nitro neck, but the board was quite light. I managed to darken it with Montypresso's Relic Wax and I was quite pleased with the result. Rosewood will always be my first choice, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with Pau Ferro in terms of feel (and looks if you can find a dark one).
That's my thoughts as well. Feel wise it's completely fine its just looks for sure! Thanks for commenting! I appreciate it!
The Pau Ferro look just doesn’t work. It doesn’t make sense given the used market with Rosewoods. The Fender ones just look very Brown.
They’re fine to play…but as stated in the video, the value plummets. For instance, I had a 2016 Epi SG with Rosewood. Bought used and it sold for same amount I bought it for cause the new Epi SGs didn’t have Rosewood.
I had a client bring me a 1966 jazzmaster and had me swap the neck out for a Mexican Pau Ferro one. I died a little.
Oh nooo! Worst Christmas story ever haha 😂
omg did you ask WHY?
Couldn’t agree more. One of the biggest selling points of the Mexico line was its affordability in comparison to anything else in its price point. While the player series has certainly improved immensely features wise, the constant price hikes aren’t justified IMO. I bought a player series in the middle of 2020 for 600 now the same guitar is like 850!
Yeah it's crazy times right now. 😑 thanks for commenting man, i appreciate it!
i imagine inflation plays a factor.
I really enjoy your channel, do at the rate that means you are enjoying it, your love of guitars shows, please don't let the grind of UA-cam dampen it!
It means so much to hear you say that, you don't even know. Thank you so much!
I’m a big Strat guy. Last week I tried out a Fender Player Pau Ferro in Black and absolutely loved it. It’s actually on my to get list for the next year. Then again, the guitar store regularly maintained their gear which makes it harder to tell if it’s naturally drier. However, I agree on it sometimes feeling rough because it seems to get drier more than other types of wood. It’s in my three favorite woods but it’s barely even in there. Rosewood is just my favorite.
I remember when Pau Ferro was seen as a posh upgrade to rosewood ! I saw a 70s Squier strat with PF fingerboard and it looked like it was made from cardboard ! I have a Squier VM strat with Indian Laurel fingerboard and it looks real nice, kinda little bit redder than rosewood but I've seen rosewood that was more red than brown ! I think for the price you pay mexican guitars ought to have rosewood.
I definitely agree with you! Pau Ferro can definitely be nice, good pieces have beautiful figuring. But like you said, on the Mexican line it often looks really bad 😅
The Fender “Man” wanted you to BELIEVE it was an upgrade but it was cheaper for them to make. FckTS. Gimme a Rosie any day
I have 1983 Rickenbacker w/ Bubinga fretboard. It has way more orange color than my MIM Jaguar. I love the Pau Ferro.
That's great to hear man! 🙂
A few years back, I bought a 60th anniversary Jazzmaster in black. The first one they shipped to me had a bad grounding issue that yielded an intolerable noise level. The Pau Ferro fretboard was sort of streaky and predominately chestnut brown. I had it sent back and another one shipped in its place. The noise issue was remarkably better and much to my great surprise, the Pau Ferro fretboard was much, much darker. It is as dark as my other rosewood fretboards and, honestly, almost indistinguishable from my ebony fretboards. Coloration of Pau Ferro can vary wildly so be advised not to write them off across the board. After adding some additional shielding to the control cavity and a staytrem bridge, This guitar is beyond awesome.
That's great to hear! I have seen darker boards in pictures but always just thought it was a camera thing. Thank you for letting me now! 🙂
This whole negative feeling that most have towards Pau Ferro guitars is damaging the resale and making them more accessible for the rest of us. I have a JM and a Jag with said fret boards and they sound great. Yeah they look slightly different but I'm sure it won't get you kicked out the band. Different strokes, I guess.
I agree that it sounds and plays great! Though guitar players are shallow, myself included. It often looks off without any added oils like Montypresso relic wax for example.
It's great to hear that you like the newer boards man! 🙂
Agreed.
I tried a few Pao Ferro Fenders, Jazzmaster and Strat and I liked the feel. It felt well and unlike much of the rosewood boards it didn't have big pores. Very smooth. The color is very light like you say but it didn't look bad. I have American and Japanese Fenders. I have one Mexican but it has a rosewood board, it's a 2015 Fender Classic Player 60s Strat.
That's kinda my impression too. They played really well in general. It seriously is only the looks people don't vibe with (sometimes). Fenders pau ferro picks differ a lot from each other as well.
@@alexradsby I think the SRV Strat has Pao Ferro and this was long before it being the norm for Fender Mexico guitars. No one complained about it then.
I've seen SRV strats with pau ferro that is as dark as brazilian rosewood. I bet there is a difference in woods between a SRV sig and standard MIM guitars.
Yes, the MIM and Squire are both going up in price. I don't mind Pau Ferro, but the newer Fenders I pick up are generally heavy too, until you get to some MIA and Custom Shop. The partscaster is a risky route; I built one and lost 60% when I sold it on shortly after. Whenever I build a custom build it doesn't come out like I think it will. Great content and thoughts as always!
Thank you for your insights! Yes, definitely agree with the custom parts build. Definitely not for selling haha, if I build one I would have to keep it I think. 😅
I kinda like Pau Ferro. I just bought a MIM Player Plus Nashville Tele after trying it out at GC. On sale, next to a Vintera Strat it was a much better guitar, I felt. Yes, the board was “dry” looking and feeling. Did a bunch of research when I got it home, and ended up treating the fretboard with a homemade mix of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and amber shellac, with a splash of Weimar lemon oil furniture polish, and a splash of Scott’s Liquid Gold wood cleaner and preservative. It worked amazingly well. I first cleaned the board with a slightly damp paper towel, and got a lot of dirt off from previous players (it was hanging in the rack for a year). That worked fine also as a mild abrasive to smooth the board out. Then I applied the above mixture and didn’t let it sit but more than a minute before wiping it off thoroughly. Now it feels and looks fantastic. A nice light color with darker streaks of grain. Very “surfey” in contrast to the Opal Spark finish. Quite happy with the result. The only negative is the side dot markers blend in too much with the Pau Ferro and are hard to see. I’m thinking of adding little dots of bright nail polish on two or three of the dots to alleviate this. I think it’s a great guitar and a good value for the on sale price I paid.
Oh that's really nice to hear! Pau ferro plays well in my opinion for sure so it's great to hear your experience with them! I'm still kinda eyeing a Vintera Jazzmaster haha, they do look really nice 🙂
@@alexradsby Yes, the Vintera’s are nice for more of a vintage vibe. A Jazzmaster would be really cool in the Vintera line.
Thanks for the cool content definitely understand the time it takes especially with full time work so thank you 🤘🏼
Thank you for viewing my content! I appreciate it so much! 🙂
Welcome back Alex! Never played a pau ferro board but o agree with you that they look terrible. I don’t know what it is about it, but it just makes a guitar look cheap to me (which with current prices is not the case!)
Yes they all look super cheap because of it. It's annoying. I wonder what Fender sales are saying, has to be a reason why there aren't that many reviews of them on youtube no? Except for maybe the big youtubers.
Were you playing Starry Eyes by the Records? @ 00:25
I wasn't at all haha its just a chord progression I like playing for testing gear. It does sound similar though for sure! 🙂
I'm with you there. If the ONLY choices for non-USA guitars are either Pau Ferro or Indian Laurel, I'd go with Indian Laurel. It does look much better than Pau Ferro.
Couldn't agree more!
Hey! 2 1/2 year guitar player here. I mostly play punk and I'll be getting a new guitar soon. I've decided on a sherwood green player strat with a Pau Ferro fingerboard, and I'm doing some research about pau ferro. No, I haven't player a guitar with a pau ferro fingerboard, but I honestly don't think it'll make that much of a negative difference. Do you think I should get it?
Nothing wrong with Pau Ferro. Its just a visual thing for the most part for some of us. If you like it, go for it! The player guitars seems super solid! 🙂
@@alexradsby Thanks for the advice!
This past week I saw a high-end Suhr guitar with a pau ferro neck (not just the fretboard, but the whole neck) and it was a thing of beauty - the figuring was lovely. Much better than what you would see on a MIM Fender.
I have seen pau ferro that looks and plays extremely well! It's a combination of things that needs to work together, that's for sure!
@@alexradsby Not to mention that pau ferro looks odd on Fenders that are meant to replicate the specs of vintage-era guitars.
Haha yes exactly 😅
I'm late in Fender Jazzmaster and since I prefer rosewood I bought a used MIM Jazzmaster for $850 Canadian. I'm just lucky I think to found one locally.
That's great to hear! 🙂
I hate the look of most pau ferro fretboards with a passion. The new MIM Vintera II line uses rosewood, so there is hope for made in Mexico guitars :)
Haha yes! We are moving towards the right direction for sure! 🙂
I don’t mind anything used anymore. I just bought another Burny Les Paul custom with a Floyd rose from the 80s. It has a broken headstock but I don’t mind it since it has a locking nut. Also rosewood Mexicans fender stopped making for the shortage in rosewood. Ebony, probably my favorite a perfect In between of rosewood and maple, is also a rarer wood to find on most guitars now. I would just buy a used MIJ fender or an older Mexican made one.
I also have a Burny LP Custom! Great guitars! Yes I'm definitely leaning towards MIJ or a used mexican for sure! Ebony is beautiful. I have it on my Jim Root Telecaster, feels damn great!
i have a blue vinitera Jazzmaster and mine is surprisingly darker than most which is nice. i got mine as a graduation gift and i am really happy with it personally.
I've seen that there are darker examples out there! That's awesome! The ones I played were really nice to play, my only gripe is my shallow thinking about it being lighter shade haha.
@@alexradsby you’re point that it’s too expensive is pretty accurate though. if it wasn’t my grad present i don’t think i would’ve ever considered getting it. very fortunate for that to be my case though i love the sound of the pickups and the matching headstock is so awesome to me!
Ah yes they are definitely expensive for what you're getting for sure. But I do agree. I too love a matching headstock! Beautiful 👌🙂.
I bought a fender player strat and my fretboard is very dark almost similar to rosewood. can't cpmplain.
That's great to hear 🙂
Same here! My fretboard is almost black
I like pau ferro, especially on Strats - it has a pluckier sound and sharper attack than rosewood, which has a warmer/woodier sound and softer attack. With that said, if I were buying a Jazzmaster, I would want rosewood over pau ferro.
What kind of product would you recommend for cleaning a Pau Ferro fingerboard?
There seems to be a lot of conflicting info online whether or not you should oil a Pau Ferro fretboard, and I couldn't find a definitive answer.
I love my MIM Strat to bits and have absolutely no desire to accidentally ruin it, so any kind of help with this would be immensely appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
I use Ernie Ball Fretboard conditioner and fretdoctor fingerboard oil. Works fine for me 🙂
I gotta agree with MIM guitars, the quality doesn't equate to the value of it today. I ultimately ended up modding my tele wiring/stock pickups which is more $... nevertheless, I love the neck/body color (Surf pearl) !
But as for Jazzmasters, after watching so many sound comparisons, at this point I'd settle for either a vintage modified or classic vibe + modify it to your liking! Get what you want + mod it how you want! That's why I love the later squier models!
This is definitely a path I'm thinking about for sure. Wouldn't mind sourcing for better parts and cure my gas at the same time haha 😝
Are Pau Ferro fretboards on MIM Player Basses finished at all? They feel horrible. That is a huge reason why I sent mine back. Found a great price but instead I'm building one out of Fender parts new...a bit pricier but it will be what I want and the experience is super fun for me.
I don't think they are finished, usually you don't finish rosewood or pau ferro.must just be you not liking the texture of it I guess?
Doing a partsbuild is always a great experience! I really like doing them myself too.
@alexradsby yeah the texture must be it. I never realized I am a rosewood neck guitar and maple neck for bass guy lol. It's my second build but 1st all fender parts build with som CS '62 p PU. I'm pumped.
@guatobean2869 Haha its interesting how our preferences develop. Mine went from all maple to rosewood. I do like roasted maple necks though! Highly recommended!
Sweet build!
When I got my first Jazzmaster, it was a made in Indonesia Squier. It sounded good and I love it, but ultimately I ended up saving all I could during two plus years and finally I could afford an american JM in 2022. It was worth it.
That's great to hear man! Which one did you decide on and which finish? 🙂
@@alexradsby It's an American Professional II Miami Blue, gloss finish with maple neck and alder body. It took 10 months to arrive because it was out of stock.
Oh that one looks so good! I'm personally not a huge fan of the pickups but it plays extremely well 🙂
What do you think of a 2022 60s modified vintera?
At my local shop they get a ton of product in and for the past 2.5 years I have played every fender product available.
The problem is that its all junk and makes no sense.....I've seen squires play better than the ultras...
How is that possible?
Today I sat down with a few jazzmasters
1 professional
2 vintera
3 a road worn
4 ultra
5 and on ican't remember what they called it but it didn't have a trem or rhythm knobs.
I found that the 60s modified vintera was the best but it had a pau ferro neck.
They even had the same vintera in a different color and it wasn't similar at all.....the neck was chunkier and it sounded very weak.
What the hell?
The vintera 60s modified is 1039.00 without a case.....just a simple bag
All have to some research on the pau ferro but I might go back and get it.
Or I might just save my $ and spend it on a 15 dollar sandwich
Thanks for the video
I think Pau Ferro plays well in general. My problem is purely visual. And I agree with you, I did the same thing trying out Jazzmasters. Apparently I like Squiers more than American Professional II? 😅 Super weird.
i bought a squire 40th anniversary vintage and it is amazing - once set up properly. i played a vintera and it didn’t seem with shelling out the extra money for one of those
Id buy the 40th anniversary squier over vintera as well! Well done! Beautiful guitar!
@@alexradsby i went and tried a ltd ed player jazzmaster today and i liked that over the vintera to be honest you don't get the the rhythm circuit on that but apparently (dont quote me on this) its routed underneath so one can be retro fitted later if i wanted to go that route. i would need a different pick guard as well to accommodate it. thanks for your video btw way it was very helpful with lost of food for thought.
The pau ferro fretboard on my Vintera Jazzmaster, looks so goddamn ashy, it just bums me out just looking at it.
Maybe try some Montys Montypresso Relix Wax? UA-cam it. It definitely improves the look
@@alexradsby thank you for the recommendation!👍
That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'll just end up selling it if it doesn't work.
@greenvelvet Understandable. Looks is important otherwise you don't pick the instrument up 😅
We have some insanely good looking pau ferro necks here in Brazil.
I guess pau ferro has multiple looks, i haven't seen that many, I assumed fender just uses whichever they find kinda haha 🙂
@@alexradsby Yea, I was surprised when I saw Fender's pau ferros, they look cheaper somehow
Pau Ferro is a superior fretboard wood that is more durable because of the tighter denser grain that will not actively collect dirt and debris like very porous rosewood will. Pau Ferro is a Custom requested type of fretboard wood that was even specifically used by Stevie Ray Vaughn too, a rather aggressive player no doubt. For me anyhow, Pau Ferro is an upgrade that can take abuse much more like Ebony and is less likely to crumble apart like old Rosewood is known to.
Yes I have no problems with it on how it plays. To me it looks bad. I've seen beautiful pieces of pau ferro but most Mexican fender ones look off to most of us.
Well, the looks of it take some getting used to. I just see it as a darker "Hotter" Orange version of the Maple neck look or a more interesting and "Fiery"striped version of the Ebony look; it can be seen as either one. @@alexradsby
I mean the SRV strat has always come with pau ferro and lots of other high end guitars have used pau ferro.
This is true. It was definitely an exotic wood to use before, still doesn't mean people like it haha. I guess a lot of us are very traditional in nature. We like the standard vintage looks for our guitars overall. I do prefer a darker looking board myself, a bit shallow of course. Pau ferro plays nice though! Didn't feel that much different to me compared to what others say 🙂
Thanks for commenting Jesse, I appreciate it a ton!
What’s your full time job?
I work as a product designer. I design mobile & web apps 🙂
@@alexradsby cool
As you already know, I agree with everything you said.
I think that most of Japanese ones has 7.25 inch radius.
Maybe you consider buyin loaded body on the stratosphere and than buy american pro neck here in Europe. :)
I do like 7.25 radius. It's one of the things I'd love on a new jazzmastee actually haha. Stratosphere might be a good bet for sure. Will look around a bit more for sure 🙂
In 2015, Mex Fenders were $499USD street price. Today, I would buy Squire before Mexican.
You would be far better off with the Sire S7 2 gen, if you have a problem with the Mexican Strat.
@r.p.vanloon6403 Those do look pretty great!
Bought a MIM Jag HH recently. Great guitar but surprised I needed to sort sharp fret ends, but sorted and now plays great. A bit of Monty’s relic wax and the Pau Ferro looks like rosewood. Don’t really mind it and had forgotten it wasn’t rosewood!
You could get a Squier J Mascis JM used for about £450. They are tremendous value albeit needs a pickup upgrade for true JM. Bought mine new and it is worth a little more now.
I also have an AVRI 65 JM which is ace. Picked up 2nd hand a few years ago for £1200. Love it but still not perfect… vintage correct bridge is not much use if you dig in, strings pop off.
Thanks for the vids 👍
That's actually really nice to hear you say that from experience! I appreciate it a lot! I always switch the bridge to a staytrem or mastery 🙂
The J Mascis is discontinued now too! Crazy. Such a good guitar! Prices for that one will definitely increase now too 😅
I'm looking at the Troy Van Leeuwen actually! It has the specs I like overall 🙂
Count me in the I hate pau ferro camp.
I just found a MiM Monterey Strat with Jimi vibes and pau ferro board also really small frets, it literally plays circles around my US Corona strat with jumbo stainless frets i couldnt believe it. The finish not as good but the tone made up for it
Yes I actually played some pau ferro boards, to me they do play well, it's shallow to dismiss it because of looks but I guess a lot of us are stuck in traditions haha.
I have seen some beautiful pau ferro boards too with beautiful figuring. Though a lot of the ones in the MIM line looks flat and unattractive to me.
Happy to hear that you like yours! One day I might one I like, wouldn't gamble on one online though
Pau Ferro is so terrible. Fender needs to abandon it ASAP.
I bought an older J Mascis Squier with rosewood that I upgraded some things on and it's really good, but honestly I still want a nitro JM..
Great vid man.
There’s some truth about your point of Mexican Fenders. I’m not sure if I want another Mexican Fender. Was lucky to find my Mexican that I’ve held on for years. The times we live in make stuff more expensive. That vintera Jazzmaster are fine, but I don’t desire one since I’ve gone the Squier route for mines. But eh, I lucked out
Most of the squiers I played yesterday were awesome! Definitely good instruments! Wouldn't mind using them for projects, buut maybe it's time to check out a MIJ instrument. Maybe. I do kinda like the Troy Van Leeuwen Oxblood Jazzmaster 👀
@@alexradsby as a Queens of the Stone Age fan I would wanna try that Troy Jazzmaster. But honestly, I agree with you trying a MIJ Fender, hell throw Tokai in the mix. I want to try those too cuz I have family/friends in the Philippines who have Tokai/Fender Japan. Kind of wish I try some when I visited them in July
@@renmusical I've tried Tokai Les Pauls and they have been damn great so I would assume I'd like the Tokai Jazzmasters too 😅
Dye it with Indian Ink, water-based so not too bad staining the pearloid, binding, etc.
Ah, never tried it. Would love to see how the results would be using it!
I can only assume that people keep paying the money... if they would stop the prices would come down - seems to me, at least.
Yeah, all prices for guitars have gone up the last year. Bad times all around. Fender layed off 300 people too. Definitely bad vibes from that too.
true...I relate to that also..
i can see the disappointment..
I could careless about looks. I'm all about sound. Know Stevie Ray Vaughan's famous strat was ash maple with a pau ferro fretboard. Think it is hard to make fair comparison when it is not used on the high quality guitars. Objectively speaking
I'm not a fan of the feel of pau ferro, but I did find a way to make it darker: Monty's Montypresso relic wax. It can darken the wood, and the longer you leave it on, the better it works. I used it on my Reverend Dirt Bike (it has a pau ferro fretboard) and it took it from a light coffee color to almost to a tobacco color. That was two coats, about 15 minutes each time. It works even better on indian laurel. It makes it look like rosewood. It should work on maple as well as long as it's not sealed.
I have ordered some of this to test it out at some point! Its great to hear that it seems to be working for people 🙂 thank you!
Used AVRI from 2000s would be excellent but yeah too much money. Might as well go boutique like I already told you 😉
I like the more chill feel of this video.
Haha yes if I'm spending $3000 then I would definitely check out boutique. I was hoping to spend $1000-1500 max. Either on my own build or a fender 🙂
Thanks man, I'll see if I can do it like this a bit more 🙂
The closest I came to buying a JM was an old fender Mexican classic series surf green one that popped up from like 2010. It was amazing looking. But they are a rare bird. It was only about €1600
@@mralgebro Ah i think I've seen those around. Were they the 60s laquer?
I think jazzmasters are not hard to find second hand, since 4/5 years all the tourists are playing offsets now, so there’s a lot of import jazzmasters and jaguars on second hand listings. Yes the new mexicans are a bit expensives but it’s all guitar prices which have gone up not just mexicans. Comparing them to the japanese, if it wasn’t for Pau Ferro vs Rosewood they are almost identical (same woods, same parts, almost same finish, even mexican pickups are generally better, especially against those 90s/00s japanese fenders that people overprice so ridiculously, telling you that they are sooo much better than nowadays mexicans, see the jagstang for example, the best version of the 3 is the new MIM, not the fujigen made, not the tokai made). Anyway that pau ferro debate is now over since they went back to rosewood and see the success of the vintera2, that desert sand jazzmaster that you see everywhere, suddenly no one speaks cares about japanese made anymore now. Regarding those second hand pau ferro vintera1 which are coming on the market for half price now, reallt, 99% of the music audience dont know what pau ferro, no one will see a difference, girls dont care if your fretboard is light brown or dark brown , only population who cares is that guitar geek people of instagram that dont know shit about songwriting and music in general, and for which i couldnt care less about.
I don't get it, and totally disagree. These days the Player Plus is absolutely on par with the American Ultra. I know, because I own both. So in that sense the Player is still a reasonable priced guitar. And I doubt very much if a blindfolded person would hear any tone difference between Pau Ferro, Maple, or Indian Laurel. So you don't like the look of PF. Some people hate maple, it is just a matter of personal taste, that's all.
It's definitely a dumb thing. But visual things about guitars are a major point for a lot of people. Traditionalists as a lot of us are. But yes! I wouldn't not notice tonal differences at all. Thank you for commenting! 🙂
My strat is a Mexican road worn. Luckily, it’s from 2008/2009 and has a rosewood board. I love that guitar more than anything I’ve ever owned. It plays beautifully and sounds amazing.
I always loved the road worn series. Beautiful guitars!
I recently played a MIM Jazzmaster and it played like a dream and sounded fantastic through his period correct amp. The owner didn't shim the neck and left the stock 9's on it. He also got a decent deal on it new ($800) and is happy - and should be. It was smooth as melting butter.🧈
Thats awesome to hear for sure! Thanks so much sharing! 🙂
Ebony and maple are the best. I find most rosewood isn't much better than pau ferro or Indian laurel.
I hate the Pau Ferro necks!
It’s not actually rosewood. Not the same species. I would prefer if Fender used richlite over PF.. I just bought a Troy Van Leeuwen JM and it has a Pau Ferro fretboard.. Huge Disappointment..
The PF is inconsistent and is a mess visually. What Fender could/should be doing is dying the Pau Ferro down several shades prior to cutting and sorting. They could potentially keep using it with better acceptance if they did this.
It’s a shame that Fender are offering real rosewood on the new Vintera II’s and my TVL JM that’s a good $500.00 more has a Pau Ferro neck.. Fail.
I emailed the store I bought it from to get confirmation on the neck wood. I wouldn't accept Pau Ferro on this guitar at all for that price. Why not return it?
@@alexradsby The store that sold it says Fender is telling all retailers it’s RW..
I told the Seller that I want to see what Fender says because this is false advertising!
Your wish came true
I’ll take full credit 😂
It's the economics of supply and demand and the joys of inflation overall
People think rosewood is cheap because people parrot that it’s cheap. You people are silly 😂
Who says rosewood is cheap?
@@alexradsby lol I meant pau ferro,
i literally choose to buy classic vibes over Mexican stuff because of how much nicer laurel looks on average than pau ferro. fender is dropping the ball for those of us that prefer the looks of a darker fretboard. theres no reason to buy MIM when MIJ stuff can be found for about the same price with more traditional woods. even american strats and teles used can be found on facebook for less than a vintera new
guess ill keeping modding classic vibes LOL
You are definitely doing the right thing! 😛
so, if you would build a whole guitar...
why not just build a fretboard instead?
Never buildt a whole guitar. It's a partscaster
Pau ferro looks as dry as my university chalk board. I feel like my fingers will bleed!!
Use lemon oil.
Your problem with Fender is unfounded unless you are going to have the same "problem" with all guitar manufacturers including anyone who makes a guitar in addition to parts suppliers. Rosewood is an endangered species and was banned for export and import by new regulations added to CITES beginning in 2017. The ban was lifted for musical instruments in 2019 but traceable documentation verifying sources as "sustainable" and not "illegal" is still required for both exporters and importers which istin itself is a cost addition. This is the short short version of it but I suugest you spend an hour or so doing the same reseach I did for details and not shoot the messenger as you are doing with Fender. Pau Ferro compared to rosewood is identical in terms of hardness for durability and playability, the two main requirements for fretboard material. As a suitable alternate, the two major differences are color as a negative for some (ok many) and availability/cost as a positive. Over time the availability of rosewood is only going to be less and less which means the costs will increase even more as a result. For the larger manufacturers such as Fender or Gibson, this will naturally dictate which model lines have rosewood fretboards, and that would be their Top of the Line Models.
I've already read about all of this. People want rosewood, i realize its not feasible hence I would rather have Indian Laurel on all models below the American line. Looks nicer and plays just as well ad psu ferro 🙂
Thanks for commenting, I really appreciate it!
pau ferro is a better playing fretboard than laurel or rosewood. looks can be easily changed with inexpensive products and a few minutes of effort.
Sure. It's personal preference. I had no problems playing pau ferro. Smooth in general.
I dislike pau ferro. It’s too orange and doesn’t feel or sound like rosewood. Any kind of rosewood.
Yeah.. It looks off for sure. A lot of us don't like it at all.
You're so right about Mexican Fenders. The value for money is simply not there anymore. And don't get me started on pau ferro (to think that even Squiers once came with rosewood...). The best bang for buck is the MIJ Traditional series - depending where you are in the world, you can get a vintage-specced Jazzmaster, with a rosewood fingerboard, for less than the price of a Vintera.
Dude I would buy a japanese one so fast if I were to find them haha. Definitely not easy in Sweden at least, maybe the rest of Europe though 🙂
@@alexradsby That sucks that MIJ Fenders aren't so easily available in Sweden. Granted, I live in Australia, where they aren't too difficult to come by... I have 3 of 'em.
@@changestrangers I've seen so many japanese guitars I want in Australia haha. Mainly the thinline double bound jazzmaster, that thing just looks amazing to me.
Forgot to ask! Which MIJs do you have? Now I'm curious! 🙂
@@alexradsby Troublemaker Tele, Hybrid 50s Tele, Hybrid 60s Strat
I agree, I'll never purchase a guitar from the newer MIM Fender range. I own an older MIM Stratocaster and Jaguar and with some upgrades they are incredible guitars competing with my made in USA Fender guitars. But these went for around $500-$600 new at the time and had rosewood fretboards. Most of the Pau Ferro fretboards on the newer MIM guitars look ugly (too light and dried out) and the price of these Made in Mexico Fender guitars has skyrocketed. Better off buying spending a little more and buying a Japanese or American model these days in my opinion.
I totally agree with you for sure! 🙂
This is silly, buy a neck, buy whatever Fender you like...most Hot Rod their Guitars anyway these days...CTS pots, capacitors for treble bleed, ect
no Problem, just business and they want you to buy "Premium" so why give you Rosewood if they know the people who care will pony up the cash.
Of course people will pony up the cash for what they want. I certainly did. That said, it's worth talking about because people aren't happy about it. 🙂
I will never buy a Fender with an ugly Pau Ferro fretboard. When Fender started using this ugly wood on $1100 and under guitars they officially lost me.
Yeah I kind of agree with you there for sure!
It’s not the wood type, but the look is absolutely hideous. Knowing a few people in the business these guitars are hard to sell and resell value is awful in comparison to maple for the same model. Just because Pau Ferro is so ugly.
It's weird. Everyone hates it but fender keeps at it. 😅
Pau ferro sucks but doing something good for the environment rocks. Just play maple boards hehe.
Haha I do love maple! But I actually prefer Rosewood on Jazzmasters. It's dumb I know 😅
@@alexradsby i also prefer rw on jms ;) so dont worry haha
@@Gaslight.Guitar haha guitarist are traditional people for sure 😝
Prang pinoy ka kuya😀
I don’t see your problem. Life is about change so move on. I actually like the pau ferro colour, it has a nice shade to it and I think it looks more classy than Rosewood. The real problem are the cheap parts on a hugely overpriced Fender but this is what the market pays right now…
Pau Ferro looks like dry rotted cardboard. Its horrible.
I won't buy a guitar if it doesn't have rosewood. I don't care what BS reason they use for not using rosewood. I can't get past the look of pau ferro-looks cheaper. I'll buy used Fenders with real rosewood before buying guitars with alternative woods. Been playing rosewood Fenders for 50 years and the other wood just doesn't appeal to me 😊. The only 3 Mexican Fenders i own are a 2006 & 2018 50s Baja Telecaster and a 2015 60s Baja telecaster with real rosewood. I wont buy any other mexican fenders today. There's a reason these Baja Fender's are commanding such high prices. I'm not glad i bought them when i did. I prefer played them over the pro II line of American Fenders.
That's great to hear! Im happy the new Vintera line has rosewood boards at least.