fretboards

I hear people talk about 'em all the time online. Maple, Rosewood, Ebony. However, I don't see how you tell the difference between them. I have two Dean guitars (one acoustic) and the Kirk Hammett Sig. I thought that perhaps Rosewood was the really light colored ones like on Fender Stratocasters, and Maples were the dark colored ones? I checked on Google Images to see, and it shows Rosewoods and Maples both being dark. How do I tell what kind of freboard I have on my guitars?

wow this is odd.

a rose wood fingerboard is usually drak colored with a redish brown tint to it(unless its stained dark)

most ebony fingerboards are dark almost black unless they are on low end guitars and then the might have streaks in them

maple fingerboards a usually yellow/goldden in color and on most fender style necks the ferts bars and inlays are set directly in the neck wood (maple) making the neck/finger board one peice. the truss rod is installed in these style necks by the use of a skunk strip on the back of the neck (if you look at the back of a fender style neck with a maple fingerboard the red/brown wood is the skunk strip.)

ofcourse a maple neck can be stained any color to match the color of the body if you want.