My attempt at a short rant on rosewood necks...

[László]

Nothing dark about rosewood to my ears, I'd say very rich. The IRW neck on my HBII is a revelation.

I'd agree, it's a rich sound. The lower midrange fullness gives it that quality, it's like adding mocha to coffee,

I don't think of RW as dark, either. Just a different frequency balance. The change in the balance from one leaning toward leanness in the lower mids to one that is richer in the lower mids fools the ear into thinking it's darker, but the high frequency content is still there. The phenomenon is known as "masking" in the audio world.

It's the way our brains *interpret* the audio our ears are hearing. The ears provide information, but there's a whole lot of interpreting the brain does to make sense of it.

Just the way we're all built.

Of course, it begs the question of what one's preferences are, but you're absolutely right as far as I'm concerned.

 

[garrett]

It amuses me when people debate the merits of electric guitar tone woods to such a level of detail. Think of all the things we put between the wood and our ears: pickups, potentiometers, cables, pedals, amplifier, speaker. Add in the variables of live performance: microphone, soundboard, monitors, front of house speakers, the room. Or, consider the nearly endless manipulation you can do in a studio.

The difference in tone is marginal. Just go with what's comfortable.