From my experience of fretting 30-40 necks a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months (Minimum).... I have the following to say:
EBONY:
Due to Ebony's tight grain and stiffness, It is an ideal wood when it comes to inlaying because while you are drilling/routing out the cavities for your inlays as tear- out is not too bad... When it comes to fretting it is also a great wood as it is not too susceptable to 'crushing' frets (This is when the wood gives out under the fret while you are pressing it down, consequently making the fret too low.) Some of the disadvantages of utilizing ebony is that radiusing and slotting is a much more extensive chore as it will take you twice the energy to achieve the same result as a much more pourus wood. Also, ebony has a very bright tone.
BLOODWOOD, MAPLE, & PAU FERRO:
Bloodwood, Maple, & Pau Ferro are actually very simular to Ebony; although slightly less pourus; causing a slightly warmer (yet still bright) tone than the ebony. This makes them also ideal woods for inlaying and fretting for the same reasons as ebony. When radiusing and slotting they are slightly more forgiving than the ebony, though slightly more prone to tearout and fret-crushing.
ROSEWOOD:
Rosewood can be quite variable for it's density from piece to piece -- and especially between the different breeds of rosewood found worldwide. In general however the density is significantly less than the other woods, making it have a warmer tone and also more suceptible to tearout and fret-crushing. Radius and slotting are also significantly easier with rosewood in terms of energy, but the risks of tearout while drilling out inlay cavities can sometimes be rough on exceptionally less dense pieces of wood.
All-in-all they are all exceptional woods for a fretboard; but I do wish to refer you to a link that describes numerous different woods used in making guitar necks and some of the tonal characteristics of said woods which may broaden your horizon on different woods to check out.... [HERE]
A good trick to reference is that tighter grained woods (denser woods) will take more energy to radius and slot, while they are not as commonly suseptible to tear-out and fret crushing; while looser grained woods (less dense woods) take less energy to radius and slot, while they are more suseptable to fret-crushing and tearout.
Also; on another note -- if you are planning on inlaying your own custom inlay on a pre-radiused fretboard plan on re-radiusing and re-slotting said fretboard so that the slots are deep enough and the inlays are smooth on the surface.
Hope this helps,
~KD Williams
Everett, WA