Maple vs. Rosewood neck - How much can it really influence tone?

[jerryjg]

Well, mahogany can be a bright tone wood at times. And with the maple board and ceramic humbuckers I'd wager that this instrument is as bright as can be.

Me?

I prefer my SGs the "old fashioned way"......

Wow! Thats a sweet SG!!! I'll take that from you!
I've got two SG's. AN 80's walnut, and a Classic two P90 model from last year, when I thought they were going to be kind of scarce cause they were temporarily discontinued , but they were continued again after awhile. I can't get rid of the Classic I have now though, even though I could use the bread, cause the grain is so damn fine on it( i lucked out).

[John Richards]

Maple SG:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...tar?sku=582136

I don't like the painted ones though. The natural looks great.

[phantomman]

Technically, mine's a '62 Les Paul Historic Shop re-issue (I think they call them "VOS" now). It has Tom Murphy's "aged hardware" treatment and Classic Plus pickups. A real featherweight at about 5¼ lbs.

[jerryjg]

Technically, mine's a '62 Les Paul Historic Shop re-issue (I think they call them "VOS" now). It has Tom Murphy's "aged hardware" treatment and Classic Plus pickups. A real featherweight at about 5¼ lbs.

Thats a great great guitar!~

[jerryjg]

dbl again. d'oh!

[phantomman]

We sometimes play a four-tune AC/DC medley which is where this guitar really shines. Plugged into my Stage 100 DSP (with 2 x 12 Celestions) it nails the tone nicely. Into a dimed Bandmaster with D120s it easily gets that smooth creamy "Carlos thing" going.

[JM3]

Nice SG

[JM3]

I notice more diff with maple necks vs mahohgany

[ch willie]

What color is this dead horse, and which guitar should I use to beat it?

[John Richards]

Wow, looks like Gibson is diving into the maple neck world:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...tar?sku=582135

[Wilko]

there is more to it than the wood onto which the frets are hammered. THe necks are built differently. Maple necks are one-piece. Rosewood baords are two-piece. That's pretty different, and that difference can surely be felt in the stiffness and response of the neck.

[Erock_Germany]

there is more to it than the wood onto which the frets are hammered. THe necks are built differently. Maple necks are one-piece. Rosewood baords are two-piece. That's pretty different, and that difference can surely be felt in the stiffness and response of the neck.

+1

BTW - there are also 2 piece maple necks

As posted before, this is the difference. In the Fender world it would be the difference for example of a maple lam and a solid maple. Here I actually heard a difference - as minimum as it could be but it was there.....

No difference between maple lam and rosewood lam.

This was using same body, strings, PUs, bridge setup etc......

Never tried a solid rosewood neck. I don't thin Fender ever made them. The rosewood Teles had 2 piece necks AFAIK

[kaicho8888]

Man, this thread is still alive! You guys make me nervous...I can't tell the difference between maple vs. rosewood fretboards like some of you can. I know my hearing is super keen(maybe selective at times); but with amplification... I'm dumb founded.

The next physical, I'll have my hearing checked again. In the mean time, I'll just practice...my fingers need more "mojo" so I can feel the music regardless of maple, rosewood, mahogany, ebony, etc. ...just saying.

...hmmm, what's in the future, composite necks?

[kaicho8888]

Pman,

That SG is sweet with ACDC! Any problems with the neck joint?

btw...that's a pretty penny for your SG $$,$$$.$$

[rudutch]

[kaicho8888]

Maple or Rosewood.... ?

hmmmmm....

[Wilko]

It would a be dead horse if people even knew what it was they were debating.

[bluespckr]

I don't know. They both look blond to me.

Oh, you mean the guitars they are holding?

Paul

[phantomman]

Maple or Rosewood.... ?

hmmmmm....

I got this poster in my studio......about 24" x 36" in the frame.

[kaicho8888]

P man,

You're one lucky guy...did you say 36"x24"x36"? ... and smells sweet? That's definitely rosewood.

[Erock_Germany]

Well, I am going to say maple......bet it sounds great through those extension cabinets....

[Sixpense]

My 2 cents.......

There is a significant sound difference between the two types of woods.

Maple = brighter sound
Rosewood = more mellow, warmer sound.

Pick up a SRV live dvd where her plays the two types and listen to the difference or find a Jimi hendrix live show where he uses the two different types.

[hudpucker]

This guy seems to know a little more than some:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Jha...e=channel_page

[NTBluesGuitar]

Pick up a SRV live dvd where her plays the two types and listen to the difference or find a Jimi hendrix live show where he uses the two different types.

Did they swap necks on the same guitar and then play them? Otherwise, it's just an empirical comparison at best.

This guy seems to know a little more than some:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Jha...e=channel_page

That's a really cool video!

[NeoFauve]

Surprising how that first piece of rosewood rang. It almost sounded like a ceramic pot.
That guy's finished product is quite different than a Strat.

[Sixpense]

Did they swap necks on the same guitar and then play them? Otherwise, it's just an empirical comparison at best.

On Austin City Limits SRV played his #1 which was a 59 body with a reissue 62 neck (original neck snapped in an accident) and he also played a red 57? maple neck strat.

Both bodies are made of alder. A reasonable representation of the two type of sounds.

If you want exact comparison, then feel free to swap necks on the same guitar if you so choose, or maybe ask David Gilmour.

[bignote]

Shut up and play yer guitar! Seriously, This gonna be a pretty subjective thread. Since alot of players have rendered an opinion, heres mine. To my ears, maple is bright with a shaper attack and faster decay. Rosewood is what I prefer because I think it has a softer attack and a longer decay. I know some people will think you have to have bat hearing to tell but that is what I think.

[NTBluesGuitar]

On Austin City Limits SRV played his #1 which was a 59 body with a reissue 62 neck (original neck snapped in an accident) and he also played a red 57? maple neck strat.

Both bodies are made of alder. A reasonable representation of the two type of sounds.

I'm extremely familiar with the Austin City Limits video...I have it.

The point I was making, is that you'd have to have everything exactly the same, only switching the neck, to do a real test on the theory. That includes the same strings, same pickups/wiring, the same setup measurements, etc. If you could do that, I bet the sound difference between the two would be so insignificant, it wouldn't warrant the effort.

I also guarantee that you could do more to changing the sound of the guitar by changing the knob settings on the amp and guitar, and even more so by how you grip the neck with your hands.

Additionally, bignote, I would think the finish on the necks is what's affecting sonic characteristics more than the wood in these cases. Rosewood is a much harder wood than maple, for example, but it's not finished on the fretboard as maple is.

Back to the original question at hand, I say the neck wood is negligible for sonic considerations. It plays an important role in feel, of course, so, I say choose the one that feels best to you.

Most everything else is a non-issue with good amounts of practice and study.

[Gravity Jim]

This again? Really? Still?

[Doc W]

Yep, this again. I had proposed doing a test with all other parameters held constant, but I don't think that it would make any difference to the true believers on either side of the issue, so I am not going to waste the time.

[Gravity Jim]

I agree, Doc: besides, constructing a meaningful test would be murder.

[NeoFauve]

This again? Really? Still?

We tried to get this one figured before you came back, Jim.
Sorry.

[woodlands52]

Personally, I like black ebony as a fingerboard material on a maple neck...purely for feel and looks (can't spell ass-thet-iks).

[NTBluesGuitar]

This again? Really? Still?

Seems you came back just in time.

[NeoFauve]

How hard would it be to take an acceptable example of a Strat that's plugged into an acceptable example of an amp, play it a while to get a whiff of how it sounds, THEN, loosen the strings, get them out of the way, peel off the fretboard and replace it with the other wood?

[NTBluesGuitar]

Then you have the argument of one-piece vs. slab-board maple.

[Gravity Jim]

You know, if you had a guitar that was made precisely for this test, you might be able to do that pretty easily.

But I learned something interesting about this endless fight: according to the Janka hardness test, rosewood is actually HARDER than maple. SO the "softer/warmer" thing you hear all the time is wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

[NeoFauve]

It'd be interesting if you could just slide a new fretboard on, using some super precise neck-long dovetail or something.
You could try maple, rosewood, ebony, that new Hagstrom miracle substance, carbon fiber, nickel silver or SS frets, clay dots, abalone rectangles, birds, or this...


But that guitar wouldn't be anybody's #1.

And even if some cold hard facts came of it all, people still have preferences and personal voodoo about their guitars.

As long a fretboard isn't slathered in a CBS-like poly shell, I'm willing to give it a try.

[Yardbird Mac]

I have a 2003 MIM Standard Strat that originally had a maple fretbord/neck combination. In 2007 I decided to try a rosewood fretboard/neck. What I noticed wasn't so much an issue of tone as it was "touch sensitivity". The maple neck seemed a little more responsive and dynamic, and I could get away with a much lighter pick attack. However, the original maple fretboard had the smaller (pre 2006 - 2007) frets, so perhaps that had a greater influence on my pick attack than the actual type of wood on the fretboard.

[JM3]

Id say Gibson

LOL