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Thread: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

  1. #1
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    Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Doing a bit of homework here and I'd like your opinions about which neck you prefer on a Strat and why.

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Forum Member danii's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Maple, it just feels smoother. On a visual level, it matches some colors very well.

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    Forum Member Russ's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    One piece maple its is way they are meant to be!
    ones too many and a hundred is not enough!

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    Forum Member EricRZeppelin's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I'm partial to rosewood. I like the way it looks/feels. It's really a matter or personal preference. I've owned both, but most of my favorite fender players (Page, SRV, etc.) played rosewood.


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    Forum Member 68Bassman's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I like maple for the look of simplicity, but am getting awfully fond of my rosewood fretboards as far as playablity. I continually go back and forth on this....ok
    Maple for the record.

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    Forum Member stratcat62's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    At the risk of starting another heated debate, I find maple is generally a bit brighter than rosewood. I have, play both and each has a different feel. As 68Bassman says, I go back and forth, but my #1 is maple.
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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I prefer maple for looks and feel. I do believe that there is a very slight difference in tone or attack. Rosewood seems to be more balanced. You won't hear it on an album or in a band though.

    I think the biggest tone difference between the two is that players who choose maple necks tend to set up their equipment to be brighter and people who prefer rosewood seem to set their equipment to be a little darker.

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    Forum Member fenderden's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    For years, most of my playing was done on maple necks. While I still own and play maple fretboard guitars, my preference these days is for rosewood. I prefer the feel and even have a sense of a different tone on the rosewood whether that perception is real or not. It's truly a personal preference that may appeal to such things like appearance, feel and arguably tone...

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    Forum Member rudutch's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    either is fine with me, I do like the look of ebony....
    but that's a whole 'nuther debate
    do I look like I know what I'm doing?

  10. #10
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Indeed. My Strat has ebony & abalone dots, and I love the look.

    Does it change the tone? I doubt it. Not nearly as much as the difference between the double expanding truss rod inside and, say, a vintage truss rod. Or the resonance of the wood the neck is made from (which I also don't believe is predictable based on variety). Or the type of bridge, the resonance of the body, and mostly the pickups. And the strings.

    So, all things being equal, it's a matter of visual taste, IMO.

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    Forum Member rudutch's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    Indeed. My Strat has ebony & abalone dots, and I love the look.

    Does it change the tone? I doubt it. Not nearly as much as the difference between the double expanding truss rod inside and, say, a vintage truss rod. Or the resonance of the wood the neck is made from (which I also don't believe is predictable based on variety). Or the type of bridge, the resonance of the body, and mostly the pickups. And the strings.

    So, all things being equal, it's a matter of visual taste, IMO.
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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I had a Les Paul with an ebony fretboard and loved the look and feel. The luthier polished it up nicely when I had the frets dressed.

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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    My Strat has a maple neck, and I really like it, but I think it would sound and play great if I had a rosewood neck. I would really like it better if it had a rosewood neck, but I really like that maple neck on it and I like it more than if it had a rosewood neck on it. but rosewood would be better than maple, but maple is better than rosewood.
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    Forum Member mmcquain's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    My votes are for:

    Maple for Teles and most Strats
    Rosewood for Les Pauls and some Strats
    Ebony for "high end" Gibsons (LP Custom, 356, etc.
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  15. #15
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Quote Originally Posted by photoweborama View Post
    but rosewood would be better than maple, but maple is better than rosewood.
    Precisely.

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    Forum Member rudutch's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    Precisely.
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Quote Originally Posted by rudutch View Post
    either is fine with me, I do like the look of ebony....
    but that's a whole 'nuther debate
    I like ebony too. Otherwise I have no preference for either maple or rosewood.

  18. #18
    Forum Member NeoFauve's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I like the feel of any rosewood more than any thickly finsihed maple fretboards of the 70's+.
    Those were the choices I encountered growing up, so I had a preference for rosewood, until fairly recently.

    Things are different now.
    I can't honestly say I hear a difference.
    And maybe I just play differently now, but I don't know that I even really "feel" the wood under my fingers all that much. It's mostly string and fret.

    Either one can look better depending on the body color.

    What probably counts more than the particular species of wood is that the neck is made well and forms a good "whole" with the body.
    You can't really figure that out until you assemble it.
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  19. #19
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Years ago I swapped the neck in my Am. Std. Tele (relatively thin with a rosewood fretboard, plastic nut, BiFlex truss rod, 22 frets, thick finish, die cast tuners...) with the neck on my USACG T-Style (thick, soft "V" shape, 1 piece solid maple, bone nut, traditional truss rod, 21 frets, thin finish, Kluson style stamped steel tuners...).

    Plugged in, both guitars sounded the same as they did with their own necks.
    The Am. Std Tele remained a smooth, even toned, pop/rock guitar and the USACG T-STyle stayed an edgy, country machine that'll do a mean Jimmy Page with a bit of fuzz and delay.
    There was a negligible tone difference unplugged.

    At a later date I swapped the bridge pickups between the two guitars, and while the difference was more noticeable, there was still no mistaking the two guitars.

  20. #20
    Forum Member toobalicious's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    neofauve touched on an important, often overlooked variable in this decades-old debate.

    maple (or any wood, FTM) with a thick finish on it really feels nothing like maple with a thin or no finish. i never liked that glossy maple feel, but i do love maple necks, and in fact, all of my fender guitars (2 strats and a tele) have maple necks. and it isnt even that i was seeking maple necks, they just happened to be the "right" ones at the time, and for more reasons than the neck alone.
    a

  21. #21
    Forum Member MMP's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I like the look of maple on a Strat, but rosewood is easier to maintain.
    Just a little lemon oil on the board when one changes strings. Refrets are easier too.
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    Forum Member pseudocat's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I've played bright-sounding guitars with maple boards, and dark-sounding ones. Ditto for rosewood.

    At the end of the day, I prefer rosewood for its feel and look.
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    Forum Member longhair55's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I prefer Maple, They just look "right to me"



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    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Quote Originally Posted by NeoFauve View Post
    I like the feel of any rosewood more than any thickly finsihed maple fretboards of the 70's+.
    Those were the choices I encountered growing up, so I had a preference for rosewood, until fairly recently.
    Exactly. One of the reasons I liked Fender's student models better than the "high end" stuff they were selling at the time.

    Me, I prefer 'old-growth beechwood.'

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  25. #25
    Forum Member MMP's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Longhair, them sure is some nice looking Strats!

    Maple tastes great.

    But rosewood is less filling.
    Last edited by MMP; 07-19-2007 at 10:53 AM.
    Then Play On

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    Forum Member stratcat62's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Okay, I can't resist. I play both through the same rig. No changes to the amp, running the same pedal board and the maple is brighter. No question. But, both sound like strats and as stated in an earlier post the difference is probably unnoticed in the band. By everyone but me that is.
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Thanks for all the replies. Very interesting comments.

    I do have a Strat with a maple/rosewood neck but I've turned into a Fat Strat so to say and for a variey of reasons. Just has a bridge humbucker in it right now as I'm still experimenting but I'm loving the results. Very "LP-like" on the top end and very "Strat-like" on the low end.

    I'm thinking of trying to sell a thing or two in order to get another Strat (to keep AS a Strat) but I've never owned an all maple neck one, which is why I posted this thread. Wasn't sure if there was any real tonal differance or tonal advantage of one over the other.

  28. #28
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    My Plus orignally had a maple neck. That neck developed a truss problem, and for a replacement I had Fender get me a rosewood. I cant say the guitar sounds noticeably different. Surely not any more than can be achieved by changing the setup. (Pickup height, action etc)

  29. #29
    Forum Member Bluestar's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    For me, I really couldn't choose one over the other - IMO, they are both "classic" Stratocaster configurations, and stand on their own merits. C'mon - get one of each!

  30. #30
    Forum Member D'Mule's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I like the feel of rosewood better.

  31. #31
    Forum Member boobtube21's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    For me it's purely a visual thing, and based on the guitar.

    I know this has been beat to death...really beat to death...but I want to point out again that if two of your guitars sound different, there's probably a lot more at work than just the variety of wood the fretboard is made from- like body wood, and as GJ pointed out, pickups, bridge setup/metal, etc...

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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Blonde or brunette? Coke or pepsi? ford or chevy?

  33. #33
    Forum Member flintpunk's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I like the looks of a maple neck better. Apart from that, no matter what I change on the guitar, it still sounds like me playing it.
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Maple strat necks, unfinshed or thinly finished for me!

    I like the snap and tighter "spank" to the tone. Rosewood has a smoother sound and sometimes I hear a bit more fizzy highend when I use overdrive. Maple is tighter in the bottom and top. That's in general anyhow. I've played some rosewood necks that were so smooth and dark, but never played any maple necks that were too dark. But it's only one ingredient, and in the final tone, lots of things make up tone. But I believe you can hear the fundamental tone of the fingerboard when you play the guitar acoustically.

    There's a reason those tele chick'n pickers like maple.

  35. #35
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I've seen Vince Gill do mind-bending tone-perfect country chicken pickin' on a rosewood board. On a Strat. With EMG's.

    It ain't the fingerboard.

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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Yeah I've seen some awesome Vince stuff too, but to me, it doesn't have that same punch like Albert Lee's tone. That same spank wasn't there. Still awesome of course.

    While there's more than one way to skin a cat, the fingerboard is an integral part of the tone to me.

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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    Players at the level of a Gill or Lee can make anything sound great.

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    Forum Member flintpunk's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    I feel the thread tilting downward...I'll bet it's 5:00 somewhere!!!
    ...and on the 8th day, God created the Super Reverb and there was ROCK, and it was GOOD!

  39. #39
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    buddstrat, are you are saying that you imagine the difference between the way Vince Gill sounds and the way Albert Lee sounds has something to do with fretboard wood? Well, okay.

  40. #40
    Forum Member NeoFauve's Avatar
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    Re: Maple neck vs. maple/rosewood on Strats.

    In that Foggy Mountain/ Letterman video, both Vince and Albert have maple boards, yet they sound quite different.
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