Maple body?

[NathanCahill]

I am bidding on a cheap (project)guitar with hum sing hum configuration on ebay. I am pretty sure it has a maple body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard. I need some advice on some pickups that will keep it from being overly bright/percing. Thanks.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Maple body?

aph neck, lil 59 middle and cc bridge

 

[xerxes]

Re: Maple body?

wouldnt a maple body be incredible heavey?

 

[Blueline]

Re: Maple body?

i'd avoid an all maple neck and body guitar - it may look pretty but its goign to be damn hard to tame it

to me, maple should be used as a seasoning and sparingly to avoid an imbalanced guitar

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Maple body?

i'd avoid an all maple neck and body guitar - it may look pretty but its goign to be damn hard to tame it to me, maple should be used as a seasoning and sparingly to avoid an imbalanced guitar

I would never disagree with a talented luthier like yourself, Blueline, but on this one I have to disagree; I have two solid maple guitars, that also have maple necks/fingerboards, and I absolutely love 'em!
Both have Screamin' Demon pups in the bridge, tho I think I'm going to put an A2P into one of em (Kamikaze 4) to vary the tone a bit.
What do I like about maple? It has an incredible snap to it that I don't hear in any of my other guitars (which are alder, ash, and basswood). It also has a ton of low-end growl but no mud in there ... when pushed, the tone really gets aggressive, but not thin or tinny, and it's harmonically rich -- I can hear the harmonics in a regularly fretted note many times.
Is it heavy? YES! But, so is mahogany, and you don't hear any LP players complaining about the weight -- it's the price of admission if you want that tone.

I can totally recommend the Screamin' Demon in the bridge HB postion. Crank it and have fun!!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Maple body?

aph neck, lil 59 middle and cc bridge

Jeremy, you probably know much more about these things than I do, but I would never put a CC in the bridge pos of a maple guitar. I think it would turn into a bright, screechy mess.
I like the idea of the Lil '59 in the middle, tho I would probably go with a Hot Rails or JB Jr ...
For the neck, I agree -- Alnico 2 Pro all the way!!

 

[Blueline]

Re: Maple body?

fair enough - it could just be my ears and the type of music i've built guitars for in the past

 

[NathanCahill]

Re: Maple body?

It will be used mostly for hard Rock/Metal. BTW it has a Floyd would this change any of the recomendations.

Thanks for all the info.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Maple body?

It will be used mostly for hard Rock/Metal. BTW it has a Floyd would this change any of the recomendations.
Thanks for all the info.

No, and you're welcome!

I ain't using my Lynch guitars for Country/Western!

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Maple body?

hmmm, I'll side with Blueline on this one.

Maple bodies of the heavier variety tend to be very dry and harsh to me. Now, that may be just what you need if you're the lead player in a very gained-out two guitar metal band or a large format band with lots of keys. But if you tend to play less gained out stuff in a more sparse mix, the maple body may become pretty fatiguing to the ear quite quickly.

I'd advise caution. Aside from various Lynch model esps, it's hard to find maple bodied guitars to try out. Interestingly, I saw an ltd (cheaper) lynch tiger model a few months ago, and it sounded pretty good acoustically. It was pretty light for a maple guitar, though.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Maple body?

LOL - Hot Grits, I wasn unaware that there were "sides" to be chosen.
Your points are good ones: and should be taken into account, just like Blueline's.
I've had incredibly good experience with maple guitars, and plenty of experience as well, so I thought I would chime in on what I like about 'em!

 

[xerxes]

Re: Maple body?

No, and you're welcome!

I ain't using my Lynch guitars for Country/Western!

would be interesting to see however