Maple vs Rosewood
- Thread starter oliver
- Start date
rocksoldier
New member
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
On the maple boarded guitars i tried, i think it sounded just fine.
It´s not like a diffrent fretboard wood is gonna change the entire sound of the guitar.
And even if there is a small diffrence, it´s so small you can propably "fix" it with the eq.
The fretboard wood is more about feel/look than tone IMO.
On the maple boarded guitars i tried, i think it sounded just fine.
It´s not like a diffrent fretboard wood is gonna change the entire sound of the guitar.
And even if there is a small diffrence, it´s so small you can propably "fix" it with the eq.
The fretboard wood is more about feel/look than tone IMO.
Rainmaker
Bee Bee King
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
I would've assumed that fretboard wood would be incredibly important, since the majority of the string length is over the fretboard. But I do agree, some look better than others! Birds eye maple... mmmmmmmmm.
:drool:
Pickups could help to compensate yep.
Bee
I would've assumed that fretboard wood would be incredibly important, since the majority of the string length is over the fretboard. But I do agree, some look better than others! Birds eye maple... mmmmmmmmm.
:drool:
Pickups could help to compensate yep.
Bee
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
Rosewood has a more rounded hollow tone to the note, whereas maple has more attack and punch, but a tad brighter. Even though everything isn't equal, it's like the difference in tone between SRV (Rosewood) and Clapton (Maple).
Rosewood has a more rounded hollow tone to the note, whereas maple has more attack and punch, but a tad brighter. Even though everything isn't equal, it's like the difference in tone between SRV (Rosewood) and Clapton (Maple).
iDunnoMang
New member
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
ebony or maple birdseye > all.
ebony or maple birdseye > all.
S
seafoamer
Guest
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
My darkest sounding gtr has a maple f.b & neck.
My darkest sounding gtr has a maple f.b & neck.
poopsmith921
New member
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
birdseye maple looks so good i think i am going to eat it for breakfast. i really want a strat with a birdseye maple neck (lite ash)
birdseye maple looks so good i think i am going to eat it for breakfast. i really want a strat with a birdseye maple neck (lite ash)
Boston Joe
New member
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
Just my take, but I have found that rosewood adds a subtle depth and transparency to those old 70's single coils that was never achieved with maple-- throaty, if you will. I have been using Dimarzio HS series pickups and SD Hot Rails with the maple necks. The bite of the maple stills adds that Strat character to the pickups.
Just my take, but I have found that rosewood adds a subtle depth and transparency to those old 70's single coils that was never achieved with maple-- throaty, if you will. I have been using Dimarzio HS series pickups and SD Hot Rails with the maple necks. The bite of the maple stills adds that Strat character to the pickups.
big_black
Opaqueologist
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
Maple does add a bit of brightness to the tone, but in my experience, it seems like in most Strats it comes from a combination of the body wood and the trem. The metal and springs in the trem can add brightness. I blocked my trem and noticed a dramatic drop. Maple I would say adds more punch or snap to the attack of the notes. If you visualize the enveolpe, rosewood seems to have more of a slow "bloom" to the attack (of course we're talking fractions of a second). Wtih maple on the other hand, the attack is more immediate. I don't know if I am making any sense, but that's how I interpret it.
I am a maple guy. Maple does well with heavy riffing, soloing especially. I'm not a solo guy, but I'd think you would want a more immediate attack when shredding.
Maple does add a bit of brightness to the tone, but in my experience, it seems like in most Strats it comes from a combination of the body wood and the trem. The metal and springs in the trem can add brightness. I blocked my trem and noticed a dramatic drop. Maple I would say adds more punch or snap to the attack of the notes. If you visualize the enveolpe, rosewood seems to have more of a slow "bloom" to the attack (of course we're talking fractions of a second). Wtih maple on the other hand, the attack is more immediate. I don't know if I am making any sense, but that's how I interpret it.
I am a maple guy. Maple does well with heavy riffing, soloing especially. I'm not a solo guy, but I'd think you would want a more immediate attack when shredding.
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JeffB
Let it B
Re: Maple vs Rosewood
Agreed. I recently picked up my first maple board guitar, and that's a very fair assessment. It's a bit brighter but not overly so, and I'm actually coming to prefer it..as the brightness starts with the wood, as opposed to the pickups or amplifier/eq. It's more "natural" than altering the signal further down the path. Adds a nice little low end definition to heavy gain tones as well. I played the exact same guitar(same body wood as well) in the store with rosewood, and certainly it was a bit warmer or smoother, but lacked punch, snappiness, and low end clarity comparitively.
Again, funny how tastes change. I've always been a rosewood only type guy since I started playing..didn't like ebony, didn't like maple.
big_black said:
Agreed. I recently picked up my first maple board guitar, and that's a very fair assessment. It's a bit brighter but not overly so, and I'm actually coming to prefer it..as the brightness starts with the wood, as opposed to the pickups or amplifier/eq. It's more "natural" than altering the signal further down the path. Adds a nice little low end definition to heavy gain tones as well. I played the exact same guitar(same body wood as well) in the store with rosewood, and certainly it was a bit warmer or smoother, but lacked punch, snappiness, and low end clarity comparitively.
Again, funny how tastes change. I've always been a rosewood only type guy since I started playing..didn't like ebony, didn't like maple.
