Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

Amateur said:
I'm surprised a lot of people picked maple because of the look. Hello! Are you guitar players or you just want to look good with a guitar dangling from your necks?

Of course both the maple and rosewood have their advantages and it usually goes down to personal choice. My experience is that in the long run, rosewood is easier to take care of. Maple will look really ugly after the finish is worn down and is soaked up with sweat and oil. Have you ever played a guitar with a maple neck and the finish is flaking off when you run your sweaty fingers up and down the fretboard? It doesn't take that long for that to happen if you play 7-8 hours a day for 6 days a week. Then the frets have to be changed and the finish starts to crack. Tone is not a factor , it is not that much a difference if you crank you amp way up in gain and distortion. Just my 5 cents of opinion.
Click to expand...

Does looks matter to you when buying a new car?
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

yes looks do matter when buying a car.... as long as the car is a great buy and will last the test of time...

But when it comes to guitars and looks i like them all..... Maple Rosewood.... Ebony.....
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

WhoFan said:
yes looks do matter when buying a car.... as long as the car is a great buy and will last the test of time...

But when it comes to guitars and looks i like them all..... Maple Rosewood.... Ebony.....
Click to expand...
Now this is the guy that has so many guitars that he doesn't even have the actual count.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

I don`t buy ugly guitars ! ehh..or cars. It`s not the most important thing
but it sure matters:)
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

It's not just about what looks best. I disagree with the common wisdom that there's no significant diffrence in tone. There are diffrences in the tone, and the attack of the notes, particularly in lower gain settings. I'm not saying one is better, just different. One should choose based mainly on his/her tonal prefrence and needs.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

I ALWAYS choose my gear based on what's popular:chairfall :smack:

:scratchch Hm. Let's see...


<----------------------
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

I think I remember that some guy, I think it was Mr. Stratocaster himself back in the 50's, noticed that his maple fretboards were getting all dirty so he came up with the idea that rosewood would not get as ugly. But a funny thing happened when he added the rosewood fretboards, the tone changed. Not as bright as the maple but a lot of people liked it plus the dirtyness was not as visible. But still, a bunch of folks also like the maple 'cause it was brighter sounding and they were willing to put up with a little grime. And that's the story. The End.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

Amateur said:
Of course both the maple and rosewood have their advantages and it usually goes down to personal choice. My experience is that in the long run, rosewood is easier to take care of. Maple will look really ugly after the finish is worn down and is soaked up with sweat and oil. Have you ever played a guitar with a maple neck and the finish is flaking off when you run your sweaty fingers up and down the fretboard? It doesn't take that long for that to happen if you play 7-8 hours a day for 6 days a week. Then the frets have to be changed and the finish starts to crack. Tone is not a factor , it is not that much a difference if you crank you amp way up in gain and distortion. Just my 5 cents of opinion.
Click to expand...

This is a valid point. I have an UNFINISHED maple neck\board and it gets pretty grimy after a while. That said, I much prefer the feel and look of maple. Tonally, I'd probably lean towards rosewood if you play mostly on the neck pickup, maple if you do mostly bridge work. Since you've already decided on maple it's a moot point, but I thought I'd toss it out there.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

Thanks. I haven't thought of that before; the correlation between the woods and which pickup you generally use. This is my first strat build, and I was having a hard time deciding which one to do first, seeing how I have always gravitated to rosewood. Also, some colors just look better to me with a maple board: like sonic blue, surf green and fiesta red.

Also, I need to learn how to finish a maple neck/fingerboard, so I might as well start now. I can always do rosewood later.
Besides, I like the way maple gets grimy after the finish is worn...
it adds mojo.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

This might seem weird, but I think of maple as hendrix, and rosewood as SRV- maple- glassy ala Little wing, or even Sultans of swing, and Rosewood as Beefy like srv. Neither is better, just different. I hendrix and SRV both used both occasionally, but thats what I think of when I think of their tone.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

Maple for sure , for me its smoother in feel and a bit brighter and tighter in sound, i've started to be Fender w/maple board fan:laugh2:
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

I am maple no matter what guitar. I had a strat with the cobalt noiseless with the push button and the neck was incredible everybody who played said it was so easy to get sound with the lightest touch.

I've only owned about 7 or 8 guitars but most were good quality and I love maple necks myself.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

Lewguitar said:
I prefer rosewood these days...although my favorite Fender (my 54 Tele) has a one piece maple neck/fingerboard. :smack: IMO, rosewood gives a more complex tone that's fuller and richer. But it really depends on the guitar...I've owned great rosewood Fenders and great maple Fenders. Lew
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.
I love the feel and sound of the rosewood fretboard on my Amer. HSS Strat. Rosewood fretboards seem to sound warmer to my ears.

That said, I still love the Maple neck on my Jazz Bass, and believe I prefer the brighter sound for bass.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

I'm gonna go with maple, but I'm also say go with your gut, cuz it's usually right.
 
Re: Strats: Maple or Rosewood?

panamang said:
I think I remember that some guy, I think it was Mr. Stratocaster himself back in the 50's, noticed that his maple fretboards were getting all dirty so he came up with the idea that rosewood would not get as ugly. But a funny thing happened when he added the rosewood fretboards, the tone changed. Not as bright as the maple but a lot of people liked it plus the dirtyness was not as visible. But still, a bunch of folks also like the maple 'cause it was brighter sounding and they were willing to put up with a little grime. And that's the story. The End.
Click to expand...


if you like a fender-eee type of tone like a slap than maple is your chick
if you like a gibson-eee crush-crunch than rosewood is your baby :fingersx:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top