Guitars: Maple vs. Rosewood neck

TyFenn · 08-16-2005, 08:42 AM

Hey everyone!!

I'm thinking about gettign an electric guitar, possibly a Fender Strat (American) and I was wondering what the difference would be between a maple versus a rosewood neck would be, sound wise...if anything. I'm no expert but I have a rosewood neck on my acoustic and kinda' like it...

feel free to offer any advice/opinion - all are welcome.

Maybe, there are other guitars out there that are much better than strats that are otherwise similar price wise - who knows??

Thanks,

livi · 08-16-2005, 08:56 AM

I have played a Stratocaster for years. Never thought of what kind of wood it´s made of though. Tried a lot different guitars but keep coming back for my Strat. If you are not meticulous about the exact harmony I don´t think you can go wrong either way.

IROC · IROC's Garage

From a sound standpoint, I wouldn't say it makes a difference. The difference will be mostly in feel. Now, the wood that the body is made from will affect the sound quite a bit. Fenders also suffer a little (IMHO) from the bolted neck joint.

I happen to favor Gibson guitars myself, but if I were you, I wouldn't worry about brand names so much and just play a bunch of different guitars and find one that feels right and is of decent construction. Things like nice tuners, solid construction and good materials are good to look for. There are alot of brands out there these days and some of them are very good. Depending on the type of music you like, you might also want to look for specific pickup configurations (humbuckers, vs single coils, etc)

Need an amp? I've got a Marshall VS265R for sale... :>)

Mike

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

I think there is a sound difference, but it depends on what/how you play and what you're listening for. As Mike said, feel is the biggest difference. To me rosewood is a bit "slower", especially for bends. That is, unless it is a pre-CBS neck that has been worn very smooth.

Tone on a maple fretboard (the neck portion is maple on both maple and rosewood fretboards) tends to be a bit brighter with some bite. You can get a hair better "bell" tone too. Rosewood tends to be warmer with a sifter edge. Those are generalizations though, and realize that lots of factors go into the tone...materials, construction, electronics. And the amp makes a HUGE difference, as do the hands playing it.

Wrecked944 · 08-16-2005, 09:52 AM

My Strat is maple...my LP is rosewood...I used to think I preferred maple until I began gigging extensively with both guitars and could not remember which one had which neck unless I looked down.

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-16-2005, 09:57 AM

Rosewood.

FrayAdjacent911 · 08-16-2005, 10:46 AM

Maple can be a little brighter in tone. I used to play a strat through a Laney LH10, which produced a pretty dark tone anyway.

Honestly, tho, most people won't be able to tell much of a difference. Given the same size frets, there shouldn't be any tactile difference either.

targa911S · 08-16-2005, 10:52 AM

Maple is brighter. Rosewood is warmer...does that make sense? There IS a difference. I notice it a lot on basses. How about Ebony? Best of both.

deathpunk dan · 08-16-2005, 11:52 AM

death to strats!

In all honesty, I am a diehard Gibson guy so arcane I only play les paul junior's and specials with P90 pickups. They all happen to have rosewood necks..

actually, so does my oddball old paisley telecaster.

Hetmann · 08-17-2005, 07:35 AM

I think you must be talking about the fingerboard and not the entire neck. LPs generally have a mahagony neck. As for fingerboards to each his own. As long as the guitar is set up correctly, you need to be a pretty good player to really notice a difference in your tone. Many people say maple is brighter, but they are both pretty hard woods. Just play both and see which you like better.

WolfeMacleod · 08-20-2005, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by IROC
From a sound standpoint, I wouldn't say it makes a difference. The difference will be mostly in feel. Now, the wood that the body is made from will affect the sound quite a bit. Fenders also suffer a little (IMHO) from the bolted neck joint.

Hate to bring back a (not so) old thread, but there is absolutely a difference. I've spent several years in the guitar industry, including building them for the likes of Warmoth, Tacoma, little-known Stump Preacher, as well as my own.
These days, I do not build guitars, only pickups. How I wind and voice each one depends not only of the type of guitar, but what kind of wood it's built with.

Sonic dB · Sonic dB's Garage

As noted above...

Maple = no doubt brighter (too bright imo)

Rosewood = more real, accurate to the string tonality and sounds better

For example....I have a new "Clapton" strat...that I paid good money for, but I dont like the maple as it is too bright....my rosewood guitars sound better.

Shuie · 05:08 PM

Wolfe, those PAFs on your website look great! Finally someone else who does a PAF cover that looks like a real PAF cover instead rounded off gibson crap. Im not asking for trade secrets or anything, but how different are your PAFs from the Tom Holmes PAFs? Im getting dizzy looking at current Tom Holmes prices and feeling lucky that i have the sets I have.

Tone is something that is very hard to describe. Im not dismissing the idea of someone being able to hear a difference between a maple and a rosewood board, but to me at least, the pickups and the amp always made a bigger impact on tone. I seriously feel more of a difference with my fingers between a maple/rosewood board than I could ever hear given the same pickups and amp.

WolfeMacleod · 08-20-2005, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shuie
Wolfe, those PAFs on your website look great! Finally someone else who does a PAF cover that looks like a real PAF cover instead rounded off gibson crap. Im not asking for trade secrets or anything, but how different are your PAFs from the Tom Holmes PAFs? Im getting dizzy looking at current Tom Holmes prices and feeling lucky that i have the sets I have.

I spoke to Tom a couple years ago, and he told me that when he decided he wanted to stop making pickups, he decided to raise his prices, thinking people would stop buying them. Not so, he found out. So he raised them again, and they bought even more. They're now about $600 each, if I recall correctly. There is now a Japanese-licensed Holmes model that's manufactured by a friend of my Asian distributor. Pretty good, from what I hear.
As far as the difference between Tom's and mine, it's hard to say. People often ask what's better, mine, Toms, Lollars, WCR...
It's really impossible to say, because none are better, just different. Tom and I use different parts. Being a small guy, I'm rather limited to supplies that are available, so several of the smaller guys like WRC, Lollar, and myself use the same parts, but different recipes.
Tom's covers are virtually flawless. I really like them, and the polpiece screws he uses, too. "Cheesehead" screws, I think.
As for my covers, they are Dead Mint Club that come from Japan, and are hideously expensive exact PAF replica covers, nickle silver. I get them raw, unplated, and age them accordingly. For the "new" look, I polish them by hand on my buffing wheel because I feel the extra layer of nickle could slightly diminish transparency of tone. Besides, the polished N.S has a "glow" that nickle plating doesn't.

My own PAF style pickups are un-potted like the originals. Lack of potting adds harmonics, elasticity, and overtones that potted pickups just don't have. I also use real plain enamel wire.
I discovered several months ago that Gibson's Burstbuckers are using a fake enamel, which is actually a poly-wire dyed black to make it look like enamel. This has been on at least two Burstbuckers I've rewound, and my wire supplier tells me Gibson isn't the only people using it.

As for describing tone, try this: Close your eyes, and visualise the tone you want, as a picture. Tone has been described to me as "a smooth countertop, with a little grime" or "butter, as it turns brown and begins to sizzle" and all sorts of wacky things.
You'd be surprised.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

in general, i think a crappy guitar through a good amp sounds better than a good guitar through a crappy amp (player being equal).

But it also depends a lot on the player. The best amps i've played (Bogner Shiva is still my fav) were true instruments: you had to work the guitar to get the tone. It wasn't about twiddling knobs...its about knowing the bounce and how to use it.

WolfeMacleod · 08-21-2005, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nostatic
in general, i think a crappy guitar through a good amp sounds better than a good guitar through a crappy amp (player being equal).

One of my favourite guitars is an ultra cheap Teisco Del Ray strat style guitar from Japan. Plywood body, plywood neck, somewood frettboard. (Somewood?

)
Sure, the neck is bent to hell. 1/2 inch action. Set it up for slide though, and it screams. Put a little drive behind it, and the microphonic pickup lets loose with great, harmonic-laden, strechy, blooming madness.
It's great.!

Victor · 08-21-2005, 12:26 AM

It's all in the fingers my friends, all in the fingers......

Too many times have I heard brilliant players shine through supposedly crap equipment. Me - I need to compensate with good gear.

Maple, rosewood - whatever you prefer. If you where local, i'd invite you over for a few beers and a strum of a whole variety of axe's to help you make up your mind without a salesman on your back.

Victor · 08-21-2005, 12:33 AM

......just realised I also have a guitar (Les Paul) with an ebony fretboard. Buggered if I can tell the diff between rosewood and ebony.

Anyone?

Shuie · 08-21-2005, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Victor
......just realised I also have a guitar (Les Paul) with an ebony fretboard. Buggered if I can tell the diff between rosewood and ebony.

Anyone?

The only guitar Ive ever owned with an ebony board was a '60s slim tapered neck Les Paul Custom. It felt a little faster than my standard at the time, but the neck profile was different. The LPC was typical current off the shelf gibson (heavy and dark sounding guitar made around '97 or so) and the standard was a 7.5# '58 historic custom shop job that would ring as long you wanted to hold a note. Ebony is a 'bright' tone wood, Rosewood is 'warmer'. The tone was different between the two guitars, but I dont know how anyone could listen to them blindfolded and tell which one had the ebony board.

Shuie · 08-21-2005, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nostatic
in general, i think a crappy guitar through a good amp sounds better than a good guitar through a crappy amp (player being equal).

agreed 100%. Also agree 100% about the player comment.

I can make the lightest and most resonant Les Paul loaded with Holmes pickups and played through a Komet or a '64 JTM45 sound like crap

. Im a total geek about this stuff, but the best gear in the world doesnt make me sound much better than I am.