What are the differences between maple and rosewood...

[leftyguitarblue]

necks, besides the obvious? I have a maple on order and I was just wondering what to expect as far as tone, feel or whatever. And, what is your preference?Thanks in advance.

 

[Dante]

do you mean necks of fretboards? cuz EB makes rosewood NECKS as well. as far as fingerboards go, maple has a more distinct THWAK when you hit a note. it's also twangier and has less depth than rosewood. since it's very attacky it kinda sounds like it has less sustain than rosewood(not true AFAIK). a good compressor compliments a maple neck perfectly (think gilmour). it's usually really smooth as far as feel goes. great to bend on. i have a "3 single coil from the other brand" with a maple board. initially i loved it but the twang is really not my thing and i don't like having a compressor on all the time.

and now im gassing for a SS or ASSm90

 

[fsmith]

I have nothing tone wise to go on, I doubt I could tell the difference in a blind test, it's strictly aesthetic for me. I will only buy a guitar with a rosewood fretboard. I've had guitars with maple, a Blue Dawn Axis SS, an EVH, and a Pinkburst AL. I never bonded with any of them.

The only thing that I can say that did happen and is probably just in my head is that I could have something down cold on one of the guitars with rosewood and if I was to pick up one of the maple necked guitars and try to play the same thing, it's like I was lost... I couldn't seem to find the right fingering on the maple board... weird.

So there's my reasons for only wanting rosewood.

 

[candid_x]

In my opinion and experience, maple boards are brighter in tone, snappier, more *pop*. Rosewood is warmer, velvetier, smoother.

Feel wise, I dunno.. I guess maple feels harder, not as in difficult but as in material hardness.

I like 'em both, but lean toward rosewood as a preference.

 

[THE_EB_KID]

In my opinion and experience, maple boards are brighter in tone, snappier, more *pop*. Rosewood is warmer, velvetier, smoother.

Feel wise, I dunno.. I guess maple feels harder, not as in difficult but as in material hardness.

I like 'em both, but lean toward rosewood as a preference.

Well done!!

 

[rocksalt]

Maple!?! Maple!?!

I'll be long dead in the cold hard ground before I recognize maple as a legitimate fretboard material.

J/K. I've always played the rosewood fretboards, the new axis SS (on order) will be the same. I've heard about some tonal differences, but I'm either not a serious enough player, or the difference is too subtle for my ear.

In the end, it's a cosmetic thing for me.

 

[GuitarHack]

In my opinion and experience, maple boards are brighter in tone, snappier, more *pop*. Rosewood is warmer, velvetier, smoother.

Feel wise, I dunno.. I guess maple feels harder, not as in difficult but as in material hardness.

I like 'em both, but lean toward rosewood as a preference.

+1...but it seems like there are a lot of variables that make generalizations except for the same model guitar (other than board) a bit iffy.

 

[leftyguitarblue]

In my opinion and experience, maple boards are brighter in tone, snappier, more *pop*. Rosewood is warmer, velvetier, smoother.

Feel wise, I dunno.. I guess maple feels harder, not as in difficult but as in material hardness.

I like 'em both, but lean toward rosewood as a preference.

that is probably the answer I was looking for.

Thank you everyone!!

 

[rlarino]

maple looks better and feels nicer [/thead]


honestly, we can talk about the psychoacoustic tonal differences... but i would bet that if we did a blind listening test nobody would reliably be able to tell the difference (except for maybe eric johnson LOL)... your FINGERS, amp, pickups, effects, etc... will make a much bigger difference in tone than the fretboard wood...

also, there are little differences in the makeup of every single piece of wood, whether it is of the same species or not, so if we want to examine the most minute tonal differences, the reliability of nature to produce the same piece of wood over and over would come into play also... so even though you may measure some particular difference between two pieces of wood (measure scientifically not with the human ear, human perception of the senses can be very misleading), the repeatability of those exact tonal differences makes them sort of irrelevant


obviously people think there are some tonal differences (and there certainly are because of the composition of different pieces of wood)... i simply question the ability of the human sense of hearing to be able to reliably notice and identify these differences accurately

just like the high end audiophile world, blind listening tests are frowned upon because it usually discredits the BS artists and snake oil peddlers

what matters is your own gut personal preference because any real minute differences are pretty much negligible

(my 2 cents)

 

[Dante]

all the electronics have a big EQ type impact, but no pedal in the world can change string response.

 

[KungFu Grip]

I'm pretty much 50-50 on maple and rosewood preference, but the only maple board I can play is a Music Man. I can't stand a finished fretboard.

 

[candid_x]

I'm pretty much 50-50 on maple and rosewood preference, but the only maple board I can play is a Music Man. I can't stand a finished fretboard.

Funny, I was just telling my kid about a Custom Shop Strat I was handed to try out. The clear coat was so thick on the entire maple neck and board, my hand just skidded up and down the thing. Yuk!

 

[Dante]

mine is actually silky smooth (am dlx strat) and i can't say it sticks any.

 

[JMB27]

In my opinion and experience, maple boards are brighter in tone, snappier, more *pop*. Rosewood is warmer, velvetier, smoother.

Feel wise, I dunno.. I guess maple feels harder, not as in difficult but as in material hardness.

I like 'em both ......

+1 well said - please excuse my minor editing

cheers, eh

Joel

 

[whitestrat]

maple looks better and feels nicer [/thead]honestly, we can talk about the psychoacoustic tonal differences... but i would bet that if we did a blind listening test nobody would reliably be able to tell the difference (except for maybe eric johnson LOL)... your FINGERS, amp, pickups, effects, etc... will make a much bigger difference in tone than the fretboard wood...

also, there are little differences in the makeup of every single piece of wood, whether it is of the same species or not, so if we want to examine the most minute tonal differences, the reliability of nature to produce the same piece of wood over and over would come into play also... so even though you may measure some particular difference between two pieces of wood (measure scientifically not with the human ear, human perception of the senses can be very misleading), the repeatability of those exact tonal differences makes them sort of irrelevant

obviously people think there are some tonal differences (and there certainly are because of the composition of different pieces of wood)... i simply question the ability of the human sense of hearing to be able to reliably notice and identify these differences accurately

just like the high end audiophile world, blind listening tests are frowned upon because it usually discredits the BS artists and snake oil peddlers

what matters is your own gut personal preference because any real minute differences are pretty much negligible

(my 2 cents)

Actually, there are audible differences. But not unless you AB them side-by-side. I've got 2 very similar strats. The only difference is that the fretboards are different woods, and of a different radius. Even the pups are the same. And there is definately a very subtle difference, but it's there. Whether maple is brighter or not, is the point of contention. My RW strat seems brighter than the maple acoustically. I don't think its a question of brightness, but more that the maple seems to have a more focused tone. The RW has a lot of frequencies coming from it, and it's definately no less trebly than the maple. Just that the mids and bass are more pronounced.

When you AB both, even blind, there's a difference, and one can definately tell which is which. But on it's own, I think it's almost impossible to tell.

 

[leftyguitarblue]

thank you everybody for all your help in this matter. I just look forward to getting my Silo no matter what the neck is!!!

 

[KungFu Grip]

mine is actually silky smooth (am dlx strat) and i can't say it sticks any.

The more modern strat variants don't have the finish issue that the vintage models do. For me, anything with a gloss fretboard finish is a no-go.

 

[leftyguitarblue]

The more modern strat variants don't have the finish issue that the vintage models do. For me, anything with a gloss fretboard finish is a no-go.

I know what you mean, my friend has an old tele with a super glossy maple fretboard. Don't like the feel.

 

[dwells]

Maple feels great and sounds bright and silky , love it!!!
rosewoods smooth and warm but feels equally as good as maple
both great
you will enjoy playing the maple!

 

[leftyguitarblue]

just have to wait till about February.

but when I get it...