Busting a myth: Rosewood vs Maple. Do fretboard woods make a difference?
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- Опубликовано: 11 янв 2021
- We try to dispel (or prove!) the idea that fretboard materials affect the tone of an electric guitar. Using two Fender American Pro II Stratocasters, we A/B them both and leave the decision up to you!
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I like that slick lacquer that's on a maple fretboard just feels better
Maybe maple sounds brighter than rosewood, maybe it doesn’t. But I have never understood this discussion. It’s only a difference one would hear when the two are played against each other, such as in this video. Not once have I listened to a song and said to myself, “Oh, this was played on a maple fretboard!” Who does that? Would anybody think less of David Gilmour if he predominantly played Strats with rosewood fretboards? I say if you have a choice of fretboards on two otherwise similar guitars, pick the guitar that looks best to you aesthetically and move on.
Yes.
I agree, I feel that rosewood has more bass.
I'm 100% sure David Gilmour has a preference of fretboard material.
Tenha as duas..
I can't play VH tunes on anything other than a 5A birdseye maple fretboard, personally... 😛
It's funny, on the blind test, I was opposite what they really were. I thought the attack on guitar A seemed to be maple, whereas the attack on guitar B seemed warmer to me and was rosewood. I guess my ears were lying
Thats exactly how I picked it.I think he playing with us.I am sure A was maple,and B was rosewood.
@@GoldSeals me too
I thought b was brighter. I'm only listening with ear buds tho
Same here Timothy. During the blind test I thought 'A' was more musical and brighter, and 'B' was less tonally-complicated and not as bright/ more dry. But surely that's the complete opposite to what you might expect given the reveal of which-is-which wood at the end? I think a slight mis-match in EQ might be throwing things here then, either that or the guy mis-spoke and got them the wrong way round himself in his concluding words (seeing as multiple people in the comments apparently had a similar perception i.e. that A must be maple).
Please read my comment above.
Just what I was looking for. Superb presentation.
My 77 year old buccaneers being subjected to years and years of loud amps had a bit of trouble picking out which was maple or rosewood in the blind test. But I did hear a very slight difference (or did I imagine a difference in tone?) In the visual comparison a couple of riffs on the maple did (I think) have slightly brighter tone. I own and play both Maple and Rosewood Strat's but with different pickups so I've never thought about the neck affecting the tone, just the pickups. I think the feel difference of maple and rosewood fretboards may affect the way you play slightly, which maybe could affect the tone.
I have a limited edition fender strat with an rosewood neck and to my ears it sounds bright and snappy with clear definition like maple compared to the rosewood board /maple neck combo . It’s funny because I thought it would be darker and warmer because it’s fully rosewood, instead the opposite was true
I definitely heard a difference. They sounded very similar, however the maple had more honk and attack with the lower mids a little more present. It sounded more percussive to me. The rosewood fretboard strat I heard more harmonic content less pick attack more high end content but the lower strings seemed kind of dampened or dark.
Of course you heard a difference, they're two different guitars and no two guitars sound exactly the same..
@@Glicksman1 so which part(s) of the guitar are responsible for the sound then, and to what degree?
@@warshipsatin8764 Are you sincerely asking me to go into all of the possible theories and opinions about this enormous subject, or are you just baiting me?
You ask this "question" as if you think that that either it is unanswerable (which it likely is), or you think that you know the answer and are ready to pounce on me, or anyone else who says anything different.
Sorry. I don't play that silly game.
I'm hearing that honk a lot but I'm not hearing it in nickel frets. It would be good to test if I could dial it out as its pretty harsh.
It has nothing to do with the fretboard.
Background props looks sick dudes!
You need to pick your fretboard material by the feel you like. Truthfully I could barely tell when he was switching guitars when I just listened to the audio. When I watched and listened, then I could tell. The difference (on an electric guitar) is so minor compared to even the slightest tone adjustment on your amp or guitar that you really need to just pick the one that feels best when you play it! Good video by the way. 😊
I picked opposite and was bummed because I liked B more and I ordered mischief strat with maple but end result got me pleasently surprised good comparison
Excellent informative presentation.
Rosewood perceived for wider full spectrum bass, middle, treble overall spectrum tonality.
In my experience I've noticed I can hit harmonics more consistently on rosewood. Aside from that I think they sound similar enough to base your preference on aesthetic.
@astull12
Hello! 2 years later and want to thank you for this insight. I’ve played acoustic for decades, finally plugging in. I love harmonics on electrics, so that would really be a deciding factor for me.
🙏🏽✌🏽💙 from Minnesota, USA
I bought an American pro maple fretboard and love how smooth it is. Also maple ages so nicely looks great dirty.
I built two teles with the body material cut from the same piece of wood. The necks were both maple. One had a glued on maple fingerboard and one rosewood. They both had the same electrics, pickups, strings etc. The maple Tele just sounded nicer than the rosewood one which I subsequently sold.
Great test! I got the blind test the wrong way round. Then when you did the sighted test I thought it was opposite and questioned if I had the blind test correct. They really are quite close
Ah man. For the blind test I was like: Yeah A is way brighter, it's obviously maple.
Then for the non-blind clips I was like : Yeah, maple is so obviously brighter.
This is not the first youtube blind test maple vs rosewood video where I've been convinced that the answer is blindingly obvious and have gotten it totally wrong.
I think the moral is that it's not worth choosing a guitar based on which fretboard wood you prefer. The best guitar (for you) in the shop might just be the one with the "wrong" fretboard wood.
I bought a guitar last week. I tried out 25 guitars and ended up getting a hardtail bullet strat (Indian Laurel board). While I was trying out those guitars I wasn't even really aware of what the fretboard was made from. The body and neck shape had a much bigger influence on my choice. You could swap the neck on my strat for a one piece maple neck and I doubt I'd care.
Rosewood has that upper midrange that jumps out at you more, and some perceive as brighter. Maple is more even across all frequencies, with less mids, which makes it sound brighter overall to me. And, i always find the difference to be most pronounced on the neck pickups, and less so on the other positions. But, on the neck pickup, the RW always has that rounder and woodier tone that maple doesn't have as much.
I appreciate the time you put into this. The thing that most people don't realize, or want to accept, is that every piece of wood on the planet is different. There are generalities that can be made, but in my experience buying a maple neck strat does not guarantee you a brighter or sharper tone/ attack. This is why I sold a CS strat and my main guitar is a partscaster. There was just something missing with this guitar. The partscaster is all Fender stuff, but that custom shop body and neck just didn't like each other... Your odds of them getting along are much better if you go CS, but I've heard Japan Squiers that are ridiculously good that most guitar guys would never pick up. Guitar price does not mean sonic joy...
I feel you man! YOU SO RIGHT! I really understand because i've done same stuff! and agree with japan squiers.
I must have a light touch because I rarely even feel the fret board especially with the frets that come on guitars now they must be higher then the ones that came on the older guitars. To me they both sounded like a Stat I just personally like the look of rosewood.
I haven't owned an electric guitar in about 8 years. Before that I didn't play for about 15 years, but for about six years I played various guitars and really didn't know if there was a difference. I'm watching this because I am considering picking up a Fender Strat. I owned a Tele 8 years ago and regret parting with it. I owned a Washburn Strat with a rosewood board in my youth along with a Charvel (with a maple neck), but I never played them side by side, and I even had different amps when I owned them. That said, I have a fairly good ear for sound, and I definitely identified that B was a maple neck because it sound brighter and slightly punchier at times. There was one thing you played where I was surprised it was B, but overall I could definitely tell the difference. I can see why someone like Brad Paisley gravitates to a maple neck on his Telecasters. But I can also see why he uses a rosewood fingerboard on his Strat (i.e. She's Everything). That doesn't mean one's better than the other, and I assume the difference between fresh and dead strings can matter as much or more, but if I wasn't convinced there was a difference before this video, I am now. That said, there is a difference between what we hear and see versus what we hear and see that is recorded. I heard positively heard the differences, but I obviously wasn't there in the room. My opinion is that I would have heard them because they were that different. We also have to remember we all hear things a little different. Some of us are better at hearing some frequencies than others, so for some people they may not have heard a difference. But for me, it was evident there was a difference. Thank you for making this video because it really did confirm what I heard others say, and if you hadn't done the blind test, I wouldn't have been able to rule out confirmation bias.
get the strat doesnt matter rosewood or not ive owend both
*I ripped this video and separated the audio track and took samples of 1 second each of guitar A and B on all of the examples except the last one (bolume and distortion were not set the same. So there was a difference.*
*I ran the audio track samples through my editing software, and the frequency fluctuation was almost identical between both. A tiny difference. But barely at all.*
the differences were probably due to his strumming not being 100% consistent. Only way to fully test, is have a machine do the strumming
Warmth or brightness or any fingerboard has no effect on frequency ... any guitar playing the same note will have the same frequency (assuming they are in tune) that's how a guitar tuner works !!
LOL I thought A was the Maple neck. It sounded warmer to my ears. The question I am interested in which Guitar did you feel more comfortable playing. Thank you for the demo.
I found this extremly interesting. I've only owned maple but thinking there's something satisfying about sparkle and snap of the rosewood. Guess I'll just have to buy one and find out for myself :)
Under blind test, the Rosewood sounded snappier, harsher. With the blind removed, it was the exact opposite.
I think his attack was inconsistent.
I don't know how people say Maple is brighter. A and b blindtest you can clearly hear the rosewood ping in A.
Maple is not brighter it's more compressed.
This and maple has an obvious dip in the mids which makes it percussive, whereas you get more control and a better string separation with rosewood.
I totally agree with you
Awesome video thanks.
This is crazy, in the blind test I picked two times guitar B, so the one with maple but in the rest of the video I would have picked the one with rosewood.
I enjoyed the playing, Ill give u that much.
I prefer maple, just for it looks
Well, a maple fingerboard also feels a lot different from a rosewood one.
Rosewood looks more elegant.That’s why the first years of the Strat they did rosewood, because they were competing with the Les Paul, which is a guitar that was design aesthetically so it could look good with a tuxedo. So Leo Fender had to use rosewood first. Then came maple, but it wasn’t yo appreciated until Clapton started playing with it and making it famous.
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@Elian Dean Instablaster ;)
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What a great review conparison
Nice video. To my ears the differences were not remarkable. There may have been some slight differences tonally but as a few have stated, no two guitars sound identical. For me it comes down to visual preference. I absolutely love the look and feel of a maple fretboard. If there were differences in tone, to me it was not enough to pick the fretboard less visually appealing to me. What is great is that we can have a choice.
I was so sure Guitar B was rosewood, it was warmer sounding and I preferred it thinking it was the rosewood one lol. Seems I was wrong lol!
Don’t feel bad , a least you can admit it.
I had the exact same feeling.
I looked away for a second and didnt realize you had changed guitars
definitely sound different, the size of the difference heard depends on people. I spot the difference immediately because I am used to listen to it closely, in the past I could not hear the difference personnally. However the more gain and compression you had the less you can hear a difference
My issue with the two and Fender is they apply the poly on the maple necks after the Frets and bury the frets a bit. Not the case with rosewood.
I like the feel of maple. Makes me want to play more.
guitar A is clearly more resonant.I dont know which fingerboard that is yet or if that makes a difference, because it could be the body as well,and the two different maples in each neck regardless of one having a roasewood board.and the quality of how the guitar was made
Man are they close! To my ear, on the blind test, the rosewood sounded a little brighter on the bridge but the other away around at the neck.... 90% of the work being done by the pickups seems about right. Does the maple fingerboard have a finish? Or are they bare wood?
for sure the maple fingerboard has a glossy finish (as in all the expensive fender models). You can see the light reflection on the fretboard at the minute 6:00.
Great Demo Mate! Ill take one of each:)!
almost soudns the excatr same id say the diference is so small iwould go for what you think looks better
Listening on a pair of Adams with my eyes close and periodically opening them, I knew maple by a sproing in the attack and I bet it's due to the way you're playing in reaction to the different feel.
I can't discern a difference in the sound, but it's certainly true that maple feels bloody different. I reckon when I first bought a Fender with a maple fretboard that it took me at least a year to get used to it, it just felt bloody weird.
Completely agree. I have only ever owned rosewood and just bought a satin maple neck strat. It’s for sure different but I really like it. It does just feel weird at first but it brought back some fun for playing because of the change.
Maple necks always looked the best for me depends on the pickguard too if they match
I did what a nerd would do and ran the audio through the Decibel X frequency app. I’m starting to think Maple lacks just a little of the lowest frequencies but I’ve only started comparing.
I've been playing for so long I don't really mind about all this but I seem to be hearing a brittle harshness in all these sounds. Initially it must be the rosewood but I'm hearing it in every example. I definitely a nasty harshness from steel frets. I'm not sure if you can dial it out but I'd rather just put up with nickel frets and get them changed.
Felt the maple was twangier and rosewood felt more spacious
I can’t hear any difference between the two guitars
And those who say any different, well we know those types don’t we.
Could have sworn the blind test that A was maple. But was actually rosewood. Ok so somehow rosewood is brighter than maple. Which I thought would have been the opposite.
The next video should show the difference in strings. Not the normal stuff, the indepth things. The different internal shapes, materials, UK.. The seemingly insignificant stuff.
Guitar A the white one sounds better throughout the test. Guitar B blue one is muffled/dull/muddy compared to Guitar A.
But I suspect even though Fender claims they're both identical guitars somewhere in the circuitry there's a mismatch. A resister/capacitor/shielding/wiring is slightly altered between the two. I doubt it has anything to do with fretboard wood altering frequency/clarity of the chords and single notes coming out the speaker of the amp.
wow, they sound only slightly different, but I cant define in which ways.BUt those amrecian pro 2's sound so great in this clip. They always sound great but that's amazing.That is all the strat sound I would ever want. Am i getting that from my silver sky? probably...i am just de-sensitized to my sound. and this sound is new to me. wow what a warm sound....
The maple had a honk / quack kind of sound on the attack where the rosewood didn’t
During the first half of the blind test, I thought B was the maple, and then during the second half I was no longer sure.
To my ears the maple sounds warmer and the rosewood brighter. I bought my Pro ll with a maple fretboard for myself.
I'll agree that the were close, but in the blind test, I preferred guitar A, and then rosewood in the non blind test. I can tell the difference. I have preferred rosewood for a long time. I also prefer the look of it.
How do you know it was the rosewood that made TGE difference...they were 2 different guitars, with different pick ups, different bodies, different strings, and different frets. Could be the rosewood made all tge difference...but I'm guessing not.
i've always felt maple sound brighter and rosewood a little darker. it was never important for me because every guitar i owned had a tone knob and the fretboard is not for changing the sound. is for the FEEL, and i personally hate maple in my fingers, it's just not for me. Rosewood feels good, always go for that and it never was about the sound, just the feel. For the sound a lot of pieces of wood won't make any difference, is how you play and through what you play. the most important things are the pickups and the speaker for sound. in between them you can EQ everything to match almost anything
I always dreamed of a maple fretboard (love the looks) until I finally went to buy one and it felt like I was playing glue. Hated it!
I just bought a cheap squier with a urethane finished maple neck and I actually love it 🤷♂️
I watched a thing were Clapton said it’s a lot easier to do bends on a slick maple neck and I have a maple neck on mine but I really love tha way tha rosewood looks compared to tha maple 🍁
There’s a video on RUclips where a guy has ten identical spec guitars (Miami blue with maple fret board) and he does a comparison and they all sound slightly different.
I can hear it. to me its sounds like the maple neck is a little raw. However the neck pickups sounded pretty dang close.. Definite notice in the bridge pick up
This is the exact video I've been looking for. For all the people that claim they can tell the difference, I'm only going to show them the first part of this video with the blocked out guitar, and tell them to choose which one is which. People who think this stuff makes a difference are crazy. As soon as you showed the guitars, I could hear the difference, but I couldn't hear it when you weren't showing them.
This is a very well understood psychological phenomenon. The senses use each other to fill in details. This is why when you show an instrument being played, especially in an orchestral context, people who know what that instrument should sound like hear it more suddenly. People who don't know what that instrument should sound like do not. This phenomenon has been publicized for many years. People who could clearly hear a difference between two instruments that they were seeing could not hear the difference when they didn't see the instruments. When people have made blind tests, all the people who claim that they can tell the difference suddenly dissapear.
Thanks for the comparison. I have a strat and tele with maple and I see on this video that I like maple better.
I have heard that it does not matter and yet they do sound different. When one plays melodies with attention to maintaining tone quality, not snapping the strings or playing with a planky thin tone the differences are noticeable. Maple is flatter in terms of frequency response. Rosewood is more active in the low and some low mids which can lead the listener to perceive it as a darker sounding wood without considering what is happening in the highs and upper mids.
They also respond a bit differently. One reason maple is perceived as brighter is because a lot of folks tend to “break the sound”. It is a term that refers to when you pluck a string harder than it’s natural threshold and instead of getting a clean bell like sound it snaps. This is what we find on some blues shuffle rhythm work or some funk guitar. Under such type of attack maple tends show some activity around 3.5k when you are digging in while the difference in timbre on a rosewood board at this dynamic range is less pronounced.
In short it is not merely a question of when being brighter and the other darker. There are more variables at play in what they do when you pluck in different ways, when you play in different ranges as well as ranges of dynamics and all of this is just with a clean guitar. The differences become more subtle the more gain is introduced to the equation but yet they do something different even in that case.
i have to say i heard the difference, and i spotted right maple was B. Maple sounded slightly more harmonic rich to me than rosewood. also on the neck pickup and playing around the 12th fret, i have to say it sounded slightly more hendrix'ish than the rosewood one (if you listen carefully on that kind of solo at 5:53/6:02)
It might be better to compare maple to pau ferro, as rosewood isn't used as much as it was.
The only way to do this is to use the same body and swap the necks. I'm sure you'd hear a difference but you gotta do that for it to be a proper test.
Assuming the pickup heights aren't significantly different, the tonal difference is the same as with all such comparisons I've heard. The RW has more midrange, and less high-end chime (I'd attribute the chime to the thick hard finish over the frets).
honestly with the maple/rosewood board its whatever feels and looks better to your preference because you can get the same sounds out of both of them... where as pickups,amps,cabs, solid mahogany or maple capped, change the tone from very very slighty to Alot
The Rosewood sounds more 'Warm" and the Maple has more bright or has more of a "bite" to it.
I prefer the maple in clean tones and rosewood in dirtier tones. Maple doesn't absorb so much drive as rosewood, and kind of muffles the sound a bit, but that's just my opinion.
If the fretboard wood made any significant difference, would some guitars have large block inlays ? B bright C Dark I don't think so .
The maple board actually sounds like it has a bigger tone, more lows,mids and highs.. i don't know it's usually rosewood has a dampened high end but 🤔
Me too! on the blind test, I was opposite what they really were.
I have 2 jackson dinkys. One with a maple neck and one with rosewood. There is a noticeable difference. Even with high gain the maple is brighter. I like the rosewood with it eq'd to be more trebly like the maple.
Maple seems to have more scooped mids - where as rosewood has more controlled low end. There's definitely a difference... I'd say a substantial one!
Huh? The pickups and bodies didn't factor in at all?
love both guitar but I'm a maple guy.
I went to a music store recently to try to bust this myth myself. Grabbed 2 ultras off the rack 1 maple and 1 rosewood. Played them side by side with my former guitar teacher facing his back towards me, and he had a very hard time distinguishing the 2 and told me that he was taking a guess. I believe if you're looking for a difference in sound your ears can make you believe that something sounds different. For anyone shopping for a new guitar - don't be hung up on this. Maple and Rosewood should be a feel and aesthetic choice and not based off of sound. Some maple fretboards will feel smoother than a rosewood and vice versa. For example my previous strat was a Pro 2 with rosewood fretboard and was buttery smooth. Back in November I replaced my pro 2 with an ultra which has a maple fretboard and I am in love with it. It feels super smooth to play, but what sold me was the aesthetic look of the maple matching with the headstock which I felt complimented the mocha burst very well. A darker finish like dark blue or black, even a surf green, would look amazing with a rosewood fretboard in my opinion, whereas brighter finishes with shiny bursts I think look perfect with a maple. I highly recommend going to a store and playing both yourself to know which feels better and is most inspiring to play. Happy hunting :)
I did notice a difference, however is was the opposite I expected!
They both sounded similar to me. 😂😂💝
Maple has a cleaner brighter sound,where rosewood sounds dull,and muffled.I have an american series strat with a rosewood fingerboard,and I hate it.I went out and bought an american series maple fingerboard strat a few months later,and love it.Im considering changing the neck out to a maple fingerboard.A few years ago I was looking at prices on the maple fingerboard necks,and they were running around $400.
Very interesting! I was just about to buy a Strat with rosewood and was doubtful it was gonna be bright enough...
@@toddthomas4761 I believe maple,or ebony fretboard is the way to go.Im not sold on rosewood.Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.My opinion.
I have a rosewood strat and the cleans are nice and bright. Not muffled at all. My buddy has a rosewood strat as well and his doesn't sound muffled either. Must be your pickups or your amp.
@@MrGuitarandvocals its not the amp.Ive plugged other guitars into the amp,and they sound great.Its possible it could be the pickups.But I doubt it.I bought it brand new a few years ago and its always sounded terrible compared to my other guitars.Maybe I should measure The ohms on the pickups.Do you have any idea how many ohms the pickups on a american series strat is supposed to be?Thanks in advance.
@@GoldSeals I wish I could help you, but I have no idea. I swapped out the stock pickups in my strat for a Bareknuckle HSS set. The stock pickups were decent, but the Bareknuckles blow them away imo. Now that I think about it, the stock pickups sounded kinda muffled. Lol. My buddy has Texas specials in his strat and they are fantastic. No issues. It has to be the pickups. Best of luck!
Maple is a little thinner on low notes, a bit snappier on highs!
But overall what difference does it make? None!
listening to the A/B I thought A was the rosewood.. listening when I could see the guitars I though A sounded like what I though the rosewood was..
The string actually touches the metal part of the fret so it doesnt matter whats underneath (wood)
Totally like the maple sound. I chose B as the maple and I was not wrong. Had a brighter cleaner sound.
Fun thing is if you show this blindfold test to someone out of context, like they don't know what guitars are compared at all at what specific aspects are compared, like it could be just any guitars, I bet absolutely nobody will tell you "oh I definitely can hear it's two identical alder body strats, most likely fenders, but I notice that one is rosewood and other one is maple fretboard"
I am not sure that this two guitars are completely same. I hear the difference and it is much bigger than possible could be just because of different fretboards. I've seen the video where the guy use the only one guitar with two different necks and his video shows that there is now noticeable difference.
Funny, I thought A was brighter and I thought it was the Maple but it was the opposite. I love the look of the Maple but the sound of the Rosewood. Sad that Rosewood is no longer in production. Now to compare Pau Ferro w/ Rosewood...
As far as I know, rosewood is still in production, just not for the MIM guitars.
I don't think my ear is sufficiently finely tuned to tell much difference but I play maple only because I like the feel.
Interesting video. I would like to see the frequency graphs. Yes, there is a difference. And as usual, it really depends on the usage: style of playing, equipment, live or recorded. In my opinion, maybe experimenting with different strings, and pickups could also be important. The rosewood does seem to have clarity or brightness by comparison. I like the maple for chords. I guess George Harrison played a all-rosewood telecaster on a few songs? So the question is really about how it stands out in the mix, including all the effects added. Mostly, I am reminded of the old saying: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Probably, for most of us, the rosewood costs more, and highlights our lack of technique. :-[
I don't think that all maple or maple with a rosewood fingerboard makes as much of a difference or any difference, but no two guitars sound alike, so using two guitars to do this test proves nothing. Only by using one guitar and changing the necks would tell us something useful. Yeah, it would be a PIA to do that, but that's the only way to be sure that we're really hearing any difference or none.
Great comment!
Very true
the rosewood is the better sounding guitar. and i prefer guitar A. I wonder which one guitar A will be?
Good test. I liked the sound of A better, and I got it wrong, which means I learned something.
MAPLE IS MORE VIBRANT, PERHAPS BRINGS OUT MORE HIGH END!! ROSEWOOD MUCH DARKER TO ME LESS SNAP I FEEL IT HAS MORE SIZZLE WITH OVERDRIVE...AND YOUR SOOO RIGHT IF I LIKE THE LOOKS OF A CERTAIN GUITAR ILL LEAN TOWARDS THAT ONE! GOOD COMPARISN!
It's funny, in the 1st seconds before he came into view, I jokingly said to myself, well there's definitely a maple lol
Close enough. Anyone who claims a big difference is just cork sniffing. Bigger differences in any two strats (far more than fretboard material) would be the electronics (obviously) and then the nut material the string guage etc. Fretboard material is almost negligible once plugged in to an amp at an appreciable volume. That said I'm a rosewood guy on my Fenders, more for the look than anything although maple is beautiful also. .
I used to switch off during generic demos but I recent years I'm hearing yikes I need to turn they brittle sound off. There's a significance between nickel and steel. I'm sure I could dial out the steel sound but I'll definately stick with nickel regardless of the hassle.
I like maple for the extremely smooth feel to it
I changed from rosewood to maple in one of my guitars and the change is big, the guitar sounds different, maple is more bass big sound than rosewood.
I hear differences with the fingerboards but their enough to notice. The maple sounds brighter and more tinny it has a distinct sound like it's got more treble. The rosewood sounds more softer or warmer as others say, I feel the rosewood has more articulation and that it's richer when playing licks & hammer on's. I don't mind maple with cleans but I think rosewood is better when distorted and more versatile.
Brittleness and harshness in both guitars. I have nickel fretwire. Thing is I can hear it regardless of the amount of distortion. I think you can't get rid of it without losing clarity so I guess I'll stick to fretwire. M
Rosewood sound brighter and warmer.Rosewood for me.
So many factors go into tone. Each guitar is so individual. The strings...the pickups...the body...the wiring...the PLAYER....the amp. This isnt like an acoustic guitar where the tone resonates from the sound hole and the body (most notably the top). The guitar is amplified. I dont believe you fretting a note in a location that doesnt have a pickup will impart much tone differential. The string will have a frequency (note) based on where you fret it and the pickup (microphone) will grab it and add volume (along with tonal characteristics of the in the electronics / wiring of the pickup. Your eyes have more to do with it than anything....
Rosewood sounds wider with it[s mid range. Maple sounds more concentrated. Both guitars had good highs. But it's very hard when you don't use the same body because we've all been into a shop and picked up strats. The weight varies wildly and therefore the quality of the wood and whether it was at the top or bottom of the tree makes a big difference. But if you want wider or more concentrated in your tone then it's a part of the chain to think about. If you look at someone like Zakk Wylde. Mahogany has a wider grain and a wider sound. Zakk modernised the Les Paul sound with EMG's AND using maple set necks Whereas Eddie did something similar with bolt on maple necks, higher output humbuckers and basswood to be wider sounding than strat woods. If what you want is the tightest guitar possible then people start to use more and more maple in their guitars from the neck, fretboard and body top, in Jerry Cantrell's case the whole body. Which in turn helps you sound good with darker amp/pedal settings. Dual Rectifier, 5150, SLO100 etc. all had a lot more gain and bass than generations of amps before them. Hence why headless, stainless steel fret, multiscale guitars these days are on the brighter and louder side. There's a strong reason why Ibanez, Kiesel, Strandberg, Schecter, Ormsby, Anderson, Suhr, G&L, new design PRS (Weiner started it), Musicman etc. all have a scale of how much maple they generally use in their electric guitars. Maple has a magic to it that people can't deny that works so well in a huge mix or by yourself. What I see in the comments is that people don't realise how robust maple is and how delicate treble can be on a rosewood guitar because it sounds wider.