Rosewood or Maple neck

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

357mag wrote:

Most of the Strats I've owned have had maple boards and the sound has been brighter and snappier. Now I've got two Strats with rosewood boards and the tone has changed. It's meatier and chunkier with a more rounder top end.

I would have to say that there is a tone difference between rosewood and maple. But your personal experiences may vary.

I would ask , are the guitars the same except for the fretboards.I guess what i am saying is , do you have the same exact model with the same pickups , same bridge, saddles, strings , etc.I have played 2 mia strats thru the same amp, same settings and the difference was so small that i wondered if there was any difference at all. As far as how they feel, to me the maple feels slicker.Bends seem to be easier with my rosewood.I can dig in a little better, but it may be just me.You know Martian, I use black knobs for that SRV tone and when i want to sound like jimi , i switch to white ones. :wink:

Strataholic · **Joined:** Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:28 pm **Posts:** 1956

Martian wrote:

budglo wrote:

...But then again , some guys think there is better tone in black knobs as opposed to white...

Now wait a minute here, this is a whole different story!

I know for a FACT that black knobs are better as the tone doesn't get as absorbed in the plastic as much as with the white knobs. My proof? It was posted on the WEB somewhere (I can't remember) by somebody who has a brother who is better than SRV because his Squier Strat has a DiMarzio Super Distortion in it who heard it from his guitar teacher who is better than VH because he heard him play 'Eruption' once along with the CD, blowing Eddie away and he in turn, heard it from his self-proclaimed MASTER guitar tech who just graduated high school (so he must be smart) who swears he read it in one of his, how to" books and even though he can't remember which one or where, he KNOWS it said it somewhere and the person who wrote the book was told this indirectly by a friend of a friend of a third cousin of a staff member of Eric Johnson's who is the HEAD battery tester for him but he won't prove it because he wants to keep a 'low profile'. So here you have it, the TRUTH!!! :roll:

One more thing: For best 'vintage' sound, the plastics should be, Parchment all the way. The name of the color alone is a dead giveaway!

What a scream! Excellent! :twisted:

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

But i have Abigail knobs.

scarecrow937 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 11, 2008 7:58 am **Posts:** 29

before i bought my 09 MIA standard, i took two identical strats, color and all, one maple and one rosewood and tested on the same amp. i had always owned rosewoods, and wanted a maple. my test concluded to me two things: 1) i'm sure there is a tone difference, but too small to make a difference for me (been playing 13 years) and 2) the rosewood felt a hair faster, but the maple felt smoother and more precise. Since i was looking for a strat to try some different styles of playing then i had been, it was clear maple was for me. but my next strat will have rosewood (and there will be a next). If i was getting a candy cola, i would go rosewood though! i bought mine in black and can't help but think that deep down the asethetic look of black/ maple was cooler (to me) then black/rosewood. I was set on black though. (couldn't fine an olympic white that didn't look urine colored already, if it fades after time to that color, fine, but not fresh out the factory that way, dying to see an artic white/rosewood american standard)

357mag · **Joined:** Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:25 pm **Posts:** 480

Same pickups. Same bridge. Same block. Same strings. Rosewood sounds rounder and more chunkier than maple which has more high end.

fremont · **Posted:** Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:58 pm

I appreciate your insight and humor - thank you.

I'm thinking that I would prefer the darker color of the rosewood
with the candy cola. However the comment about the maple being vintage to the Stratocaster is interesting and carries some weight with me.

I will try to view the two different colors side by side. If they pretty much sound the same that will make it easier to decide then based on the look and feel. I'm pretty sure my ear wouldn't be able to detect any "subtle" differences in the tone.

Thanks again for the great responses. I'll definitely share pics of my strat when I do make the purchase.

-Tagg

zokalr13 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 19, 2009 9:39 pm

as a player for 30 years-i prefer the rosewood neck-it has a more darker,ethereal tone,more anti-social,an outsider vibe,it doesnt show wear marks like maple [just dents and dips] i try all the guitars in the shop..i always end up buying a rosewood neck for some reason........

Ceallach · **Joined:** Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:13 pm **Posts:** 1633

I love the look of weathered beaten maple necks.

kineman karma · **Posted:** Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:44 am

I love both, the only difference with sound is with the wood and pickups.

here is my white lady with Tonerider 54 Surfari pickups and she also has an skb case lol.

here is my black lady with 57/62 fender neck/middle pickups, bridge pup is in a cupboard. As you can see she's resting in a nice skb case.

I love just about everything Fender has to throw at me.

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

Nice axes.To me , you really have to have both .I have a rosewood on my chrome silver strat ,a pao ferro on my SRV and a maple on my charcoal frost .I used to have a older American Series strat with a maple neck and i found out i didnt like the way it felt so I sold it.It had a satin finish on both sides.When the 2008 strats came out with the glossy fretboards I checked it out and realised I really liked it, so i bought one.

kineman karma · **Posted:** Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:02 am

budglo wrote:

Nice axes.To me , you really have to have both .I have a rosewood on my chrome silver strat ,a pao ferro on my SRV and a maple on my charcoal frost .I used to have a older American Series strat with a maple neck and i found out i didnt like the way it felt so I sold it.It had a satin finish on both sides.When the 2008 strats came out with the glossy fretboards I checked it out and realised I really liked it, so i bought one.

Thanks Mate yeah awesome, here is a piccy of my 2008 Fender American Standard Stratocaster.

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

I really like the fretboards on the new American Strats.They feel so nice , not stickey at all.

kineman karma · **Posted:** Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:26 am

Please excuse me people, I'm in a piccy mood.

I love my Strats!!!! LOL.....

cherokee747 · **Posted:** Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:40 am

I too like both. I've got a rosewood board American Deluxe and a maple board American Standard.

Mike

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

cherokee747 wrote:

I too like both. I've got a rosewood board American Deluxe and a maple board American Standard.

Mike

You know , i was all ready to write off the maple necks.My American Series felt too slippery to me and the Jimmy Vaughan felt too stickey to me, but the newer American Standards felt just right.

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