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Post subject: Rosewood vs. Maple.... and single coils
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:16 pm
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What is the difference between rosewood and maple in a fingerboard? Soundwise (of course).

And for all you single coil users (probably all of you), I have used humbuckers all my life, but I hear single coils make noise easily (turning electric signals into noise). Will this noise be evident when playing live/loud? I play for my church band so I don't want an annoying buzz or hum. I know Eric Clapton and all those guys don't have any noise live, but then again, they aren't playing through a cheap Guitar Research amp with a Lite Ash tele/HW1 strat


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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:29 pm
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For the fretboards, the rosewood has a warmer tone, the maple brighter.

Single coils: today there's so many reverse wound, vintage noiseless and others that single coil noise doesn't have to be a problem anymore. I use just normal vintage wound single coils and sure, there's a hum sometimes, but it's not a problem. I mean come on, they've been used for decades on recordings and live and have always worked just fine.

Make sure your guitar is properly shielded, don't stand next to a bank of florescent lights, televison monitors or computers and the noise should be minimal. You really don't even hear it once you start playing.

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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:54 pm
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you might hear the hum when its all quiet, but believe me that once the drums and bass come in, you won't hear it at all

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Post subject: Fret Board
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:55 pm
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About the fretboards - I sat at Guitar Center and played every darn strat they had... I don't think I found a C-shape maple there. The finish does have a different feel. I favor a C-shape over V...
For one thing the Maple looks so much better, more vintage looking. I didn't hear any brightness issue - that don't think wood type on the neck would change esp. on an electric.


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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:22 pm
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Jasper, you didn't hear any brightness from the maple fingerboard because there isn't any. There is no audible difference between fretboard woods, because the string is vibrating off the metal fret, not the wood: the difference is cosmetic.

Guitar players have told each other that maple is "brighter" than rosewood for decades because maple is associated with Telecasters and because it looks brighter, but IMO this is one of those "tone myths." If you listen with your ears, there's really nothing to hear.


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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 6:38 pm
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I'm not sure I notice much of a sonic difference. Nothing that a slight twist of a tone control on an amp can't "fix."

I do notice a slight feel difference: the bare rosewood versus the finished maple. But I adapt to it in minutes.

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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:59 am
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I never really noticed a difference in tone either- but I've always thought that a maple fingerboard just looks "Fender" :)

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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:05 am
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Scanman13 wrote:
I never really noticed a difference in tone either- but I've always thought that a maple fingerboard just looks "Fender" :)


Exactly. I never thought I'd dig a maple board on a bass, but I love the "Fender-y" look of my Precision. Does it sound different? No, but there's no doubt that I "feel" different when I play it than I ever did playing a rosewood bass. My visual reaction to the board made me think more old-school, more low-down early-days, when "Fender bass" meant any bass guitar. I think that kind of reaction is how the tone myth came to be.


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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:12 am
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Just to take it a step further- and this is just my opinion - but being a recent Fender convert - (Gibson/Epiphone all the way from the 70's until last year) - when I used to picture the Fender Strat it was always a three color sunburst with a maple fingerboard, and the tele was always Honey Blonde or Butterscotch Blonde/Black pickguard/Maple fingerboard. Those to me were THE Fender icons. Now the Squier Strat I bought is 2 color sunburst with rosewood, and the Fender Strat is natural finish with maple fingerboard - go figure :roll:

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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:48 am
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Scanman13 wrote:
when I used to picture the Fender Strat it was always a three color sunburst with a maple fingerboard ... Those to me were THE Fender icons.


Did that Strat have a large headstock too?

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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:58 am
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I can't say that I have noticed a difference in tone between maple and rosewood either. I prefer rosewood, but that's just my personal opinion.

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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:12 am
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not sure they sound any different, but i do think rosewood is more playable. but that could just be in my head :P

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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:26 am
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i do notice a difference in the sharpness of my 2 teles. My am standard is punchier and it has a the darker warmer sound. It may just be the difference in the body wood and the pu's I dont know, but i do notice a difference
As fdar as single coils, i have playd them so long i dont even the extra noise any more!!!


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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:13 pm
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I have an am deluxe with SCN pickups... the best of both worlds... sounds like a single coil, zero noise!


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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:47 pm
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I have 2 Strats. One with Maple, the other with a Rosewood board and I can't tell a difference with respect to brightness of tone. Some people say that Rosewood gives off a warmer tone, but I really cant tell a difference. They do look and feel different. Rosewood is more porous than Maple. I really like both and would have a hard time choosing between the two. With regard to the pickups I really like single coils especially for playing clean, but I do have a stacked humbucker in the bridge on one of my Strats for when I want to play something heavy. You won't notice any noise from single coils when you are playing.


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