Does Maple open up like Rosewood?
 

I usually hear how Rosewood & other woods "open up" after playing them for a while. Since Maple is a harder wood, does it go through the same process as much?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Depends largely on whether you believe "opening up" is a real phenomenon, whether you can hear it if it does happen, or may imagine it has when it hasn't.

Moot point though.
Best not to base your decision to purchase a guitar on how well it's tonewoods are supposed to "open up" or not.
If you don't like a guitar at first, don't expect it to "open up" to the point where you will.
As long as you buy guitars you like the sound of, if they never "open up" you'll still have guitars you like.

I've always assumed -- perhaps incorrectly -- that any opening up that occurs involves changes in the top more than in the back and sides. It'll be interesting to see what others have to say.

That was my assumption as well.

I think pretty much all guitars "open up" over time, especially the more they're played. That's been my experience anyway. Even solid body electric guitars and laminated top, back and sides acoustics seem to sound better when they're twenty or thirty years old. I'm old enough to remember when the Fender company was bought out by CBS and many of us hated those poorly made CBS era Strat and Tele guitars when they first came out. Now, forty years later, they don't play any better but they sure sound better.

and also my assumption.

bill

My "go-to" acoustic is my Mark Angus 6 string, #35... maple b/s w/ a German Black Forest spruce top... Mark built this one for me in 1979, so she's... 32 years old this very spring!

She sounded amazing when I first played her; balanced tone and a lot of volume (the shape of a Guild F-40 w/ Florentine cutaway)... surprisingly, especially with all I'd read about maple guitars and experienced myself, NOT overly bright... the entire mid-range, from low-mid to high-mid, is nicely pronounced, though.

This has been my main (and only) 6 string for all these years, so I would think I'm well equipped to comment on how she's changed through the years, tonally. Like I said, the guitar sounded really great from the get-go... over the years, she's gotten even more warm w/ a bit more low end. Lightly built, the overtones have increased somewhat, but overall? Pretty much still sounds like she did, 32 years ago.

I'd have to agree with the sentiment that the top wood is what "opens up", over time... back and sides are chosen for their hardness and flavor the sound a bit, but the top is what's really moving, everytime you play...

BTW, the German spruce has developed "stripes", lighter colored sections of the top, through the years. Those stripes were not there 32 years ago! When I asked James Goodall about them, he said that sometimes sapwood doesn't show up until years later... no matter tho', the tone is lovely!

Have to agree with the reply that said to buy a guitar that you LOVE the sound of, as is... I wouldn't think that a poor sounding guitar is going to "open up" into a nice sounding one...

Well, what I've experienced is that the tops open up first and most obviously, while the backs and sides seem to take longer to loosen up and develop.

But, yes, I do believe that there's some breaking in that goes on with backs and sides, and - yes - maple will warm up and break in.

Not in the same way as rosewood, but in some ways I like broken-in maple instruments even better than broken-in rosewood instruments.

You can really hear this in maple mandolins that have received heavy use for more than two or three years. They can start off sounding a bit brittle, even harsh, but after serious use for a few years the tone on them sweetens up considerably.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

The old time jazzers I knew used to remark that maple-bodied archtops tended to change dramatically for the better in the first year. I've owned many maple flatops, and so do they. Of course, you have to play them.

I love the idea that any instrument "sweetens" with play, I am not sure one way or the other....there is a museum in Italy that houses quite a few Sradivarius violins, each one is played daily....in the hope that sweet music does "sweeten" the sound....some people swear by it, others ...not so sure....
but like the rabbi said...." it couldn't houit".....I also think that our own hearing changes as we age, so maybe it sounds different to our ears because our ears have changed....doesn't matter....I love the fact that we think so....
What do I know?

Mah ' Crub

Nope. It opens up like Maple!

maple....
 

You couldnt resist that could you But I was thinking it...........

My wife has about a 30-year old Guild G37 that has maple back and sides and that guitar has acquired a little more bass over the years.

- Glenn