Solid maple electric guitar?

[Dru Edwards]

Hey everyone. I was watching some shows on "Rig Rundown" (thanks to Desolation Angel for his thread) and came across Scott Ian of Anthrax. He was going through his guitars, picked one up and commented how heavy it was - it's an all maple body electric guitar. I think he mentioned he only uses it for a song or two.

I don't think there are too many maple bodies out there? Wouldn't that make for a bright guitar?

[815C]

I have a maple body Warrior Experience. It is a very bright guitar. In fact, I was thinking about selling it until I found the right amp for it (an amp a friend of mine built for me - a 1x12 combo tube amp). The combination of that amp and the maple guitar are great for the type of gig I played Friday night (it was a night club gig). I don't think I'd use it for a country or rock gig. I tried playing it thru a Dr Z Stang Ray and an old Bassman and it just didn't work because it was too bright. I will say that using a Line6 M13 with this guitar & 1x12 amp allowed me to nail the Allman Brothers slide tone at a gig last month.

I posted a picture of the guitar in this thread http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=352432

[s2y]

Some of George Lynch's guitars are all maple bodies. He uses very high output pickups, so the wood timbre might not be as obvious. He's also a body builder and might not care a lot about weight.

I've played a few solid maple guitars and found them bright and heavy. Not my thing.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by 815C

I have a maple body Warrior Experience. It is a very bright guitar. In fact, I was thinking about selling it until I found the right amp for it (an amp a friend of mine built for me - a 1x12 combo tube amp). The combination of that amp and the maple guitar are great for the type of gig I played Friday night (it was a night club gig). I don't think I'd use it for a country or rock gig. I tried playing it thru a Dr Z Stang Ray and an old Bassman and it just didn't work because it was too bright. I will say that using a Line6 M13 with this guitar & 1x12 amp allowed me to nail the Allman Brothers slide tone at a gig last month.

I posted a picture of the guitar in this thread http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=352432

I read your thread - I didn't realize it was a maple guitar. What pickups do you have in it?

Originally Posted by s2y

Some of George Lynch's guitars are all maple bodies. He uses very high output pickups, so the wood timbre might not be as obvious. He's also a body builder and might not care a lot about weight.

I've played a few solid maple guitars and found them bright and heavy. Not my thing.

I didn't realize Lynch had some maple guitars. I do know that he uses (or used to use) Seymour Duncan Screaming Demon pickups, which were developed for him. They're a bright pickup ... I'm guessing he doesn't use them in his maple guitars.

[Bob Womack]

I play a Carvin TL60T that has neck-through body construction and has a maple neck/body center section with alder wings. It is fairly light and features a bright sound that offers excellent individual-string definition.

Bob

[zabdart]

In the mid-70s, Jerry Garcia used to play an all maple-bodied guitar before he switched to the cocobolo/rosewood models he used from then up until his death.
Those were heavy monsters, weighing in at about 10 lbs. or more.
I remember when Gibson was making its L-5S model in the 70s. That, too, was one heavy and very bright sounding guitar.

[wkbryan]

I'm not sure. About 6 strings but in the late 70's/early 80's I had a solid maple Gibson Grabber bass. Not too bright, no dead spots, and a wonderful neck.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I play a Carvin TL60T that has neck-through body construction and has a maple neck/body center section with alder wings. It is fairly light and features a bright sound that offers excellent individual-string definition.

Bob

Hi Bob, I too have a maple neck-thru guitar (actually it's maple with some walnut), it's a Schecter C1 Classic, and it has mahogany wings. It too is light compared to my Les Pauls.

[s2y]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I didn't realize Lynch had some maple guitars. I do know that he uses (or used to use) Seymour Duncan Screaming Demon pickups, which were developed for him. They're a bright pickup ... I'm guessing he doesn't use them in his maple guitars.

Maple+Screaming Demon.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by s2y

Maple+Screaming Demon.

That's interesting. I just read that he likes the screaming demon because it's a moderate output pickup (not high output) and is expressive.

[815C]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I read your thread - I didn't realize it was a maple guitar. What pickups do you have in it?

Joe Bardens

[s2y]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

That's interesting. I just read that he likes the screaming demon because it's a moderate output pickup (not high output) and is expressive.

All relative, although it's hard to have something expressive/dynamic when the gain is cranked so hard.

[guitararmy]

I have four maple-bodied strat guitars (all figured maple), and I don't really notice them being that much brighter than other strats. Maybe I just haven't played them loud enough to tell, or perhaps figured maple isn't as hard as the plain type....

[s2y]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

I have four maple-bodied strat guitars (all figured maple), and I don't really notice them being that much brighter than other strats. Maybe I just haven't played them loud enough to tell, or perhaps figured maple isn't as hard as the plain type....

Figured maple tends to be a little lese dense. Canadian rock maple is dense and western soft maple is less dense. If it's not horribly heavy, it's probably western soft. The less dense maple isn't nearly as bright.

[Jeff Scott]

Rickenbackers are all maple (most of them, anyway) and are not heavy at all, except perhaps the 381.