For those who fancy Maple

[HFox]

The neck on my F is also Maple. Do Y'all think neck material adds to Sonics ?

[Guitars44me]

Originally Posted by Pickcity

But would you agree it could/should be easier?

Beautiful guitar!

If I ever loaded pics onto any other anything, I might know for sure. Hahahaha

It is easy enough to text them, but not here….

Oh well.

This place is worth the effort to me.

So Frank, are you keeping the slope D 12 fret?

Cheers

Paul

[Guitars44me]

Originally Posted by HFox

The neck on my F is also Maple. Do Y'all think neck material adds to Sonics ?

I believe neck stiffness/rigidity adds oomph. Oomph is good! Haha

Maple is stiffer than Mahogany, so it might matter, but so many variables, and so many builders. Hard to say, but as always:

“When it sounds good it is good.” Duke Ellington

Cheers

Paul

[ssstewart]

I'm Canadian eh. Of course maple is my favorite.

[Pickcity]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

If I ever loaded pics onto any other anything, I might know for sure. Hahahaha

It is easy enough to text them, but not here….

Oh well.

This place is worth the effort to me.

So Frank, are you keeping the slope D 12 fret?

Cheers

Paul

Fair enough. It is way easier to post pics, pretty much anywhere these days, but whatever…Oh well. Sorry for the off topic!

I like maple. My J200 is like a Steinway piano.

[Gee Man]

I like it just fine! In fact, I spent an hour or so just this morning enjoy it's beautiful tone.

[K20C]

For 50+ years I’ve been of the opinion that the tone of a maple guitar is not for me. This one changed my mind.







—-

[Gromitspapa]

"The maple kind- yeah?"

[FormerFoodie]

I like to tell people that I'm a rosewood guy through and through... but my go to guitar is maple backed. If my house were burning down and I could only rescue one guitar, I would take the maple. It's that good.

It's a tone wood that gets a bad rap. I don't know where the glamour shots of that guitar are, but here's my NGD post for it with the original glamour pics.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...Circa+Maple+OM

[Deliberate1]

Maple works in mysterious ways. I had never even held one when I made the decision to use it for my first and only build. And it has turned out to be the perfect choice.

Max Spohn, a luthier in Barvaria, Germany, built the most wonderful OM-C from Euro Moon Spruce and Euro maple, and sent it across The Pond last November. I could have hung it on my wall and adored it as a sculpture. It is that beautiful. But it is even more so when you set it in your lap and put fingers to it.

The strings ring with full fundamentals, subtle overtones and an addictive bloom. It is a treat to pluck one string and experience the note's full tonal spectrum as the frequency changes with the loss of energy. The trebles sound with a purity I associate with a hollow body electric. Not "fat," but sweet and round and composed. Never brash or bright or shrill in any measure. Just a pure note.

The midrange and bass are focused and tight and precise, but far from clinical. Overall the guitar has exceptional string to string balance and a warmth and depth that projects more and more as time passes. You would not mistake the voice of this guitar for rosewood or mahogany - which is exactly what i was hoping for.

Visually, the wood Max used is stunning. The figure gives the back a near holographic appearance, changing with the angle of the light. A two dimensional image cannot capture this. It is total eye candy, but restrained. In a way, the guitar kind of looks like it sounds.

The build is flawless. Max's bracing technique, and soundboard selection, undoubtedly make the guitar what it is. In his opinion, 80% of a guitar's voice is attributable to the top, with 20% to the back and sides. As far as I am concerned, 100% of the sound of a guitar is in the luthier's hands.

I believe I was very fortunate to find a luthier who was excited, from the start, to build a maple guitar, and has the expertise to bring out what is so unique and wonderful in that wood. That is the most important choice of all.

David

[LFL Steve]

Beautiful!

[EZYPIKINS]

I spent a couple hours last night playing my 1952 RI J-185. I felt like I was playing a super light Les Paul.

I had resigned my thoughts about adding a pickup to it. But man, Now that I'm doing shows again, I started thinking about installing the K&K. I'm not a huge fan of K&K, but the one in my 12 string is not bad, if I spend a little time on the eq.

[llew]

My John Walker Wise River (Adirondack/Curley Western Maple) is a stellar guitar and my only maple.

[iim7V7IM7]

A couple thoughts:

- In general, there is a perceived bias against maples (or any light colored woods) by flattop guitarists
- Maples are stained by Taylor and even Martin darkens mahogany with pore filler
- The same bias extends beyond maples to other great light colored hardwoods like Oregon Myrtle

That said, maple in the right hands is one of the great tonewoods. Maple varies in density, hardness and stiffness (Bigleaf < Red < Sycamore < Sugar). It tends to be a higher damping back and side wood, but can make a superlative guitar. It has beautiful figure when quartersawn (curly, fiddleback) or flatsawn (birdseye, quilt/pomele).

I own one maple flattop and a number of archtops. Here is a unique 000 sized, German Spruce topped, carved back Bigleaf Maple guitar made for me by luthier Bruce Sexauer.



Here is the fiddleback, Sycamore Maple back of a 16” archtop made made by luthier John Buscarino.

[J Patrick]

I love the dry, articulate tone and quick response that my Maple bodied guitars exhibit. The scooped midrange and enhanced treble response, often referred to as overly bright, are a plus for my old ears……and the beautiful appearance of a nicely figured set is just plain gorgeous.

Generalities aside, Maple bodied guitars can be quite versatile and are suitable for a number of playing styles and genres.