Does Maple open up like Rosewood?

[alohachris]

Aloha,

I suggest you take a field trip out to enjoy Symphonic music in a great hall sometime. You won't usually see any spruce & rosewood soundboxes on-stage, only spruce & maple soundboxes with strings - some aged over 200 years.

No, the viol family is different, especially in longevity by design (50 years is often tops for regular playing of say a classical guitar, a fine cello is still a kid at that age). But the opening up process is the same for spruce/maple cello's as they are for spruce/maple guitars - solid maple & spruce guitars. Even cheap guitars open up with regular playing.

Many luthiers will tell you that opening up the top through playing is more important to sound improvement than the back & side material.

Well-made wooden musical instruments that are played all the time will all open up, no matter the species of woods used. Those ignored will need a message now and again to re-optimize their sound. It's up to the player.

As I see it, one of the problems with having the huge quivers of guitars for different purposes that many boast of here, is that some of their guitars are not going to get enough playing time to fully open up.

And if these players are constantly trading guitars away for others, how can they enjoy the great sound of a guitar that they've been building their tone into for 30+ years? They can't.

It's something to think about & a good reason for playing & staying with a primary guitar as the best players often have done - people like Andres Segovia. He actually "played out" three primary guitars in his long lifetime.

I've been regularly playing my three, self-made gigging guitars for over 34 years now. They've opened up nicely for me. I wouldn't trade 'em for ANY other guitars at this point.

alohachris

[skyver]

I think one reason why classical guitars get "played out" over time may be that they're so lightly built. Segovia wanted a guitar that would fill a concert hall without amplification, and classical guitarists following him continued that trend, so luthiers developed ways to make the guitar louder, with greater projection. I have a replica of Segovia's 1937 Hauser guitar, and it's as light as a feather, compared to any other guitar I've ever played. I've heard stories of classical guitarists putting a finger through the top just by tapping it. In comparison, modern steel-string guitars are built like tanks.

[GibbyPrague]

When I was in NYC last year guitar I visited Umanov guitars and played a 63" SJ-200.

It had incredible warmth, yet still that maple clarity. I checked it against a brand new J-200 and there was no comaprisement, the warmth just wasnt there.

So, from my experience maple does break in and if i was going to buy a maple b/s instrument I almost certainly would go for used, preferably vintage.

[random works]

Maple is just another kind of wood. I don't see why a maple back and sides guitar would not get better over time just like mahogany or rosewood or koa. The structural changes will happen and should be a positive thing.

[Gham]

What if the tone wood was open all along and it was actually the bracing that began to loosen up and form to the vibrations from the surface?

[lmacmil]

Originally Posted by TaylorPrague

When I was in NYC last year guitar I ...played a 63" SJ-200.

It had incredible warmth, yet still that maple clarity. I checked it against a brand new J-200 and there was no comaprisement, the warmth just wasnt there.

So, from my experience maple does break in and if i was going to buy a maple b/s instrument I almost certainly would go for used, preferably vintage.

But you really don't know how much of that incredible warmth was due to the back/sides vs the top. If, as most people believe, the top contributes a lot more to the sound than the back & sides, then it stands to reason that most of any improvement in sound due to "opening up" will be due to the top.

[edman]

I always thought the "opening up" process was the aging of the top. The sides and back function like a speaker cabinet and the top functions like a speaker. String vibration over time improves the responsiveness of the top.

With that in mind, I always believed that most of the tone is generated by the soundboard and the back and sides add a touch of color to the tone. I think it would be difficult to tell if the sides and back tone woods "open up" when the soundboard is aging at the same time.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by edman

...With that in mind, I always believed that most of the tone is generated by the soundboard and the back and sides add a touch of color to the tone.

Hi edman…
I used to accept just the stock word-on-the-street 95% of the tone comes from the top approach - based on the premise that only the top ages and matters.

Yet a Rosewood/Cedar version of a specific model of guitar will be discernibly different than a Mahogany/Cedar built by the same maker.

And as owner of many solid-top laminate sides guitars, I've come to the conclusion that backs and sides both matter and influence tone…greatly.

If sides and backs did not really matter, backs and sides would be built from lighter and stronger composite materials and only the tops would be changed (yes I knew some of those exist - Ovations for instance).

Anyway, I think backs and sides add more than merely ''a touch'' of color and tone.

[12 string]

Many good points here, I'll add my $0.02 worth.

I do believe the sound of a guitar will open up, or mature, or develop, or evolve over a time. I agree that the top is the single biggest factor and I agree that the influence of the back and sides is probably underestimated. Remember, the component pieces are assembled into a unified operating system. I also believe that if you are not satisfied with the sound of a guitar at first you never will be; always select guitars which sing to you from the start.

When a maple guitar opens up it opens up like maple. It will never have overtones the way a brand new rosewood guitar has right out of the box. This is what makes maple a wood of choice for the live mic and recording.

' Strang

[Sixfir]

In my experience back and sides have a strong influence on the sound, just compare two same models with different back and sides. Concerning maple I have a Cordoba with laminated maple back and sides, and through it's laminated it has really sweetened up through the few years I have played it (3 years). Of course it's dificult to tell if it's the top or the b and s opening up, but I don't see any reason why the top would open up and not the back and sides. Anyway the maple characteristics are very noticeable in the sound of the guitar, compared to other classical guitars built with other kind of woods, or even with other Cordoba models with no maple b and s, and this through it's laminated. It has a very sweet sound, no muddy at all compared to many middle range nylon strings guitar, with this specific attack and projection, and great presence, that you'll usually find with maple guitars. As the nylon strings sounds mellower and warmer than steel strings, you don't get that harsh or excessively brillant sound you may found on some maple steel stringed guitar. Very cool fingerstyle nylon strings guitar.

[zabdart]

I'm sure there are people on this forum who have a lot more expertise on this matter than I do. You've got to remember that tone and "opening up" are very subjective things and that what one person will hear another person will not. Secondly, you're dealing with two very different tonewoods. Rosewood produces lots of resonance, which becomes more pronounced the more you play it. Maple, by contrast, produces a very crisp tone, with a quick note decay and lots of definition. So they're difficult to compare. People I know who've owned guitars made of both woods generally feel that rosewood "opens up" sooner than maple, which seems to take a little more time and playing to "mature." But this is all very subjective, and you're really talking apples and oranges here.