Impressive Maple Acoustics

[skitoolong]

I don't have the wealth of experience that most of you folks have, but I think I got lucky when I bought my GS6. It doesn't sound like what most people that pick it up expect from a maple guitar.

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[fogrider]

A Flambeau slope shouldered dred. Solid maple body, cedar top. 1 3/4" nut, 25.4" scale. It was a pawn shop special. Wouldn't sell it for the world.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

The two sold Custom Shop Taylors shown below were quite impressive.

Taylor Custom Grand Orchestra (GO) AA Flamed Maple / AA Adirondack / Ebony Armrest / ES Electronics s/n 1103193151




Taylor Custom Grand Symphony (GS) / AA Maple / Sitka / Ebony Armrest / Full Abalone Inlay / Running Horses / ES2 Electronics

[pdx]

I have this guy on layaway.
European spruce over European flamed maple. I can't wait to get her home.

[Tony Burns]

The pre-Fender Guild Company made a Maple Dread that was outstanding -
Thats what i would look for .

[IBKuz]

My '93 Guild D30 is nice though the back is laminated maple with solid sides. I really like the feel of the maple neck, my '74 Norman had one as well and I always liked it's solid feeling. The sound is nice with the sitka top, better with a pick then fingers IMO.

This is the only acoustic I have that my son really likes, in fact I think he has claimed it for himself ... lol. I don't really mind as long as it gets him to play more guitar

[billgennaro]

Originally Posted by pdx

I have this guy on layaway.
European spruce over European flamed maple. I can't wait to get her home.

I have one of those Euro Maple/Euro Spruce Ehlers guitars, except mine doesn't have a sunburst (unfortunately, as I love a nice sunburst over curly Maple). Nice guitar with a nice tight and focused low end (typical of Ehlers). Is yours a 17" like mine?

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by Tony Burns

The pre-Fender Guild Company made a Maple Dread that was outstanding -
Thats what i would look for .

That's the D30 that I have, I think the earlier version was the D37 (D35?) made until the mid 80's. They used very nice flamed maple on the body and necks. I will have to see if I still have pic's I can post.

[IBKuz]

These are the pic's of my '93 D30

[Shoreline Music]

Yea, I have no idea why Taylor's maple guitars are a sort of well-kept secret. They're probably the only builder I've played that can count their maple guitars among their very best.

Here's a couple from earlier this year, both rather impressive. Note the stain on both—Bob may be onto something with his idea of just staining all of them, like violins and other classical strings:

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by Shoreline Music

Yea, I have no idea why Taylor's maple guitars are a sort of well-kept secret...

A well kept secret.. Taylors 600 series is hugely popular and we actually build more Maple Customs than Rosewood and Mahogany combined. Nope, I don't think it's a secret at all, I think folks are well aware how good a Maple Taylor can be.

Originally Posted by IBKuz

These are the pic's of my '93 D30

Had one just like yours, now I'm wondering why I ever sold it.

[darrwhit]

Ehlers guitars are special. Rob had some incredible woods. The best all koa guitar I ever played was an Ehlers guitar at Buffalo Bros about 10 years ago--simply magical.

Maple can sound incredible, but I tend to only go for it with luthier-made instruments. The vast majority of maple guitars from factories don't do much for me--which makes me wonder if it requires a more hands-on approach to building a successful maple bodied guitar. When they're overbuilt, they sound tinny, too bright, and have very little sustain. On the other hand, when they're built relatively lightly, they highlight the voice of the top without adding tonal color, they sustain quite well, and they have excellent note-to-note separation with a focus on the fundamental. This, at least, has been my experience.

So yeah... that sunburst Ehlers has me drooling with envy.

[Shoreline Music]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

A well kept secret..

In the article from the original thread, Bob Taylor himself was trying to solve the problem of why they don't sell more maple guitars.

[scottishrogue]

I own just one guitar with red curly maple b/s. It's a 2004 Martin Concept IV Jumbo cutaway. Martin only made 15 of these. I have #14. It's Firemist Blue metallic, with a solid Sitka top, rounded edges with no bindings, domed back. I use DR Neon strings on it that really show up when my blacklight is on and they sound fabulous. I tried several other sets of strings, but these sounded the best, by far. I recently installed a new pickguard. If you see one of these for auction or for sale, my recommendation would be to buy it! It's worth more now than it sold for new!

Glen

[AMW]

We absolutely think that if you're not averse to the "blonde" look, you should explore maple when you're shopping for a new guitar. Many people worry about maple guitars being overly bright, but it usually isn't the case with a well-built instrument. We actually hear a lot of warmth and body in the best maple guitars!

Some favorites:



Bourgeois "Luthier's Choice" 00, Tyrolean maple



Collings CJ Short Scale



Collings OM1 Short Scale

...we're also partial to small jumbos and single "O" style guitars in maple... maple rocks!