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  #31  
Old 08-23-2019, 08:26 AM
Orfeas Orfeas is offline
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Although I am not a wood expert, I have experienced maple/spruce combo in two guitars. One was a Taylor and the other a Guild. Both jumbo guitars in their first decade. I don't know if I would like the sound of maple in a smaller instrument but these two jumbos had a very beautiful tone. It all depends on what tone you like to listen too.
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  #32  
Old 08-23-2019, 08:30 AM
kaos kaos is offline
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I have a Dove with maple b/s. I find it stays out of the mud. Everything is clear and balanced. Which is not necessarily a good thing if your looking for a darker tone.
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  #33  
Old 08-23-2019, 08:44 AM
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I had played a Taylor maple 614 years ago and I still kick myself for not buying it. It was used and at a great price. I bought a J-45 instead though that year so I'm not crying in my beer just yet

The Taylor had a really nice tone though. Different from rosewood and mahogany.
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  #34  
Old 08-23-2019, 08:46 AM
tadol tadol is offline
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Originally Posted by printer2 View Post
There are different kinds of maple, some stiffer and harder like sugar maple and softer and less dense as in big leaf maple. I would expect guitars made from both would sound a little different. Mind you, I have some walnut that also ranges from softer and less dense to hard and heavy.
Thats very true - while there seems to be no end of discussion about which rosewood sounds like what, or even mahoganies, so many people treat the different maples or walnuts like they’re all the same -
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  #35  
Old 08-23-2019, 08:53 AM
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Originally Posted by gdbird View Post
Can someone tell me why I would want to own a maple guitar over a rosewood or mahogany. I own a sitka/rosewood and had a sitka/walnut that I regret selling. I've been offered a maple at a reasonable price but have yet to play it.
I guess I would focus more on the particular guitar offered up rather than the wood. Maple can sound pretty different in the hands of different builders.

But if you’re talking about getting a similar guitar with maple instead of rosewood, I’d say maple is quite a bit like mahogany but with a little more sparkle in the mids and trebles. And maybe a touch more bass as well.

For my purposes, maple works very well. I value a dry sound, and at times rosewood can have a little too much reverb for my tastes. It just really depends on the context.

There’s so much variation in how guitars sound - even ones built from identical woods at the same time - that sometimes these generalizations become a bit meaningless. But in general I think of maple as dry and sparkly.
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  #36  
Old 08-23-2019, 10:20 AM
AcousticDreams AcousticDreams is offline
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I hope to test out this maple someday soon. Beyond my means right now....but it sounds absolutely lovely. I have heard comparison videos between the Taylorn 618, Gibson SJ200 and this Guild J55 maple. The Guild had it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eoGZ02c31w
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  #37  
Old 08-23-2019, 11:06 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Projection!

I have three archtops (oh and an F5 mandolin) with maple and a Waterloo WL-12 which has improved remarkably since I got it in November 2016.

Maple to my mind is kinda the opposite of rosewood - no complexity but straight on clean and clear - and did I mention the projection?
.
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  #38  
Old 08-23-2019, 12:01 PM
Larry Mal Larry Mal is offline
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I have a Dove, and find it to be a large guitar with very restrained bass on it, so much so that I use it in open C tuning since the bass doesn't get flabby and boom out.

I can imagine that this would be less bass than some would want.

The highs are very clear and present, with pronounced high end. The sustain is medium. The overtones are not particularly great.

I have a rosewood dread, a Gibson J-60, and a J-15 with walnut. I find considerable difference between the three.

Maybe other maple bodied guitars are different than my Dove, though. But that's what I've found so far.
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  #39  
Old 08-23-2019, 12:41 PM
jrb715 jrb715 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars View Post
I hope to test out this maple someday soon. Beyond my means right now....but it sounds absolutely lovely. I have heard comparison videos between the Taylorn 618, Gibson SJ200 and this Guild J55 maple. The Guild had it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eoGZ02c31w
Sensational guitar and demonstrates what maple can do better than most, and maybe better than any other, wood: remarkable strumming and then a flip to gorgeous finger style.
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  #40  
Old 08-23-2019, 12:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vindibona1 View Post
A few months back I posted a blind poll asking forum members to choose via audio file which guitar wood went with each sound sample. 50% of the respondants got it wrong thinking the maple was rosewood. Several got it right but only by reading other responses and by reason of deduction made the right choice. But it was *very* close.
That's a recording. The limitations of recordings compared to reality is well known. Hardly anyone can tell what guitar wood is used on acoustic guitars on CDs.
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  #41  
Old 08-23-2019, 12:57 PM
AcousticDreams AcousticDreams is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jrb715 View Post
Sensational guitar and demonstrates what maple can do better than most, and maybe better than any other, wood: remarkable strumming and then a flip to gorgeous finger style.
One of my favorite fingerstyle guitar players, and a charter member on AGF, Michael Watts, plays on a Maple bodied guitar. He achieves sonic perfection.
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