holysmile Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 what characteristics and flavor do maple sides and back give a guitar compared with rosewood? compared with mahogany? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 This thread has been covered numerous times! Try the "search" link above and read till your heart's content!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 If they were cheesecakes............ Maple would be lemon. Pure, clean, sharp and zingy. Rosewood would be double chocolate with a hint of rum. Rich and complex. It barks. (I know I have mixed my analogies but WTH.) The problem is, if you own one, you'll want the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderful remark Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrVI6KPWw9w this is what it's supposed to sound like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 If they were cheesecakes............ Maple would be lemon. Pure' date=' clean, sharp and zingy. Rosewood would be double chocolate with a hint of rum. Rich and complex. It barks. (I know I have mixed my analogies but WTH.) The problem is, if you own one, you'll want the other. [/quote'] Great analogy. I have rosewood, mahogany, and maple J series guitars, and albertjohn's description is a good rule of thumb (it also made me hungry). There's always some individual variation, though. Red 333 J45TV VOS (mahogany) SJ TV (mahogany) Fuller's J35 Reissue (mahogany) J45 Vine (rosewood) AJ (rosewood) AJ short scale (maple) J160E Standard (mahogany) J160E Peace (mahogany) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgwoods Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 For reasons unknown to me Gibson maple guitars sound less "mapley" than Maple guitars from Taylor or Guild. They control the treble harshness better and still keep the bass from getting boomy. my J-185 TV sounds at times like the bass is not strong, but actually it punches through the mix very without overpowering. In the end I really like it- sustainable wood, very strong wood not easily damaged nor will it crack easily in dry weather, looks wonderful, sounds great, makes for the most American of guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 The only maple body guitar I have ever owned is my J-200. The sides and back on it are made of laminate. When I got it, I don't think I pondered what wood it was made of too much. I just liked the way the guitar played and sounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 what characteristics and flavor do maple sides and back give a guitar compared with rosewood?compared with mahogany? Welcome to the forum. Albertjohn's covered your question well, so I'm just going to ask if you thinking of buying a new guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkharmony Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 what characteristics and flavor do maple sides and back give a guitar compared with rosewood?compared with mahogany? Have you every had maple syrup? It's kinda like that. And Rosewood is flavored like roses, while Mahogany is imbued with the flavor of Hog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 WonderfulRemark. Thank you for the clip. I've not heard that song for many many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Great analogy. I have rosewood' date=' mahogany, and maple J series guitars, and albertjohn's description is a good rule of thumb (it also made me hungry). There's always some individual variation, though. Red 333 [/quote'] Hey Red 333, I can dig out a recipe if you like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson101 Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Wow such great answers. To me comparing guitars to food is ridiculous. Which I'm sure was your point., however I'm also sure the OP would have appreciated a more thoughtful answer. Larry as far as search goes this forum has a LOWSY search feature and sometimes isn't really an option. OP Maple is very bright to me, while Rosewood has a nice lush full tone. At the end of the day I've come to the conclusion I prefer mahogany. You need to play these guitars if your thinking of buying one. Make the trip to a Gibson dealer and get some first hand experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayville Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 I have a mahogany J-100 Extra that has such a deep and yet punchy low-end that the maple variants always sound a bit brighter than I want to hear. FWIW, mine sounds like this playing some choked Open G chords on a backing track I made last year: http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7219660 Townsend has the best right hand in the world, imho: wonderful pick control across partial chords, plus that (to me) "extra" gear he can kick into. His maple J-200 has more upper range jangle than my mahogany typically does, but I read recently that he uses light top/medium bottom string sets these days, and he often hits 'em hard: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Wow such great answers. To me comparing guitars to food is ridi****us. Which I'm sure was your point.' date=' however I'm also sure the OP would have appreciated a more thoughtful answer. Larry as far as search goes this forum has a LOWSY search feature and sometimes isn't really an option. OP Maple is very bright to me, while Rosewood has a nice lush full tone. At the end of the day I've come to the conclusion I prefer mahogany. You need to play these guitars if your thinking of buying one. Make the trip to a Gibson dealer and get some first hand experience. You are quite correct on all counts. I have never been able to describe sound/tone so I rarely do. To compare it to taste is just my way of adding to the explanation of others - to which I gave great thought FYI. And, very importantly, you need to leave the rosewood in the fridge longer to set, than the maple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 If it sounds good, buy it. If you buy it, play it. It is pretty simple..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shambolic Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 The only maple body guitar I have ever owned is my J-200. The sides and back on it are made of laminate. When I got it' date=' I don't think I pondered what wood it was made of too much. I just liked the way the guitar played and sounded.[/quote'] Really a J-200 with laminate? What years did they do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grOOved Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Take a step back and imagine you are in a room with maple walls. That's the characteristic you would be getting. Maple is hard and non-porous. It will have hard reflection which makes it boomier and brighter. Porous and softer woods are like foam, they reflect less highs because they absorb them more. It's not all the tone b/c most of what you hear initially has more to do with the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 If it sounds good' date=' buy it. If you buy it, play it. It is pretty simple.....[/quote'] An adoring fan once complimented Jascha Heifetz on how good his violin sounded. Heifetz held his Strad up to his ear and replied - I don't hear anything. Check the recipe cards at the door and just go grab a guitar, close your eyes, and strum it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I always have a hard time thinking of my maple j-100 as bright. Its not lush and dark like rosewood, true, but I think clean describes it better than bright. Certainly there is no harshness in the treble of this guitar and several who have played it have called it "warm" which I don't often see in the same sentence as "bright". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guth Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Wayne, I have no doubt in what you say. There are no absolutes when it comes to acoustic guitars, only generalities. Dealing with matters that are so subjective are never simple, nor easy. All the best, Guth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modac Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 The maple guitars I like the best are not necessarily as "bright" as they are clear and focused. I've played and owned (own) maple guitars that have very deep strong low end and/or mid range tone, Maple has a damping effect on sound waves----while it is a hard wood, it won't necessarily reflect like some other hard woods. So I think the end result, in the better examples, is that maple is a more "transparent" factor, allowing you to hear more of the top wood. Not to be impolitic, but a lot of the negative maple scuttlebutt that seems to pop up from time to time, was seeded in the later 60s and through the 70s, when dear old Gibson had gone off the deep end, and was making some god-awful monstrosities out of maple. Nevertheless, today Gibson is making some fine, full voiced instruments from maple. Martin, in particular does maple very well(though hardly at all), and I've yet to come across a Martin maple guitar that wasn't killer sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon 185 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 I'm torn between buying a Maple vs buying a Rosewood of the J-185 EC's. Right now I'm leaning towards the Rosewood because it's seems more natural for playing blues/jazz and a wide variety of acoustic type music! Plus the rosewood J-185 has an ebony fretboard that plays a little smoother than a rosewood fretboard. My only problem is that I can't find a Rosewood J-185 for the same price you can find a good used Maple( for around the price of 1,700 on Ebay) and i don't want to end up buying the wrong guitar and be stuck with it or have to take a huge loss to sell it LOL The rosewood of the J-185 is surely a rare bird compared to the Maple. Is it that Gibson makes fewer Rosewoods than Maple's or is it because the Rosewood J-185 is so awesome that nobody is willing to sell there's??? It's a paradox! Currently I'm struggling to play a Taylor Grand Symphony Rosewood with an Ebony Fretboard but I don't like the neck as it's obviously to big for my smaller weaker hands:(... Sounds absolutely amazing though!! Twice I've played a J-185 TV Maple and felt the magic as the notes just effortlessly fell into place. So i know the Gibson necks are just right for me:) I even go on Youtube and see a ton of people playing Maples and only see like 2 people playing Rosewood J-185 EC's. So I'm just assuming that Gibson makes fewer of the Rosewoods? Seems like a lot of talented players on youtube prefer the Maple version for amplification? Does anybody know if a maple sounds more like an electric when amped up? I'm aware that maples cut through the mix better when played live! But do people like maples because they sound more like and electric in tone or do they need the maple to help cut through to be heard better on stage? I'm just trying to look farther down the road even though I think I like the Rosewood J-185 EC better. The only way for me to try a Gibson J-185 EC Rosewood is to make a $700 deposit via Sam Ash so they'll order one for me to try out:/ Then tell them I want my deposit back because I can't afford to spend 3,500 bucks on a guitar LOL Any advice or suggestions or options would be very appreciated! Thanks! -Jon[cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guth Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 I'm torn between buying a Maple vs buying a Rosewood of the J-185 EC's. Right now I'm leaning towards the Rosewood because it's seems more natural for playing blues/jazz and a wide variety of acoustic type music! Jon, I must admit that I'm not quite sure why you feel this way. If anything, I'd say that (in general) Maple is more natural for playing blues/jazz. That's certainly not to say that you can't find Rosewood guitars that are well suited to these styles, because you can. As far as the "wide variety of musical styles", things do change a bit. A lot of my playing is rooted in the blues. I find myself attracted to guitars that are punchy, articulate across all the strings with a strong fundamental tone and without excessive overtones. Ideally I want something with strong midrange that is nice and woody sounding too. Overall, mahogany tends to work the best for me, but I've found plenty of guitars that use maple or rosewood in their construction that I've liked very much. I definitely wouldn't mind owning a J-185, and would most likely be drawn to a model with maple back/sides for my playing style. All that said, I currently own a Gibson J-45 TV (mahogany), a Gibson AJ (rosewood) and a Collings OM2H (rosewood). However, the two particular rosewood guitars that I own meet the tonal preferences I described above, even though a lot of rosewood guitars don't. In the end, you just have to play the guitars, because generalities like I've mentioned above are only worth so much. With acoustic guitars, there are no absolutes and each one has its own special qualities. All the best, Guth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Which one sounds like coffee? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon 185 Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Hey murph, I'm gonna guess it's your J45 RW with the Ebony fretboard reminds you of a perfect cup of coffee. Am i right? LOL The Rosewood resembles the coffee that's dark and rich. The Ebony fretboard and bridge is the sugar? haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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