XPAULPITT Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 OK. Every time I see people talking about baked maple on here they are comparing it to rosewood, and I understand why. Gibson is using it on models that usually had rosewood. It is said to sound more like ebony. I have never had the chance to play a guitar with an ebony fretboard so I wouldnt know how it compares to baked maple. I have an SG faded with baked maple and I absolutely love it. How does the baked maple compare to ebony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 OK. Every time I see people talking about baked maple on here they are comparing it to rosewood, and I understand why. Gibson is using it on models that usually had rosewood. It is said to sound more like ebony. I have never had the chance to play a guitar with an ebony fretboard so I wouldnt know how it compares to baked maple. I have an SG faded with baked maple and I absolutely love it. How does the baked maple compare to ebony? It's a different colour.......I love it, I prefer ebony........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPAULPITT Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 It's a different colour.......I love it, I prefer ebony........ I mean sound wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I mean sound wise. Like I posted, I will alway PREFER ebony......On all guitars........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPAULPITT Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 OK. I think it can come close to ebony, depending on the batch of the baked process......Many consumers are preferring it over roswood; less pores...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I'd have to go with the ebony over the baked maple. It may sound ok, but it just doesn't have that great of the look of either ebony, or regular maple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPAULPITT Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 Mine is very dark and I love the color. Its as dark or maybe darker than my rosewood and I havent oiled it yet. Im more interested in the sound anyway than looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondJig Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I have SG's with ebony, rosewood and baked maple. but the baked maple is a MM with a maple body and the other all have different pickups so it's not a straight up compare. I find ebony to be silky smooth and snappy where the rosewood is a little rough, I guess the openness of the grain and warmer more rounded sounding, the baked maple comes somewhere in between and I find the neck is very stable doesn't need as much adjusting and the other with the change of seaseons. My number one pick would be ebony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-poland Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 OK. Every time I see people talking about baked maple on here they are comparing it to rosewood, and I understand why. Gibson is using it on models that usually had rosewood. It is said to sound more like ebony. I have never had the chance to play a guitar with an ebony fretboard so I wouldnt know how it compares to baked maple. I have an SG faded with baked maple and I absolutely love it. How does the baked maple compare to ebony? While fender has used maple and while not baked i think that could give a good comparison sound wise! apples to apples any way! as for it being baked I don't think that,that in itself would do much to change the sound of baked vss non baked ! a lot of wood is kiln dried maybe not baked but high heat scenario any way.SRV had gits with both maple and ebony so that might show some of the differing characteristics!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 . My take on the sound on a warm to bright scale: (Warmest) .ROSEWOOD, .EBONY, .BAKED MAPLE, .SEALED MAPLE .(Brightest) Sealed Maple meaning Fender maple fretboards with finish on them. Ebony and Baked Maple are close, but I think the Ebony is fairly even low end to high end, while the Baked Maple tends to accentuate the high end. Sealed Maple - even on a HSS Strat (not a single coil at the bridge) the sound tends to be bright. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPAULPITT Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 . My take on the sound on a warm to bright scale: (Warmest) .ROSEWOOD, .EBONY, .BAKED MAPLE, .SEALED MAPLE .(Brightest) Sealed Maple meaning Fender maple fretboards with finish on them. Ebony and Baked Maple are close, but I think the Ebony is fairly even low end to high end, while the Baked Maple tends to accentuate the high end. Sealed Maple - even on a HSS Strat (not a single coil at the bridge) the sound tends to be bright. . I have an Epi Zakk Wylde Camo with the maple fretboard and it is finished with poly I believe. It is an incredibly bright guitar. I thought that it was just the poly making it that bright. I know that the Gibson version of that guitar has an unfinished maple fretboard. I was always curious how different they sounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 In terms of sound, the differences between them are so small that its almost not even worth worrying about.. Baked Maple is a bit brighter than Rosewood (so probably closer to Ebony in sound).. But once you add an amp and any sort of gain then those differences become almost nothing. This is a great video that goes into the differences with Rosewood and BM which as mentioned will be similar to an Ebony as a sound comparism.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A add9 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I had baked maple on my previous Les Paul Classic. I also had the ebony on my previous Les Paul Custom. I must say, the baked maple was a pleasant surprise, both smooth, and solid with good reaction time. As for a sound difference, you'd have to have the keen hearing of a dog to be able to determine any difference. I think there are way too many variables (pick ups, wood, string gauge, nut, and set up) to consider before you'd be able to determine a difference in sound between fret board materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 As for a sound difference, you'd have to have the keen hearing of a dog to be able to determine any difference. I think there are way too many variables (pick ups, wood, string gauge, nut, and set up) to consider before you'd be able to determine a difference in sound between fret board materials. Be sure to write the two guys in the video above and tell them they're dogs. . B) Beyond attempting to equalize the electronic variables as they did, you can also play electrics acoustically too. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A add9 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Right. My post came after that post, however, I didn't see the clip. Regardless, I offered an opinion based on my experience. Like I said, it's much easier to notice a difference in the feel of fret board material as opposed to the sound of a fretboard,. And, yes, I was speaking in terms of amplified guitars. I would agree, if you had two identical acoustic guitars with only the fretboard material being different, any difference in sound would be more pronounced. Anyway, I'll be sure to write those two guys in the video. I'm just not sure which one to address as Fido, and which one to address as Rover Be sure to write the two guys in the video above and tell them they're dogs. . B) Beyond attempting to equalize the electronic variables as they did, you can also play electrics acoustically too. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 . HA! Fido and Rover . . . . good one. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest farnsbarns Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Be sure to write the two guys in the video above and tell them they're dogs. . B) Beyond attempting to equalize the electronic variables as they did, you can also play electrics acoustically too. While I'm a big fan of Cap'n Lee 'n' Chappers (the two guys in the vid) and find their videos to be very informative on the whole, and I rarely disagree with them, I do think they got it wrong on that one. The classic custom is chambered so the maple cap is attached far less rigidly which makes a guitar far brighter sounding. The traditional is not chambered. A far better comparison would have been a chambered standard with a rosewood board. I would bet anyone a year's wages that if Gibson made a classic custom with a rosewood board you couldn't pick it out from baked maple by sound alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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