Does a maple top affect tone?

Does a maple top affect tone?

So it seems the Maple top is just for looks and imparts nothing tangible in the way of tone alterations.

Is maple good for guitar?

Maple is a very hard type of wood with good tonal qualities and good sustain. Maple is also often used as a top for the guitar body, partly because it is beautiful (think flame or quilted maple tops), and partly because it can give a bright sound that would otherwise be murky.

Is maple a good tonewood?

Maple is a dense hardwood, and this has a major impact on its tonal qualities. Unlike, say, rosewood, which amplifies vibration and emphasizes overtones and sustain, maple offers a high level of internal dampening. This results in very quick note decay.

Is maple a good wood for acoustic guitar?

Maple. Although maple is frequently employed as the back and sides tone wood for violins, it’s not quite as common in acoustic guitar building. This makes it a good choice for live performance because the clarity of tone cuts through the mix well, and feedback is less likely to be problematic.

What does flamed maple top mean?

Flame maple (tiger maple), also known as flamed maple, curly maple, ripple maple, fiddleback or tiger stripe, is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating chatoyant pattern, producing wavy lines known as “flames”.

Does a guitar top affect tone?

re: Does a Maple top effect the tone? I would say .. no. Some of the best guitar manufacturers in the world use this body/top combo.

What guitar wood is best?

Spruce. This evergreen, found in northern temperate regions of the globe, is literally top choice: the ideal wood for the soundboard, or top, of an acoustic guitar. Its look — light in color, even in grain — is appealing though somewhat plain; what sets it apart is its beautiful tonal properties.

Is maple heavy guitar?

Tone-wise: While Maple is still used on both acoustic and electric guitars, these days it is most often used for a neck or the top on an electric guitar. Electric Guitars: As a Solid-Body Electric, it’s bright. Too bright for my liking. Also, due to its density, it’s heavy.

Is Rosewood better than maple?

Compared to maple the difference is notable, as rosewood will soften the sound, even for guitars with maple necks. This is one of the reasons some guitar players prefer Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters with the option of a rosewood fretboard. Some players find maple too harsh and prefer the warmth of rosewood.

Is there such a thing as a maple guitar?

More than one are known to exist, but even those early American maple guitars seem positively au courant when compared to the maple guitars of Antonio Stradivari. Yes, the same Stradivari known the world over as the violin maker’s violin maker.

What’s the difference between Maple and quartersawn guitar strings?

Complicating this somewhat is the effect of grain direction on tonal performance. Most maple guitar back-and-side sets are cut on the slab, which shows off any grain figure to best advantage. This reduces overall stiffness as compared to quartersawn wood, to predictable effect.

What kind of wood to use for guitar back and side?

Most maple guitar back-and-side sets are cut on the slab, which shows off any grain figure to best advantage. This reduces overall stiffness as compared to quartersawn wood, to predictable effect. Personally, I would like to see more plain, quartersawn maple used for guitar construction, boring as that may sound.

What’s the difference between a hard and soft maple guitar?

The dampening effect is therefore somewhat less, taking a hard maple guitar more in the direction of what we’d expect from a mahogany guitar. Soft maple exhibits the most dampening and contributes relatively little tonally (a great thing if you’ve got a world-class top doing its thing a few inches away).