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Maple or Rosewood??

#161
all the people saying the difference from maple to rosewood is as much as the difference from bass to bass. I have to wonder where you get the "different basses of the same exact model sound different" thing.
I can pick up any stingray and they all sound almost exactly the same. The major differences are the fretboard material, and pickup config.
One thing I also wonder is if the people that can't hear the difference tune by ear or by tuner.
When I was very young, my first music teacher (cello) taught me to listen for the beats when tuning. She would say visualize a row of camels marching together. You want to line up the two rows of camels so that they are shoulder to shoulder. I know it sounds weird, but that's how you teach 4 year olds!
I've always thought that ear tuning gets you more intimately familiar with the tone and tune of your axe.
 
#162
dj5 said:
Alrod - I'm not calling anyone a liar, I've said all along that people believe that they hear things. See what this guy says, and he's built a lot of guitars.

http://www.guitarnation.com/articles/calkin.htm

There are also quite a few people on this thread who've done what I've done and got two necks for the same bass, and find no discernable difference, so I'm not the only heretic.
And calling me arrogant is pretty rich from the guy who's judgement on the article was "This article .. should have been called "The deaf man's guide to alternative luthery woods..... The article is rubbish. It's also full of contradictions" I mean, the guy's only been building accoustic instruments (much more likely to be influenced by wood choice) for 30 years or so, so what does he know?
Now THAT'S arrogance!
Click to expand...

The author of that articel says tone woods have no affect on the sound of a guitar, then goes on to list what each tone wood sounds like!
epic
face palm
 
#164
Calaverasgrande said:
all the people saying the difference from maple to rosewood is as much as the difference from bass to bass. I have to wonder where you get the "different basses of the same exact model sound different" thing.
I can pick up any stingray and they all sound almost exactly the same. The major differences are the fretboard material, and pickup config.
One thing I also wonder is if the people that can't hear the difference tune by ear or by tuner.
When I was very young, my first music teacher (cello) taught me to listen for the beats when tuning. She would say visualize a row of camels marching together. You want to line up the two rows of camels so that they are shoulder to shoulder. I know it sounds weird, but that's how you teach 4 year olds!
I've always thought that ear tuning gets you more intimately familiar with the tone and tune of your axe.
Click to expand...

Sure but it does not work well if you are up on stage and every band member uses the same principle rather than using modern tools to tune their instruments. Not to speak of synthesizers with exact tuning.
 
#166
Calaverasgrande said:
The author of that articel says tone woods have no affect on the sound of a guitar, then goes on to list what each tone wood sounds like!
epic
face palm
Click to expand...

I wonder if anyone on this forum even owns a guitar built by this author. It would be interesting to know if they are any good. It would add to his credibility if they were world class instruments, or well known, often played live/recorded instruments.
 
#169
dj5 said:
And, just out of interest, rosewood is rated at 1780 on the Janka Hardness Scale, whereas hard maple is rated at 1450.
So rosewood is harder than maple.
It does look brighter though.
Click to expand...

that is an inaccurate statement.
There are multiple varieties of both of those woods. Some kinds of rosewood are not the same species as others.
The genus Dalbergia is the "real" rosewood. But there are other rosewoods Bolivian Rosewood, Santos Rosewood, Tiete Rosewood, Pernambuco and Pau Ferro.
Maple also has multiple different kinds, which vary in hardness.
Pau ferro is much harder than "real" rosewood or maple.
 
#171
Calaverasgrande said:
that is an inaccurate statement.
There are multiple varieties of both of those woods. Some kinds of rosewood are not the same species as others.
The genus Dalbergia is the "real" rosewood. But there are other rosewoods Bolivian Rosewood, Santos Rosewood, Tiete Rosewood, Pernambuco and Pau Ferro.
Maple also has multiple different kinds, which vary in hardness.
Pau ferro is much harder than "real" rosewood or maple.
Click to expand...


Not to mention that maple fretboards usually have some sort of finish, which certainly changes hardness...


- georgestrings
 

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