Help our 13 year old son decide, he saved up his money

[pauldconyers]

Our son s really getting into guitar and he saved up his money to buy a new guitar and I told him I would help him out figuring out what is best for him. For the most part he plays classic rock stuff. He already has pretty nice Epiphone LP but he is looking for something more of a strat style 3 single coil pickup guitar. While he has certainly tried out some PRS models he just assumed he would be looking at a MIM Fender strat with a maple fretboard. Well we went to a local store tonight and were looking at them and the guy also brought over a SE Silver Sky (which would fit his budget) so I told my son to humor him and try it out. Man, we were impressed! To my surprise he really gravitated to the rosewood fretboard saying how much "warmer" it felt. Which leads me to my question. He is going to keep his LP and he loves that guitar with the humbuckers but with this one we are trying to go more to a traditional strat sound to compliment his other guitar and do things it cannot. Should he just go with the maple or is it truly just subjective?

Last thing I was curious about the rosewood ones, have they VERY recently gone on sale or something? I ask because he said the maple ones were $849 and the rosewood ones were $679, and I took a picture of the price tag to make sure. But then we got home and everywhere I look has the rosewood ones for $849 and this store we went to is a legitimate one that isn't some renegade one with their prices or practices.

 

[Jimmy]

They might be honoring the 20% discount from the winter season on that model. I personally think you have to be an audiophile to hear the difference between rosewood and maple, especially in recordings. I say go with what felt and sounded better in the room.

 

[Russ73]

Look at Daves guitar shop in LA Crosse they have a bunch of SE silverskys for under 600 bucks...ive bought a bunch from them myself!

 

[guitar_man_man_man]

Our son s really getting into guitar and he saved up his money to buy a new guitar and I told him I would help him out figuring out what is best for him. For the most part he plays classic rock stuff. He already has pretty nice Epiphone LP but he is looking for something more of a strat style 3 single coil pickup guitar. While he has certainly tried out some PRS models he just assumed he would be looking at a MIM Fender strat with a maple fretboard. Well we went to a local store tonight and were looking at them and the guy also brought over a SE Silver Sky (which would fit his budget) so I told my son to humor him and try it out. Man, we were impressed! To my surprise he really gravitated to the rosewood fretboard saying how much "warmer" it felt. Which leads me to my question. He is going to keep his LP and he loves that guitar with the humbuckers but with this one we are trying to go more to a traditional strat sound to compliment his other guitar and do things it cannot. Should he just go with the maple or is it truly just subjective?

Last thing I was curious about the rosewood ones, have they VERY recently gone on sale or something? I ask because he said the maple ones were $849 and the rosewood ones were $679, and I took a picture of the price tag to make sure. But then we got home and everywhere I look has the rosewood ones for $849 and this store we went to is a legitimate one that isn't some renegade one with their prices or practices.

Sonically, maple vs rosewood board is probably not as crucial as the feel of the necks (maple neck is ever so slightly thinner front to back) and the feel of the fretboards under his fingers. I always found the glossy feel of a maple fretboard to be less appealing to me than the satin feel of rosewood.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

I would encourage him to get an S2 Standard over the SE SS. But that’s just me.

 

[Moondog Wily]

If you son enjoyed the warmth of the RW board, I would say trust that instinct. As for the sound differences, that is much more subtle I would say than the tactical feedback he is liking ;~))

 

[SinSir]

Get whatever feels the best to him. It's that simple. He'll want to play it more and get the most enjoyment.

I'm personally not a fan of the seSS, but out of the two I generallly prefer the rosewood and find the QC often to be better for whatever reason. I have a handful of strats, plus many more over the years, and most of them are and have been rosewood. My two favs, one is rosewood and the other is maple. It's whatever feels and sounds right.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I got to try out an SE SS recently and I was very impressed. The neck was larger than my Strat, but still very comfortable.

Your son is lucky to have an encouraging Dad, but also this is a golden age for young people to learn guitar. There is so much choice and the SE range are well made and affordable.

In answer to your question, yes the maple FB version is the latest SS release, hence the price difference.

@Russ73 is correct Dave’s are a great shop to deal with, I know from personal experience.

 

[Gtrbldr]

Very cool to add a youngster to the ageing herd of players. At least: that is my perception in my country.

I think you cannot go wrong with either. I prefer a maple board on a strat, but not by a wide margin, mostly for the feeling. Soundwise there are some folks who have a strong opinions, i do not.

 

[Jimi D]

The maple vs rosewood thing is very overblown, imho... The tonal differences (if any, and there's much debate on that) aren't anything that could be discerned in a band mix, live setting, or in any other way short of a direct A/B comparison... As for the Silver Sky, whether core or SE they're great guitars in their price range; if that's what floats his boat, he could do far, far worse...

 

[ruger9]

If he liked THAT guitar (the SS) he should get it. He can drop a stacked humbucker in the bridge for more classic rock tones. Dimarzio and Duncan both have plenty of options there.

 

[Maertl513]

If he's fine with the neck feel of both the maple and the rosewood he need to decide by optical preference.
Concerning fretboard material there is low to no difference recognizable (unplugged), in terms of the whole neck material (e. g. mahogany vs. rosewood) you will notice a difference (unplugged).
I remeber member Dancing Frog told once, that he frequency measured his guitars and there had been differences in the plugged sound, too. He did that with his bunch of 513s, when I deem right.

 

[Greywolf]

maple neck rosewood board is a classic recipe for great tone and feel ... Jeff Beck used them frequently

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Good news from OP, I don’t think a debate over FB material is high on his 13 year old sons list of concerns.

Go for it laddie, play yer heart oot!

 

[FragileThunder]

He’s 13. The only important thing is that HE likes it. Whatever it is.

Although if he picks PRS, you should definitely chalk it up to a quality upbringing.

 

[pauldconyers]

I've got a crazy question for you guys. If for some reason we got this and later he had a change of heart on the used parts market how much should we expect to spend on a maple fretboard neck? Because these are a bolt on design I assume you could swap it out, right?

 

[rcsrich]

The all-maple neck might give you a bit more snap, but even a rosewood fretboard Silver Sky or other strat style guitar is going to sound markedly different than a Les Paul style axe. If the rosewood feels better to him, he should go with rosewood.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I've got a crazy question for you guys. If for some reason we got this and later he had a change of heart on the used parts market how much should we expect to spend on a maple fretboard neck? Because these are a bolt on design I assume you could swap it out, right?

It would mean buying another guitar, as PRS do not sell after market parts like this.

I would get your lad to A/B the guitars at a local shop, if you can and he can make his decision from there.

Happy hunting.

 

[SinSir]

I've got a crazy question for you guys. If for some reason we got this and later he had a change of heart on the used parts market how much should we expect to spend on a maple fretboard neck? Because these are a bolt on design I assume you could swap it out, right?

They are interchangeable but more than likely youre looking at a new guitar. PRS isn't in the partscaster thing like fender and necks are unavailable. They pop up used, but not available new.

This as good of a time as any.. He's already learning guitars are addictive. One for this sound or that purpose. PRS takes that addiction to a whole new level. There will be more. There are always more! They multiply like Gremlins...

 

[Gtrbldr]

They are interchangeable but more than likely youre looking at a new guitar. PRS isn't in the partscaster thing like fender and necks are unavailable. They pop up used, but not available new.

This as good of a time as any.. He's already learning guitars are addictive. One for this sound or that purpose. PRS takes that addiction to a whole new level. There will be more. There are always more! They multiply like Gremlins...

But sadly not on their own