Maple Necks on Mahogany Bodies : Tone?

here is what I have my eye on! a bit pricey the 594 So i do wnat a lot of vintage tone, but like the idea of more bite but not too much.
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Mahogany and flame maple wow:eek::oops::rolleyes::) will it sound awesome
It will sound more awesome. Dew et!
 
Rosewood necks give same response as maples? Is a different beast?
 
I respect John Suhr and I'm not sure what his actual quote was, but a blanket statement of mahogany guitars with a maple neck doesn't work is absurd. There are piles of great guitars with that wood combo. I've played a bunch of CE's that kill. I played a studio with narrowfield pickups that I should've bought.

Wow those are 2 beautiful pieces of wood.
the tight dense grain in the mahogany and the birdeyes maple.
pretty stunning.

String to string clarity when chording is something I hear a lot for maple tones or certain pickups.
would that apply?
I would say so. You should put your money down to hold it if you really want it.

EDIT: Hope you got it.
 
It's all about how you like your guitars. That's the beauty of being able to make these choices for yourself. Maple necks sound great on core PRS models. So do mahogany necks. Thing is, they do slightly different things.

I love the mahogany/maple cap/mahogany neck/RW board combo on electric guitars; it's a great recipe for classic tone.

Last year I bought a new McCarty with maple neck and BRW board. It was terrific, but I missed the mahogany neck tone of a classic McCarty (and also I like a gloss neck). So I sold it and reverted to the classic formula. Same guitar, but with mahogany neck and BRW board. I'm happier. First time I've had both versions of the very same model in maple and mahogany necks (I've done this before with rosewood necks).

The mahogany is a little less snappy, as someone pointed out; on the other hand, it seems to sustain a little differently, perhaps a bit longer in the low mids where one hears sustain. That's good for my playing style, which is more single-note stuff.

Maple tends to decay a little bit faster, which is GREAT for rhythmic playing, faster, shorter licks, etc.

What I can say after having a few maple neck PRS guitars is that they sound extremely good, and I disagree with Suhr on that one.
 
I strongly suspect that the instances where people are saying they're happy with the maple neck/mahogany body combo is that there is also a maple cap on the body.

The CE's are a great example of this, many 70s Les Paul's also. I'm of the option that sonically the CE's are the best guitar that PRS made (I'm in 2 minds on the new incarnation).

John Suhr is speaking of a maple neck/mahogany only body.

I finally made it to guitar Center try to find all the Maple neck mahogany guitars they had.
Played them through the wonderful Bugera V22 22w tube amp, That is one amazing amplifier for $399. I found a nice PRS CE Rosewood fretboard Maple neck mahogany body. exactly as you describe the sound is every bit as classic and vintage as you need it to be. All within typical EQ settings if I compared my tremonti head-to-head I'm sure there would be some small differences (slight darker) but I had no problems dialing in any and every tone that I wanted. It felt very familiar no surprises great tone.

So I am convinced that I can buy the 594 with the Maple neck, I think the Rosewood fingerboard keeps the recipe towards the vintage tones.

Thanks for everybody's opinions.
 
I know this is going to sound harsh... but to the guys that are anal about certain combinations of wood, glue, etc, etc... you guys are kind of a joke to the majority of people out there. There is a reason people say its in the fingers and pros sound the same pretty much on whatever you hand them. I guess if you cant have that you'll throw your wallet at the problem until you realize your answer is in hours of playing not spending more $$$. After a certain price point it just seems to get stupid.
 
I know this is going to sound harsh... but to the guys that are anal about certain combinations of wood, glue, etc, etc... you guys are kind of a joke to the majority of people out there. There is a reason people say its in the fingers and pros sound the same pretty much on whatever you hand them. I guess if you cant have that you'll throw your wallet at the problem until you realize your answer is in hours of playing not spending more $$$. After a certain price point it just seems to get stupid.
You're right, it's harsh. Could have been said without telling us we are a joke and that we can't have tone in our fingers so we chase it with money.

The fact is we do know tone is in the fingers. I don't think I've read anyone on here saying otherwise. And it is also true that you can hand a pro just about any guitar and they will sound like themselves and sound good. But that doesn't disprove anything we've been saying. Hand that Pro a guitar with a maple neck and guess what they are likely to say, "This guitar has some snap to it". Hand them an all mahogany guitar and you'll hear, "lots of midrange on this one". They hear it just like we do.

So maybe we are anal, or maybe we just hear something and like it or we don't like it. And maybe we can buy the one our ears like without spending stupid money on it. Now I'm going back to practicing alternate picking because as you know I have to spend hours working at it.
 
I know this is going to sound harsh... but to the guys that are anal about certain combinations of wood, glue, etc, etc... you guys are kind of a joke to the majority of people out there. There is a reason people say its in the fingers and pros sound the same pretty much on whatever you hand them. I guess if you cant have that you'll throw your wallet at the problem until you realize your answer is in hours of playing not spending more $$$. After a certain price point it just seems to get stupid.

Guitars built with different woods will sound different, period. Your post seems a bit (needlessly) antagonistic, and I highly doubt you speak for the "majority of people out there." Certainly you are entitled to your own opinion, but stating people who are anal about the type of woods that are going into a guitar they like/dislike are a joke is just silly.

A PRS with a mahogany neck compared to one with identical specs with the exception of adding a maple neck instead absolutely won't sound the same, even with the same player/same amp/etc. regardless of the natural "personal" tone their fingers provide. Your ears alone should be able to tell you that... ;)
 
I know this is going to sound harsh... but to the guys that are anal about certain combinations of wood, glue, etc, etc... you guys are kind of a joke to the majority of people out there.

I employ first call session players on the TV ad tracks I produce and compose, and play on them myself. We talk about this wood stuff occasionally, because it's interesting.

I know this is going to sound harsh, but statements like yours are kind of ignorant.

Don't take it personally.
 
Guitars built with different woods will sound different, period. Your post seems a bit (needlessly) antagonistic, and I highly doubt you speak for the "majority of people out there." Certainly you are entitled to your own opinion, but stating people who are anal about the type of woods that are going into a guitar they like/dislike are a joke is just silly.

A PRS with a mahogany neck compared to one with identical specs with the exception of adding a maple neck instead absolutely won't sound the same, even with the same player/same amp/etc. regardless of the natural "personal" tone their fingers provide. Your ears alone should be able to tell you that... ;)
+1
 
When you have amazing machines like guitars which have captured the imagination of humans and inspire artists to amazing nearly impossible musical statements and voices. Many enthusiasts want to study explore, experiment, understand, and Create with it. To the enthusiast the nuances become important to craft the sound you hear in your head. I basically own one of every type guitar, one Stratocaster, one telecaster, one Les Paul, one PRS, and each one has its own Amazing different voice. The interesting thing is that you can make each one sound very close to the other, With amplifier settings, EQ, playing style,.... but you have to work at it to change the voice of the guitar, so you understand that each tool has a certain range and a certain starting point in its voice. And I think that's what we like to discuss here is the starting point of a particular design and the range that it has. Certain guitars have more percussive features which some guitarists might like to know about (strat). harmonic bloom is widely varied, scale length, pickup position, so on and so on.......forvever.

I do agree with you that I can play the hotel california on any guitar and it sounds good, but on the right guitar it It sounds like an uplifting dream. So I agree if a person might play one straightforward style of music then any guitar can serve that purpose, is that what you're saying. You will certainly get resistance if you say "since one random guitar works for me it should work for the entire world." This is an enthusiast forum to discuss how the molecular composition of the plastic knobs can affect tone.
 
Yeah, any kind of broad generalizing statements like that are just misguided. With a few exceptions, there aren't good or bad tones, only different tones. I may prefer one tone over another, but that doesn't mean it "better."
 
Very quackie sound from the 2012 exp maple neck cu24 I had. Some people my like it, just wasn't for me.
 
I respect John Suhr and I'm not sure what his actual quote was, but a blanket statement of mahogany guitars with a maple neck doesn't work is absurd. There are piles of great guitars with that wood combo. I've played a bunch of CE's that kill. I played a studio with narrowfield pickups that I should've bought.


I would say so. You should put your money down to hold it if you really want it.

EDIT: Hope you got it.

I certainly respect *husky's* opinion,and I find myself in agreement with him most of the time. I would say though to keep in mind that by and large he mostly produces a different instrument than PRS, e.g. 25.5 " scale, bolt-on neck, inline headstock, two point trem, etc. and that his overall formula heads in a somewhat different direction.

PS, IIRC, his statement was more of a personal opinion to the effect that he personally didn't care for the result of the marriage of a maple neck and a mahogany body. I also very much guess he refers to a honduran mahogany body, a very different beast than the african prs typically uses.
 
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Suhr's comments were probably related to 25.5" guitars - he's often stated that even mahogany doesn't sound like what people expect it to when comparing to shorter scale lengths (harder tone etc).

Of the PRS I've tried I definitely preferred the mahogany neck over maple. Just more what I am used to I suppose. Saying that I owned a really great Ibanez a few years ago that had the mahogany/maple neck combo and it worked really well for high gain/technical stuff. Like anything you've just got to go and play them and see what you like.
 
90's CE 22 with mahogany body, maple neck (wide-thin) and Rosewood Board

PRS Experience P22 with maple neck and Rosewood board.

Dont think that these would exist unless Paul was happy with timber combos.
 
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