Maple necks...

[vchizzle]

Do you love em, hate em, have any PRS with them? Post pics! Discuss!!!

I have one PRS with a maple neck and fretboard which is the NF3. I love the finish on this neck, or the feeling that there’s none. It just feels great. Also like what I’d guess is a tonal impact. It’s bright and punchy through a clean amp without getting too glassy. Maybe that’s partly the pickups too. Probably all of the above.

 

[11top]

And, my first 2 private stock builds had maple necks. I supplied the neck blanks (and backs) before the vault stocked it.

 

[drdoom8793]

Love em as long as they aren't too glossy. F usually makes theirs too glossy for me. PRS knows how to do it right!

 

[bodia]

Big fan of maple necks, as long as they aren't finished. Not a fan of glossy necks, period. The process that PRS uses on their maple necks it perfect. They feel almost as bare as the rosewood necks. I currently have one, the WL 509.

I previously had an NF3 and a WL Cu24 that had maple necks. The Cu24 had an Ebony board. Loved that feeling. I am also a HUGE fan of roasted maple necks.

 

[merciful-evans]

I have mostly maple necks. This includes both of my PRSs. I prefer them to mahogany necks. They are stronger and can take more road punishment. However, my luthier points out that mahogany breaks cleanly at least. Whereas if you are unlucky enough to bust a maple neck, it tends to be a mess.

I have 3 maple fingerboards. I dislike rosewood boards because I wear them out too quickly. The best of my maple boards is torrified & un-lacquered (precision heat treated for moisture content control). Lacquer is ok, but doesn't feel as nice as bare wood.

I prefer them to be regular grained if possible; though quilts aren't too bad.

 

[veinbuster]

I think it is good to have a maple neck in the house.
My first was 20 years ago on a SAS Mrs bought me.

Then on her first trip to the vault, we got maple again.

So I guess maybe it’s her that really likes maple.

 

[WA Paul]

While I love the look of maple, tone wise it is my least favorite neck wood with Brazilian RW being my favorite. At least for where I am now. My preferences and ears seem to change over time.

However, I found maple necks worked very well with 53/10s and I really miss this guitar that had a maple neck (which for some reason I no longer seem to have a picture of the neck?). Biggest regret ever trading this one in...

I have this Knaggs Severn where the maple neck works very well tonally (alder body). Neck is too big for me on a 25.5” scale and 8.5” radius and I should probably sell it. Has gloss on it, but not at all sticky.

I should try the Silver Sky, but I want an all maple neck and board first (preferably in lake placid blue ). That said, every time I see a picture of Dodgem Blue, my resolve seems lessen.

I also think a maple neck on a HB model might be the ticket, particularly one with a spruce top.

 

[shinksma]

I have several PRSi with maple necks, and most of those have maple FBs. DC3 most recent, but also 305, 509, SAS, CE (orig core), all have both. JA-15 and SE Akerfeldt have maple necks with ebony FBs. IIRC both of my SE 7-stringers (orig CU24-7 and newer SVN model) have maple necks - the SVN has an eboby board, SE CU24-7 has mahogany.

I like the feel of maple boards, especially PRS's "magic finish" that feels like naked wood.

I'm with @WA Paul : make a Silver Sky with maple FB+neck, and I will be all over it!

 

[pauloqs]

My 595 has a maple neck with a satin back that feels unfinished. I love that thing. Just a joy to play and sounds very raw and organic, yet it is still very controlled. It growls, but I can still hear a lot of definition in every note. Jazz, blues, rock, hard rock, country, that guitar can just handle anything I throw at it beautifully.

 

[Ryan Murphy]

I like maple necks but I work construction and I was always paranoid I would leave black streaks on the neck from my seemingly permamently dirty hands.

 

[markd21]

I like maple necks for clarity and snap, but overall I prefer mahogany for necks. My first "good" sounding guitar was a Yamaha RGX211 and it had a mahogany neck and body. It gave me a tone that I always loved - one that all the years of playing maple necked Ibanez and Jackson guitars lacked. Once I discovered the Custom 22 I was reconnected with the thick, warm tone I prefer.

I do have some nice PRS guitars with maple necks - an EG3, Brent Mason, Johnny Hiland, CE24 Semi-Hollow - and the sound they offer is nice, but give me the mahogany neck any day!!

 

[goat-n-gitter]

I have just one maple neck PRS, a WL CU24 30th anni. It has the lovely "un"finished maple, birdseye in this case, with African Blackwood for the board:

It's my favorite of my 4 PRS necks - very fast and comfy.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Love a maple neck, the more figured the better!

One of my non PRS maple necks -

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8nuXECDxeuB9wS6XA

Hope it’s ok to share.

 

[pjdude]

My personal opinion only:
I don't mind a plain maple neck with single coil pickup'd guitars. The fingerboard can be whatever - doesn't seem to matter too much. Personally, I'm not crazy about maple necks with humbuckers. Especially figured maple necks (flamed/quilted/birds eye). They go out of tune unlike any neck wood I've ever used on a guitar.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

My personal opinion only:
I don't mind a plain maple neck with single coil pickup'd guitars. The fingerboard can be whatever - doesn't seem to matter too much. Personally, I'm not crazy about maple necks with humbuckers. Especially figured maple necks (flamed/quilted/birds eye). They go out of tune unlike any neck wood I've ever used on a guitar.

From personal experience, I have two maple necked guitars that are incredibly stable.

 

[bodia]

Love a maple neck, the more figured the better!

One of my non PRS maple necks -

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8nuXECDxeuB9wS6XA

Hope it’s ok to share.

True porn!

 

[bodia]

My personal opinion only:
I don't mind a plain maple neck with single coil pickup'd guitars. The fingerboard can be whatever - doesn't seem to matter too much. Personally, I'm not crazy about maple necks with humbuckers. Especially figured maple necks (flamed/quilted/birds eye). They go out of tune unlike any neck wood I've ever used on a guitar.

From personal experience, I have two maple necked guitars that are incredibly stable.

That certainly has not been my experience either. Especially with PRS maple.

 

[CyFan4036]

Fender especially has that problem in my experience. A five degree change in temp and you're either sharp of flat. All other maple necks I've ever had were no different stability-wise than any other neck material I've had. My Warmoth roasted AAAAA flame maple was a standout as it really only needed retuned with string changes(which includes breaking the strings in)...and I'm certain that was the strings. That Strat did have a blocked trem also. So I prefer maple, just not whatever Fender does, or doesn't do, to them.

 

[pauloqs]

+1 on the superb stability of every PRS I had and have with maple necks. Two CE24s which I no longer own and my 594 which is one of my favorite guitars at the moment. I've owned each of the CEs for about a year each, and my 594 is just over 4 months old. Where I live, those 4 months got the tail end of winter, spring and a nasty summer heat wave. I never had to touch the truss rod on any of them. Interestingly, the heat wave I mentioned is going on as I write this and the 594's neck did not move even one bit. I measured it, because I couldn't believe it. It is a mildly flamed neck, too, which in theory are more susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. PRS's wood drying process actually works. It is no a gimmick.

@CyFan4036 I'm planning to build a Strat with Warmoth parts (ash body with unfinished roasted maple neck) and I've only heard good things about the stability of their necks. To be fair, Fender has maple necks and MAPLE necks. Usually anything up to American Standard/Professional can be a bit temperamental with weather. However, with my Fender limited run reclaimed redwood Tele, I've only touched the truss rod once in the three years I've owned the guitar. It has one of those heel truss rod adjustments, which I was a bit concerned when I first got it, but to my surprise that particular neck turned out to be pretty stable.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Maple necks are fun.