NECK WOOD: Mahogany vs Maple
One neat thing about having 12 electric guitars (all hanging up right next to each other in the same room, each with a strap mounted on it and the guitar is ready to go) is that I will often do spontaneous A/B demos (acoustically with no amp) where I will re-evaluate each guitar for playability comfort and to a small degree tone too.
I compare the weight of the guitars (heavy ones vs light ones). I compare the thicker necks versus the thinner necks. I compare the singlecuts versus the doublecuts. Rapidly comparing one against the other makes the differences much more clearly identifiable. Then I ask myself, do I still like this neck profile over that neck profile? Do I still like this body design better than that body design ans so on.
But something unusual has emerged from my comparative re-evaluations. Yesterday I compared all 12 against each other and noticed for the first time that both guitars which have MAPLE necks with a Rosewood fingerboard have much less felt vibration (which I normally feel through my left hand and torso where I make direct contact with the instrument) than the other guitars which have a Maghogany neck with a Rosewood fingerboard.
I strummed my 30th Anniversary CU24 (Hog neck) and then immediately switched to my 2018 CU24-08 (maple neck). The brand new 24-08 with the Maple neck felt like I was playing a rubber guitar as their was basically no perceivable felt vibration in my hand or torso whereas I could feel a lot of vibration in the 30th Anniv. CU24 with the Hog neck.
I then began focusing on comparing my two McCarty 594's a one has a Maple/Rosewood neck while the other have a Mahogany/Rosewood neck. Much less felt vibration from the Maple/Rosewood neck in that comparison too. The vibration wasn't nearly dead zero like in the CU24-08 but there was definitely a LOT less less felt vibration between the two.
SO, has anyone ever noticed this sort of thing before? In the back of my mind I remember the PRSh videos where he talks about how nothing in the instrument should subtract from (absorb energy) and so I'm wondering what is going on here with these Maple necks. They say Maple provides a "brighter tone". But so would a solid acrylic neck. Perhaps this lends insight as to WHY a Maple neck is associated with a brighter tone in that is it REALLY solid wood and that it just doesn't vibrate as much.
Input & feedback welcome. I'm just wondering why I got the results I did.
One neat thing about having 12 electric guitars (all hanging up right next to each other in the same room, each with a strap mounted on it and the guitar is ready to go) is that I will often do spontaneous A/B demos (acoustically with no amp) where I will re-evaluate each guitar for playability comfort and to a small degree tone too.
I compare the weight of the guitars (heavy ones vs light ones). I compare the thicker necks versus the thinner necks. I compare the singlecuts versus the doublecuts. Rapidly comparing one against the other makes the differences much more clearly identifiable. Then I ask myself, do I still like this neck profile over that neck profile? Do I still like this body design better than that body design ans so on.
But something unusual has emerged from my comparative re-evaluations. Yesterday I compared all 12 against each other and noticed for the first time that both guitars which have MAPLE necks with a Rosewood fingerboard have much less felt vibration (which I normally feel through my left hand and torso where I make direct contact with the instrument) than the other guitars which have a Maghogany neck with a Rosewood fingerboard.
I strummed my 30th Anniversary CU24 (Hog neck) and then immediately switched to my 2018 CU24-08 (maple neck). The brand new 24-08 with the Maple neck felt like I was playing a rubber guitar as their was basically no perceivable felt vibration in my hand or torso whereas I could feel a lot of vibration in the 30th Anniv. CU24 with the Hog neck.
I then began focusing on comparing my two McCarty 594's a one has a Maple/Rosewood neck while the other have a Mahogany/Rosewood neck. Much less felt vibration from the Maple/Rosewood neck in that comparison too. The vibration wasn't nearly dead zero like in the CU24-08 but there was definitely a LOT less less felt vibration between the two.
SO, has anyone ever noticed this sort of thing before? In the back of my mind I remember the PRSh videos where he talks about how nothing in the instrument should subtract from (absorb energy) and so I'm wondering what is going on here with these Maple necks. They say Maple provides a "brighter tone". But so would a solid acrylic neck. Perhaps this lends insight as to WHY a Maple neck is associated with a brighter tone in that is it REALLY solid wood and that it just doesn't vibrate as much.
Input & feedback welcome. I'm just wondering why I got the results I did.