Rosewood neck

[SPORT]

SO; I hear a lot of positives regarding Rosewood necks. However, the upcharge for just adding a Rosewood neck seems excessive. Curious what the majority here think/feel about Rosewood necks. Is it worth the $500-$1,000 upcharge on some of these P24’s I’m considering…

I've found nearly identical P24's, one with Rosewood neck, and the other not; however, the Rosewood is selling for $5400 while the Non rosewood is $2800. I would like to add that the Rosewood neck has Quilted Maple top while the non-Rosewood is Flamed Maple, both of which are 10-top, and realize quilted may be a bit more expensive, but I don't think it's that much more...



What are the pros of Rosewood necks?


Any negatives?


Thank you, in advance for your thoughts.

Rick

 

[HANGAR18]

For me, I was blown away with how smooth the Rosewood neck felt while playing my PRS guitar that has one. No tackiness at all (hand doesn't stick).
I also have a PRS guitar which has a solid (flame) Maple neck which feels just as smooth. So if price is important to you, you might look into a solid Maple neck which doesn't cost as much as Rosewood.

 

[CantankerousCarl]

An all-rosewood neck will generally bring out the low-mids, whereas a maple one will lend more snap. That's probably your most important choice - what type of sound do you gravitate toward?

As Hangar points out, they both feel pretty awesome. With rosewood, with the smoothness you can also feel just a touch of the grain, which is kinda cool.

 

[HANGAR18]

Carl does make a good point regarding tonal differences. Maple is well known for influending the sound in a much "brighter" direction.

 

[SPORT]

An all-rosewood neck will generally bring out the low-mids, whereas a maple one will lend more snap. That's probably your most important choice - what type of sound do you gravitate toward?

As Hangar points out, they both feel pretty awesome. With rosewood, with the smoothness you can also feel just a touch of the grain, which is kinda cool.

Yup, I've read that somehwere...Wish I had access to these differences so I can hear it for myself. Although I lean towards Jazzy Blues (Jeff Golub to Bonomassa), I grew up in the Rock Scene (Eddie Van Halen, Queensryche, & Satriani era).

Guess I need to find a dealer who carries both of them... Anything around York, PA?

 

[AP515]

In 2013 (I don't have the 2014 price list), the upcharge for a rosewood neck was $828 Retail. The price difference for those two guitars must be for other options.

 

[rugerpc]

The slickness of a RW neck has to be felt to be fully appreciated...

kinda like looking at a bullet VS shooting it - the second action leaves a more lasting impression.

 

[SPORT]

...kinda like looking at a bullet VS shooting it - the second action leaves a more lasting impression.

Oh...I get that analogy.

 

[Kiwi]

Some observations on the solid Indian rosewood neck on my PRS ME Quatro appear below. I have several other mahogany-necked PRS guitars (McCarty, HB-II, etc) with similar 53/10 pickups for comparison. I found that the IRW neck is a very different ride, and I'm still learning to drive it.

The RW neck gives an immediate attack on the notes, instead of the 'bloom' we're used to with mahogany necks. It generates clear, piano-like low notes of unusual clarity, and brilliant highs. I met PRSH at a local appearance and he confirmed my impressions. It may change how and what you play on it, to take advantage of its unusual response.

=K

 

[HANGAR18]

Some observations on the solid Indian rosewood neck on my PRS ME Quatro appear below. I have several other mahogany-necked PRS guitars (McCarty, HB-II, etc) with similar 53/10 pickups for comparison. I found that the IRW neck is a very different ride, and I'm still learning to drive it.

The RW neck gives an immediate attack on the notes, instead of the 'bloom' we're used to with mahogany necks. It generates clear, piano-like low notes of unusual clarity, and brilliant highs. I met PRSH at a local appearance and he confirmed my impressions. It may change how and what you play on it, to take advantage of its unusual response.

=K

I think that is above my skill level. hahaha

 

[Bill SAS 513]

I have a couple full RW neck basses and same bass in maple neck with RW fingerboard...full RW is reeeeeeally smooth, and brings out more mids, and a little more lows...just seems fuller...hope this helps. Would be ideal to A-B the same model with different necks.

 

[László]

Would be ideal to A-B the same model with different necks.

I had a McCarty RW and a McCarty at the same time; also a McCarty Soapbar RW and McCarty Soapbar at the same time.

All other things being equal, my experience was that the RW necks sound a bit more resonant in the lower midrange. They do feel great. The mahogany necks exhibit more upper midrange emphasis.

It all depends on the sound you like. I actually prefer the sound of the mahogany necks over RW or maple on most guitars.

I can't comment on value, since that's completely subjective.

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

I like rosewood necks and I cannot lie!

I do not dislike the others, but that rosewood, MERCY. I am going to get a HBII this year and it will have a rosewood neck. MY ME QUATRO has spolied me on the rosewood.

Just my two cents.

 

[Tag]

Like others have said, Rosewood necks will accentuate the lower mids more, and have a bit less bloom. They can be a bit muddy if you are not careful, but they also have a cool piano like attack. You gain some things, you lose some. You really need both. I have a feeling a Rosewood neck with an ebony board would be the best of everything, but I have never tried one.

 

[Skeeter]

I have kind of a follow on to this discussion - has anyone had it take a couple guitars before they found a Rosewood neck that really worked for them?

I ask because I had one on a Custom 24 a few years ago and while I loved the feel, I just couldn't quite bond with it. To be fair, a lot of it had to do with the neck shape - it was labelled as "Regular" but seemed as thin as my W/T CE and the neck/nut was way too narrow for my tastes. I guess this was before the Pattern standard supposedly made the necks more uniform as my current fav guitar has a "Pattern Regular". I also felt the mids were WAY too scooped.

Anyways, I loved the 57/08 in the neck on that CuRo I had - that really leapt out at me - so smooth and creamy. But like I said, I just didn't bond with the guitar overall. But because of "that" sound, the slick feel and the kind of dark smokey thing (e.g., for jazz) it has going for it - I am wondering if I just tried a RW neck on the wrong guitar.

Perhaps it's better on a bigger neck, or a 22 fret guitar, SC or McCarty style. Maybe where the drop off in he midrange "oomph" isn't as pronounced? So...did anyone find it took subsequent guitar(s) to really get the Crackwood Fever?

 

[AP515]

I have kind of a follow on to this discussion - has anyone had it take a couple guitars before they found a Rosewood neck that really worked for them?

It took me a while to warm up to mine. It felt rather large, but the biggest adjustment was the tone. After I put 57/08's in the guitar the tone started to come together. Some pickups work better with rosewood than others. I really like mahogany for many guitars, but the rosewood neck is better if you have the right pickups. For me the right ones are the 57/08's.

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

Yeah Honestly you cannot go wrong with rosewood necks
I will take a back shot of them in the next day or 2 hehe

 

[Tag]

I have kind of a follow on to this discussion - has anyone had it take a couple guitars before they found a Rosewood neck that really worked for them?

I ask because I had one on a Custom 24 a few years ago and while I loved the feel, I just couldn't quite bond with it. To be fair, a lot of it had to do with the neck shape - it was labelled as "Regular" but seemed as thin as my W/T CE and the neck/nut was way too narrow for my tastes. I guess this was before the Pattern standard supposedly made the necks more uniform as my current fav guitar has a "Pattern Regular". I also felt the mids were WAY too scooped.

Anyways, I loved the 57/08 in the neck on that CuRo I had - that really leapt out at me - so smooth and creamy. But like I said, I just didn't bond with the guitar overall. But because of "that" sound, the slick feel and the kind of dark smokey thing (e.g., for jazz) it has going for it - I am wondering if I just tried a RW neck on the wrong guitar.

Perhaps it's better on a bigger neck, or a 22 fret guitar, SC or McCarty style. Maybe where the drop off in he midrange "oomph" isn't as pronounced? So...did anyone find it took subsequent guitar(s) to really get the Crackwood Fever?

I have had a bunch of RW necked guitars, both Brazilian and Indian, WF and WT. I think RW necks in general have a certain sound, but the difference between RW and Mahogany is generally (like most things on the internet) grossly exaggerated. Get some comparison clips of the same guitars with the only difference being the neck wood, and where you can SEE the person unplugging one guitar and plugging in another so there is no cheating going on to see what I mean. I have had a CU 22 AP with a WF RW neck, a CU 22 AP with a WF Mahogany neck, a CU 22 AP with a WT RW neck and a CU22 AP with a WT Mahogany neck, an Artist 3 semi hollow trem WFwith a Mahogany neck and a PS Artist 3 semi hollow with a WF Braz RW neck all at the same time. You could hear the subtle difference of the RW to the Mahogany on each guitar, but it was not great. Another example is when I bought one of my first CU 22 APs, I tried a few out at a dealer on LI. It came down to two of the several they had. I picked one, and it was not until I paid and was getting ready to leave that the dealer informed me the one I did not pick had a RW neck. I did not even notice!!! All the talk about how smooth and great they feel, and I played these guitars for HOURS, and did not even notice it until I was told after the fact. VASTLY over rated IMO. (Although I do dig RW necks!) As I have stated elsewhere, an ebony board on a Mahogany neck compared to a RW board on a mahogany neck makes a much bigger difference than a RW board on a Mahogany neck compared to a RW board on a RW neck.
YMMV, IMO etc etc.

 

[Royal Crimson]

Thank goodness there's no Ebony vs Richlite debates in the PRS world. Those (unlike this thread) get uggggglly in the Gibson world.

oh yeah, love RW, but someday I want a maple FB. Guess I still need "just one more, dear.)

 

[Tag]

Thank goodness there's no Ebony vs Richlite debates in the PRS world. Those (unlike this thread) get uggggglly in the Gibson world.

I have played 359s with both, and bought the ebony. Simply a no contest to my ear. I would not buy a guitar with a richlite fretboard. uggh!