Maple B+S what are you thoughts

[unclrob]

On another thread Lee Richard ask about the tone of maple so the reason for this thread.Everyone will have an opinion so speakup.


I play alot of maple guitars my fav is my OM03PA I also have 2 Guilds jumbos a 6 and a 12 string,plus my Gibson L7 archtop.Maple for me adds richness to all the freq. by boosting the mids inside these freq ie: bass gets cleaner and looses what I call the mud,in the mid freq it boost its own presence,in the high you good more cut-threw without adding any shrillness.As for styles of music I have no problem playing any of them,jazz,blues,folk,americona,finger style,rock,open tunings any thing else you can think of.Hope this helps,but lets hear from others.

[strawintogold]

Because it's important to me to only post helpful things, i think you need to send me a maple guitar so that I may make an informed and concise contribution.

[Roman]

Hi there Unclrob!  It's been a while.

I have a Taylor 614ce that is quite wonderful.  It's great plugged in or unplugged.  When I compare it to my other acoustics, I describe it as haveing a "piano" sound vs. woody, or mellow - like mahogany and rosewood respectively.

It's quite loud and evenly balanced . . . I love it!  And when it's plugged in, well, it's hard to beat.  It has opened up nicely over the years too . . . (plus, the sweet smell of that maple is a nice plus).

[unclrob]

Roman good to hear from you.? isn't 614 from Taylor the basic standard to beat in the Taylor line?

[Roman]

isn't 614 from Taylor the basic standard to beat in the Taylor line?

That's pretty subjective . . . I think the 814 (sitka / rosewood) is pretty hard to beat.  Most folks from what I hear asy the 6xx series is the preferred for plugged in . . . less feedback issues.

[es-335]

SJ200 is one of my favourite guitars!!

Very bright and powerful guitar!

[unclrob]

As always Roman I'm confussed,isn't the 800 Taylor a dread.Help me here.Yes I do find that the 600's are played mostly plugged in but I have found them to be pleasent acoustically.

[Danny]

  I really like maple back and sides.  Flamed maple is a favorite of mine.
I liked my Larrivee OO-09FM a lot but let it go when I got my F-III. The maple is bright and crisp sounding and just has a "lively" flavor to it. So very different than rosewood or mahogany.  The F-III with Mahogany and the Italian Spruce tops crosses into that "bright and lively" tone. But Hog with sitka or A hog top are warmer and with the hog top even darker sounding tones.  A rosewood will tend to be richer and full of overtones.
 

I have a maple custom with a hog top that I'm rebuilding and don't know for sure what to expect from it.
                                  (It will probably turn out to be a ''dual personality")



                          This was my 00-09FM Larrivee, a very nice lil git.



                                    My F-III  LS-03 MH/IS is in the middle

[teh]

I played 6 different parlors when I bought my flamed maple and it was the clear choice. This is the cleanest, clearest little guitar I ever played and it sounds really nice tuned down to open C.

Having played both a 12 string and 6 string Larrivee in quilted maple, I would have no qualms about getting one in the future.

[Roman]

Unclrob,

The x14 (614, 814, etc.) series are the Grand Auditorium size, the closest to the L body that Larravée offers . . . the x12's are the Grand Concert series, smaller and not as deep, the x00 series are the dreads, x15's are their jumbos and their x55's are the 12 strings.  Now Taylor has come out with a bunch more . . . Their GS (Grand Symphony) baritones, 12 ftret, and a new parlor just advertised.

So many guitars . . . so little time!

[dberch]

I had a Gibson J-100 XT Maple that I loved to play.  Sometimes I wish I had kept that one.  I'll see if I can find a pic...

I put a vintage John Greven pickguard on it.  It sounded  huge and woody, but clear and not boomy at all.  loved it!



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[Randy_R]

I like maple for the reasons already stated. Crisp and cutting, good mids and trebles.

Danny, That mahogany on maple may turn out to be a good combination. I had a C-09 with maple that had a cedar top, and the cedar softened the trebles just a bit in a good way.

[hadden]

I'll be a naysayer here with my limited experience of maple. I've tried a Taylor dread and a Beneteau grand concert style guitar with maple, and I found both of them too plain sounding for my ears. Just wasn't enough interest in the tone for me.

[dermot]

two of the best guitars i have had the joy to play were both maple... David Webber's personal guitar, a engelman/maple 12 fret 00, and this Paragon that is currently for sale at Ted's LA Guitar Sales shop;


you can read more about it here;
http://www.laguitarsales.com/pages/3433/Paragon_MJ.htm

At the time Rob had borrowed one of my 12 fret D's for a while so he cold get his head around what a Martin 12 fret D sounds like, and he wanted to hold on to the 12 fretter for a while longer - so he let me try out this beauty for while he played my 12 fret D - it was sooooo good i was really glad to give it back to him....

;-)

d.

[tadol]

That one is incredible! Maple with snowflakes - beautiful!

Tad

[Zohn]

Roman good to hear from you.? isn't 614 from Taylor the basic standard to beat in the Taylor line?

isn't 614 from Taylor the basic standard to beat in the Taylor line?

That's pretty subjective . . . I think the 814 (sitka / rosewood) is pretty hard to beat.  Most folks from what I hear asy the 6xx series is the preferred for plugged in . . . less feedback issues.

Now that is interesting. The one Taylor I crave for is the 514, but then I'm a hog-freak... I must admit though I won't mind a Doyle Dykes Signature model. That one comes in Maple..


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[leerichards]

Unclrob you are a kind and gracious man.  Thanks heaps for starting a thread to answer my question, it is really appreciated. It has certainly enabled me to fill a blank in my knowledge of tonewoods. From the pics, maple certainly has great beauty as well. My own philosophy on aesthetics is "less is more" so the Paragon posted by Dermot appeals most to my eye. The RW sound, I know and likewise mahogany so thanks all for your contributions which enable me to imagine how the maple sound fits into the spectrum. Lee

[unclrob]

Lee happy to help


Come on I know more of you have something to say good or bad......its teachin time .....step on up.

[Danny]

   This is a custom ordered Taylor 615ce with and Engleman top. (owned and ordered by my friend Don10 years ago)





    I played this, but it had dead Martin SP's on it. Don hates changing strings, when I first played the OM-21 that I got from him the strings were dead and I thought the OM was dull. I also thought this about this 615ce, but I bet it was the old strings. He has 10 or more stringed instruments and this one he would sell, I'd be temped because of the looks alone, but it's too big for me.
    It sure is pretty though. I guess these are "Jumbos" 17'' by 4 5/8'' deep etc., more like a Gibson SJ I think.

  The Gibson maple jumbos were used for percussion as well as a ''cutting" guitar in many country and bluegrass bands way back. They could ''drum'' on the big tops with their hands. No drums were used in those bands back then.

[dermot]

If you ever get a chance to listen to any cut from El Mcmeen's album "Amazing Grace"... every track is recorded with a Martin OM, Italian spruce over quilted maple.

Sounds spectacular, but then El's playing so every thing sounds spectacular ;-)

d.