John PAge

“I don’t think you’ll ever get a ‘definitive’ answer on maple versus rosewood for several reasons. One, the difference in tone is subtle, but it is indeed part of the overall ‘recipe’ of the components in the guitar that generate the overall tone of the instrument. To me, rosewood definitely has a warmer tone and a little softer note definition than maple; maple is a bit quicker on the attack. But I’m a designer/ builder and I’m supposed to listen to and understand how material differences will affect the tone.

“Two, it depends on how you play your guitar. If you primarily play in the studio and use a minimal amount of effects – basically as close to the guitar plugging directly in the amp – then you’ll probably hear a distinct difference. If you play in a band, where there will definitely be other instruments and/or use a moderate amount of effects, you probably won’t hear the difference. Again, I’m a designer/builder, so I’m always listening to the guitar by myself in a controlled environment and dissecting its tone… I’m looking for the differences – or not – to understand better.

“Three, it’s an aesthetic thing. A large amount of players consider their guitar part of their ‘fashion’ when they’re gigging, I know I did. Even though I prefer the tone of rosewood, I love the look of maple. Plus, circling back to reason number two, there were lots of guys in the band, my guitar was low in the mix, so the subtleties in the tone were not critical enough to be a factor.

“Four, the feel of the open grain of rosewood versus the slick feel of a finished maple fretboard: some folks find this an issue, some do not. To me, it explains why some people think the maple neck is ‘faster’.

“I absolutely believe that there is a tonal difference between the two, but depending on the above, it may or may not make a difference to the individual player, or they may not even hear it!”