Official Luthiers Forum!

I has asked another member about the marketability of a guitar with maple sides and back. From what i am told, maple is not so in demand. I wonder if that is the general rule of thumb in your areas? I find the figure in maple is beautiful personally, and wondering the reason behind this. Is it just because of the bright color?

Another question, from what i understand maple has been used for centuries to build string instruments including early and modern guitars. It was a standard (at least from my research) coupled with spruce and other fruit woods. Of course different regions and different styles used other woods like the spanish cypress for flamencos. So all this was before the Rosewood came into play, and i realize that rosewood is prized for certain attributes. Tell me if i am wrong with this.

Any personal experience selling guitars with maple backs and sides please feel free to comment about it.

Thanks in advance.

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久保
美智え

Some people prefer maple guitars. If say it's probably the #3 wood, behind mahogany and rosewood, used on production guitars. (Could be wrong but you see quite a few figured maple guitars made by Gibson, Taylor, etc).

Many people attribute a maple back and sides to a "bright" tone. So this goes a long way in the marketability of maple guitars. Someone who buys one is usually looking for a bright sound. At least that's what most people I've talked to have said.

Yes, what Zeke said. The "bright" tone can venture into "tinny" sound, which some maple guitars can sound like. Once a reputation gets earned, it is sometimes hard to break. I've played some very fine sounding Maple guitars.

Personally never owned a Maple guitar. The color just doesn't turn me on. I know that sounds childish. But I bought an ES335 back in the seventies. Should have chosen another color. But had a limited selection. Never cared for the guitar. I would call it Turd Brown. Now if I were to buy another guitar I would shop until I was totally happy with it. But one guys throwaway is another guys treasure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here is a video and pic's of one of my all time favorite all maple guitars.
Someone liked this one because it sold (and for a LOT of money too).


Here is the specs on it.
http://www.dreamguitars.com/detail/3540-ivanov_snow_parlor_3/#full


And the sound clip.

Maple is far and away the dominant choice for back/sides for archtop guitars, and for many semi-hollow bodies (eg., ES335). It's also the material of choice for top plates for solid body guitars. So for many purposes, maple guitars are extremely marketable.

In flat top guitars, unfortunately, somebody once conned the world into believing that there is a direct correlation between the tonal qualities of a lumber species and its position on the CITES list. I suppose that if you build a guitar out of unobtainium, your materials cost is super high, so you have to charge a super high price, and so you have to convince consumers that unobtainium is better in order to justify the super high price.

Since maple is the ultimate "easilyobtainium" lumber, it's a hard sell for flat tops. But you can get spectacularly figured maple for very reasonable prices, and if you can get a player to pick one up and play it, and surprise them with how great it sounds, maybe you can change some minds.

Also if you don't like the look I'm sure Hesh would paint it black for you.....

all these technical terms just keep my head spinning!!!!!!unobtainium ,easilyobtainium!!!!!!!!!

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MK5acoustics.com

This one sold in two weeks. It sounded great, better than I expected. I'll make more.

http://www.guitarrodeo.com/guitars/kenn ... le-om.html

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I used to own this Greven in maple... was killer:

Glenn

I think maple may be a bit of an acquired taste, but as others have mentioned, it's top of the list for arch tops, and Gibson has made a pretty good business out of selling maple guitars.

I think the problem happens when you're trying to get anything approaching top dollar for a custom, luthier-made guitar. I know a world class maker who says that he can't sell a mahogany guitar. I think a lot of that is because someone putting 3-10,000 bucks for a custom guitar wants something special. He wants a flashy ziricote back/sides. Or Blackwood. Or whatever the flavour of the month is.

"Maple? I can get a Gibson in maple. I want something that shows off my superior taste and knowledge of tonewoods. And it has to look hot too."

Not arguing with that. Customers should get what they want. But what they want often has little to do with what's gonna produce the best sound.

Just my 2 cents. And worth exactly what you paid for it.

Steve

Heh, I shot that video, and spent quite some time playing that beauty. Cool guitar, but ultimately had that boxy tonal quality I hear in a lot of parlors. A bit strident. Actually the best sounding maple guitar I've ever played, and one of the sweetest sounding guitars I've played period, belonged to Al Petteway, and was built by John Slobod of Circa Guitars. Unbelievable projection and clarity, and it was a 00.



Ken Jones
Mountain Song Guitars

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

When I saw Al Petteway last year, his main guitar was a Cira 000 with Maple B&S. Here is a good recording of that guitar. BTW I believe you are hearing the feed from the McIntyre Pickup. The guitar sounds great in a live performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeufUGSSXwI

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EddieLee

I built a maple dread, and I was expecting it to have that bright tone that everybody was talking about. It actually just sounded incredibly well balanced and full. A sound engineer even said its the only guitar he's recorded that required no EQ!

It was big leaf maple, Sitka, and an ebony bridge. Has anyone built guitars with both big leaf and hard maple? Tonal differences? Maybe the hard maples sound extra bright?

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Pat

I've heard some pretty tinny sounding mahogany and rosewood guitars too.

I don't think you can tell what a guitar will sound like based on the species used.

I don't think you can identify wood species used on a recorded guitar or blind test.

I haven't met anyone who genuinely can.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

@Ken,

If you shot that video I am curious what you used for used to record the audio? I have tired multiple times to record mine but the results have always been noisy.

As for that boxy sound of parlors, I was a little disappointed that the one I just finished didn't have that sound. It is EIR sides and back with ebony fretboard and bridge. Not a big full sound but warmer than I was expecting. I love that delta blues-y sound that that one in the video has and I really love the all maple look of it. Snow parlor is a great name too...

Bob

Our signal chain is a matched pair of Neumann KM184's into a LaChapelle two channel preamp, a matched pair of Royer ribbon mics and a Mictek tube mic into a UA 4-710d preamp, all routed through a UA Apollo Quad interface into Logic Pro. I place one each of the KM's and Royers about 18" from the lower bout and the 12th fret. The Mictek is placed about 6' away for just a little "air". We take great pains to capture each instrument faithfully without coloring the sound in any way. A huge part of getting good, low noise recordings is to use high-quality mics, preamps, and ADA conversion. Of course, I've lost quite a few good takes from the Fedex truck pulling in the driveway, or someone opening the garage door below...


Ken Jones
Mountain Song Guitars

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Thanks for the info Ken, Nice setup and not surprising you get some really clean recordings.

I guess my problem is I just haven't spent enough money...

Bob

I have made about 10 maple guitars. The last one I made I decided to keep for me. Considering I own about 10 BRW guitars this is a keeper.
this is a 1/4 in braced forward shift red top with pecky maple

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks for all the replies. Also might I add , some beautiful guitars being posted here.

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久保
美智え

I have a maple Gibson Dove that I gig with if I'm playing threw a mic. It's my loudest acoustic and its very bright.

Steve Spodaryk made a gorgeous Staufer-Martin replica from Birdseye Maple a few years back that was stunning.
Check it out.
http://spodarykguitars.com/gallery.html#

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Maple is also the de facto body wood for early romantic guitars, as well as a lot of the early modern classical guitars. A significant portion of the output of Torres and his contemporaries were maple.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I LOVE MAPLE !

You know on the subject of a world class builder unable to sell a mahogany guitar... it's weird because I got this one customer who is commissioning me to build him a jumbo, and he wants mahogany for whatever reason... I kept trying to get him to choose rosewood (and at no additional charge) but he seems dead set on mahogany. I guess it's the sound since they are associated with a warmer sound than rosewood. To make things interesting he also requested EIR fingerboard and bridge... my guess is he's afraid to venture into the unknown as far as wood choices goes and wants to stick with what "works".

Nothing against mahogany but I just love building with EIR so it's kind of my first preference... even if EIR sets cost more than mahogany.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com