NGD: Question

[Casper]

Howdy-

Bought this on the bay a couple of weeks ago:
Model - Classic
Body Finish - Mellow Yellow
Body Wood - Alder
Neck Wood - Hard Rock Maple
Neck Finish - Tinted with Gloss Finish
Nutwidth - 1 11/16 in
Frets - Low-Rise
Back Shape - 60's Vibe
Hardware - Chrome
Bridge - Vintage Tremolo
Pickguard - Aged White
Pickups - SC1 SC1 SC3
Switching - 5 Way, Add Bridge

Great axe and love the feel..however, I notice that the highs aren't as spanky as they would be with a rosewood fretboard. I found myself overcompensating on the treble on the gigs this weekend. It's different, but good in its own way. Its been a long time since I've had a maple neck and this may be something to adjust to. Does the gloss have any effect on tone? Is the difference between maple and rosewood fretboards that different? Alder seems to be a pretty neutral body wood (I would think) and I've had Scs before, so I think the difference is in the fretboard? Your thoughts anyone?

[Pietro]

You just got this... and no pics???

[strat56]

Gotta post some pics.

To answer your question, I've always been told that a maple board was supposed to be brighter, but personally, I've never been able to hear the difference between a finished maple and unfinished rosewood board. I can hear differences in body woods and guitars with and without maple tops but not a fret board.

[Casper]

Veteran member of the board and I posted no pics..the unpardonable sin. I read in some older posts that rosewood is more conducive to sparkle-ness, and maple was less..The pics are from the ebay auction..

[kirkham13]

How does it sound acoustically? And btw how do you like the feel of the 60's vibe?

[Casper]

Very resonant actually. I dig the gloss neck too, great for bends!

[tom]

gloss would not make a sonic dif. rosewood has a higher top end. roy does a clint eastwood voice when describing rosewood, and it really is a great description. it's higher, but has a softness to it. it can make gainy sounds a little fuzzier. maple has a lower peak, but it's that cutting lower treble that can poke you in the forehead if you're not careful. i think a lot of people confuse that with it being brighter.

[chriswhite]

gloss would not make a sonic dif. rosewood has a higher top end. roy does a clint eastwood voice when describing rosewood, and it really is a great description. it's higher, but has a softness to it. it can make gainy sounds a little fuzzier. maple has a lower peak, but it's that cutting lower treble that can poke you in the forehead if you're not careful. i think a lot of people confuse that with it being brighter.
This makes a lot of sense. I had always heard that maple was brighter but found that I use a lot more treble on my amps with it than with rosewood fingerboards.

[pipedwho]

I find the difference is more in the presence control than the regular treble knob on a typical tube amp. Rosewood adds an 'airy' quality, whereas maple tends to be more direct. Spankiness is separate to air, and I always felt maple can get more spanky with its 'cutting lower treble' as Tom describes it.

[Casper]

Good information! Like I said, its been a long time since I had a maple necked Andy. My sound guy told me my sound was thin this weekend. That tells me I was overcompensating trying to get a sound in my head rather than letting all things being equal. I noticed when I switched to my Cobra for the second set, it was way spanky (bright) and I had to actually back off both presence and treble..interesting because I use the split sounds on the Cobra more than full hum. I don't know what the equilvalent comparison of split H series is to the SCs in the new axe, (or is it more of an electrical process?)
Now..to complicate this even more, where does pickup height fall into this?
Closer=?? Farther=? I don't plan on changing anything, the pickups look like they are in proper alignment. My tech hasn't seen this yet, so I'll get him to give it the once over..Thanks everyone

[Casper]

@ Kirkham..I am loving the 60's vibe so far. My older Classic that I had for 15 or so years had a 1 5/8 62 Roundback in rosewood. I loved that neck but my fingers are fatter now so this is like upsizing that shape a teeny bit and the ever so slight string spacing makes chording in the lower frets a breeze. Its a little chunkier in the higher frets and that will take a bit of adjustment, but I don't see any issues. My Cobra has a happy medium neck and I find the two different but similar in the way they fit my hand. I recently had a 50's larger V on a classic and I just couldn't bond with that shape...This one feels great so far, but it will take a bit of adjustment. Glad to have to different but similar necks! Hope that description works?

[kirkham13]

Thanks,
I am playing an Anderson classic 1 5/8 with the small v and really loving it. Mine is rosewood and I wouldn't call the sound open but resonant for sure. My Schecter is 1 piece maple, and actually has an open sound and some spank, but not the volume resonance or piano like tones of the Anderson. Woods and their relationship to sound remain a mystery!