Maple Top Vs. Solid Mahogany

[Derivationguitarist]

I am building an electric guitar and i was wondering if adding a maple top would have any particular advantages over just a soild mahogany body. The guitar has a mahogany neck through style neck and the body is based off of the dean ML, with a few differences. The mahogany has already been cut and joined to the neck, would it be worth adding the maple top with this in mind. I've been looking around the internet and haven't been able to find any really diffinitive answers to this so i was hoping someone on here could help me out.

Thanks

Edited January 16, 2007 by Derivationguitarist

[MzI]

Usually 1/4" to 1/2" and up will start affecting the tone of the body.

MzI

[Desopolis]

plus alot of maple tops are used for the figure they bring(see flamed/curly/quilted/spalted)

[rhoads56]

Maple will add brightness to the tone. The more you use, the more it will add. This will still be a "warm" sounding guitar though, because of the neck timber.

[Stolysmaster]

Not only will more maple add more brightness, but the more maple you have, the "tighter" and more focused the sound will be.

I own two Ibanez Artist guitars with thick carved maple tops and maple necks. The rosewood fingerboards tend to calm down the maple a little, but actually I think they are too bright and tight sounding for my personal taste because of the amount of maple used!

You mention that you are using a "neck through" design, and then you state that the mahogany and neck have already been joined!?? There is no neck/body joint in a "through neck" design. I suspect that what you meant to say is that it is a "set neck" design.

Maybe I am incorrect; that what you meant was that the mahogany "wings" had already been cut and joined to the neck.

[Derivationguitarist]

Not only will more maple add more brightness, but the more maple you have, the "tighter" and more focused the sound will be.

I own two Ibanez Artist guitars with thick carved maple tops and maple necks. The rosewood fingerboards tend to calm down the maple a little, but actually I think they are too bright and tight sounding for my personal taste because of the amount of maple used!

You mention that you are using a "neck through" design, and then you state that the mahogany and neck have already been joined!?? There is no neck/body joint in a "through neck" design. I suspect that what you meant to say is that it is a "set neck" design.

Maybe I am incorrect; that what you meant was that the mahogany "wings" had already been cut and joined to the neck.

sorry for the clarical error, it is a neck through design the two body panels have been cut and joined to the neck, it is not a set neck. Thank you to everyone for the quickness of their replies.

Do different types of maple have a different effect or is it all relatively the same?

Edited January 15, 2007 by Derivationguitarist

[MzI]

eastern rock maple is hard maple, brighter sounding then western big leaf which is a soft maple.

MzI

[Derivationguitarist]

can that be generalized to say the harder the maple the brighter the sound? How "bright" of a sound does spalted maple have?

Edited January 15, 2007 by Derivationguitarist

[biliousfrog]

do you have any pics of the body/neck as it is?...I'm wondering whether you have room for the maple top?

[Desopolis]

Not only will more maple add more brightness, but the more maple you have, the "tighter" and more focused the sound will be.

I own two Ibanez Artist guitars with thick carved maple tops and maple necks. The rosewood fingerboards tend to calm down the maple a little, but actually I think they are too bright and tight sounding for my personal taste because of the amount of maple used!

You mention that you are using a "neck through" design, and then you state that the mahogany and neck have already been joined!?? There is no neck/body joint in a "through neck" design. I suspect that what you meant to say is that it is a "set neck" design.

Maybe I am incorrect; that what you meant was that the mahogany "wings" had already been cut and joined to the neck.

he meant that the two sides of the body are glued to the neck piece. I also assume that its low enough for a possible top.

[westhemann]

eastern hard rock maple is the "tone wood"so to speak...soft maple is mainly chosen for looks because that is what quilts...

adding a 3/8" (roughly)top will add an edge to the sound ...personally,i prefer all mahogany most times because i use emg 81 at the bridge,and it is already edgy enough...but i had a les paul studio with a hard maple top...and it was a very,very nice sound...alot of "attack"

kind of depends on what you play really...do you play clean alot?because for clean,maple really works well...for metal,mahogany is nicer imo

i have a vee in which the neck thru is maple and the wings are mahogany...the pickups and brdge are set into the maple...the sound is great for clean and dirty

[MzI]

you really cant generalize on wood because every piece is going to sound different even if one piece is harder then another. Generally hard maple vs soft maple the hard maple will sound brighter. Spalted maple is a different story altogether. It is completely dependent on how much of the wood is rotted away. The more it is rotted the more sponge like it is going to be. Thats why generally spalted maple tops are rather thin. Im currently working on a couple spalted maple top guitars, one is on a mahogany back. The top is still fairly together but is only around 1/4" think so it will not affect the tone that much. On the other hand the guitar will have a 3 piece maple neck and highout put pickups which will help with the excess warmth of the mahogany.

MzI

[Telenator]

I built the guitar below with a 1" thick, quarternsawn piece of mahogany and topped it with a bookmatched piece of 5/8" maple. It absolutely screams in the Les Paul tradition.

Many mahogany guitars I play seem to sound nice and warm but often lack the complex highs associated with adding a maple cap.

For what it's worth, I tend to like maple caps for rock guitars, and solid mahogany for blues, swing and cleaner tones.

[Derivationguitarist]

right now there is not a ton of depth to add in much of a maple top, i was planning on taking the mahogany down to the necessary depth before adding the maple top the fret board is only a little higher then the mahogany because orignally i was thinking of making it all mahogany. I dont really have any great pictures to show what i have done so far that could give much of an idea of how much space is there to add a top and i'm away at school right now and didn't bring the guitar with me in fear of damaging the unfinished project in the move. I'm not sure how to post pictures on here either, i can post the 3 pictures i do have if anyones interested. I play mostly metal music and am planning on throwing in a high gain pickup, bill lawrence l-500xl.

[fryovanni]

There are big differences between the different species of Maple. In terms of weight(density), stiffness, hardness etc... Generally we think in terms of "hard" and "soft" Maple. What we think of as hard maple(sugar, eastern rock) is well suited to necks, fretboards, and sometimes tops(depends on what you want) on solid bodies. Hard maple is dense, stiff, and hard(as the name suggests). Birdsey and flamed figures are found in hard maple. When we say "soft" maple generally we mean Bigleaf(or western maple). It is well suited to acoustic applications(violins,cellos, archtop guitars, acoustic guitars etc..) were hard maples are too stiff and dense and not as desirable(In the past woods associated with acoustic instruments have been refered to as "tonewood", but the term has become pretty convoluted to mean pretty much wood used for instruments). Bigleaf in most respects(weight, density etc..) is more akin to an Alder or Mahogany(Similar but by no means the same woods). You will find strong Quilted and flamed figures in bigleaf. There are other species that get lumped in and generally fall somewhere between. Such as Silver(similar in weight to bigleaf, but much less stiff), Red(slightly heavier and stiffer than Bigleaf, but not as stiff, heavy or hard as Sugar Maple). There are others but they are less commonly seen on the markets.

In general terms. Dense, stiff, and woods that contain less resin or oil(assuming clear straight grain). Tend to carry vibration better with lower dampening("brighter"). Woods that have lower density, lower stiffness, high resin or oil content. Tend to dampen sound to some extent. Different combinations such as stiff, dense but oily(such as Cocobolo, Brazillian Rosewood, Bubinga etc..). Give you a complex mix of dampening. When people say lighter colored woods are brighter. It is true to an extent because light colored woods tend to not have high oil or resin content(however that does not consider density or stiffness). Same could be said of darker woods, but again density and stiffness are major parts to the equation.

Burled wood, spalted(rotting) wood, and so forth. Tend to not carry sound very well because they lack stucture in their grain or simply are decomposing. Definately not good choices for a structural element such as a neck.

Peace,Rich

[Derivationguitarist]

Those pictures are all from before the neck was glued to the body. i think i may go with a very thin spalted maple top, i really like the look of it but i have a good few more weeks before i can get home to start working on it again so i have time to think about it. any suggestions comments ideas are welcome. I'm sure most of you if not all have a better concept of building guitars than i do. The body is 2 inches thick right now, the back is going to get sanded down a lot and probablly a little off of the front to to work out the imperfections in the wood such as dents, the dents on the face of the guitar is one of the main reasons i started thinking of adding the maple top. any feedback would be greatly appreciated

[Derivationguitarist]

is it possible to take down the body and center peice of the neck in order to add the maple top? i dont plan on using a very think peice of maple probablly around a 1/4 inch

[Mattia]

Yes.