DangerDan Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Hello everyone, im new to the forum and guitar building. And i think I just made a mistake and bought this piece of wood off ebay. And the reason its a mistake is cause when i got done putting in my bid, i realized it said "Curly Soft Maple" Do you think this peice will sound like dung ontop my mahogany body? http://cgi.ebay.com/CURLY-MAPLE-13-16-x-7-...1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 I do not believe it will have the same bright characteristics of hard maple, although it will certainly not sound like "dung". Isn't all curly maple soft? Look at how many guitars out there have that as a top wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs man Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 soft maple is fine. I have used it with good results. I have made a couple guitar with soft curly maple for tops. one tele and one les Paul double cut away both have a nice sound. I used string through bridge on both I think that makes for more sustain. curly soft maple go for it Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demiurge Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Well, isn't it true that the "soft" designation really doesn't mean that it's an overall soft wood, like pine, or even basswood, are considered soft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Yeah, soft is a relative term. When they say "soft maple" it just means that it isn't diamond-hard like hard maple is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 "soft"(Western,Bigleaf or whatever you want to call it) is very commonly used for tops. It is not as dense or stiff as Harder Maples. It would be closer to Mahogany in terms of density and stiffness(although not exact matches). Bigleaf is a very resonant wood and is prized for acoustic instruments(it is not a bad wood). If you see a quilted Maple top it is "soft" maple and the vast majority of flamed Maple tops you see are also "soft" Maple. Hard Maple does show flamed figure as well as Birdsey(not found in soft maples). The term "soft wood" vs "hardwood" refers to groups of trees that either Deciduous trees(hardwoods) or Conifers, Evergreens, Needle or scaled trees(softwoods). So no harm no foul(in terms of making a guitar sound bad). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DangerDan Posted February 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 That was very helpful. Thanks for all the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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