Jem Maple necks 777DY, 777sk, etc....

[agquake]

Why is it that the clear coat on the Jem maple necks wear through? I've seen strats that are older than me (1973) that have been used and abused yet their clear coat is still intact. I don't get it...

[jemsite]

because it is applied thin... glen

[agquake]

Thanks for the elaborate answer. Is there any particular reason as to why?

[jemsite]

just the obvious reason that it's WOOD

noone wants thick glob of clearcoat over a nice maple fretboard. bad for feel and tone... glen

[johncowan]

Interesting thread actually because for some insane reason last night I was wondering the same thine. My EC Clapton strat has absolutely no wear through while the JEMS of course do. It's funny though I've always loved the tone of that strat. Not to bust your stones Glen, but you could elaborate just a bit on the the tonal change having more clear on the board offers. I guess I really need an overview on tone in general it's been awhile since I've read books on the relationship between the body parts wood and tone.

[littlegreenman]

Couple of things, first, I don't know that the maple board Jems, and UV777GR ever had clear on them, I thought that they were just wood.

Second, the clear on a fretboard will change the feel, tone won't change significantly enough to notice

and last

This has been an ongoing debate time and again, how much difference does the wood of the fretboard make in tone, well, I'm here to tell you, probably not enough for anyone to notice it. Here is why I say this.

Yes, a guitar with a maple board might sound different than a guitar with a rosewood board, but it's more likely got to do with EVERYTHING EXCEPT the fretboard.

What makes me think that? well......

I have taken rosewood board necks off of guitars that I play, replaced with ebony or maple, no tonal change, replaced maple with ebony, no change, replaced maple with rosewood, no change. The feel is different, the tonal variation if there is ANY is sooooooooo slight, it would take the absolute best ears in the world to hear it.

Something as simple as a card shim to change your neck angle has more tonal effect on your neck than the fretboard does. this is because with a card shim, you've now lessened the area of neck to body contact, you have 2 small points rather than one large point.

Body wood makes a big change, if you were to make a mahogany neck instead of a maple neck, that would affect it. But we are talking a piece of wood that is 1/4" thick, GLUED to a maple neck, with a cavity routed down the middle. I'm sure if you had some kind of electronic tester that could pick up sound waves you'd see a slight variation, but that can even be caused by something as simple as the glue bond between the fretboard and neck.

I honestly believe, that if you took 3 identical guitars, all with cleared fretboards so you couldn't feel the difference, one with rosewood, one with ebony, one with maple, and blindfolded a person, then handed them each guitar, they couldn't tell you which guitar had what fretboard, even if you let them play them without the blindfold, and then blindfolded them to ask.

I'm not saying this to be a jerk, it's just that it's something I've wondered about too, until I started putting new fretboards on guitars, the tone change is un-noticable. The type of fretwire you use is more likely to change your tone, for example, a tall narrow fret will allow the string to vibrate more openly than a wide fret that chokes the string a little bit. A tall fret sounds brighter than a very small fret, as the string never comes in contact with the fretboard (Unless you play with a death grip)

Anyway, it's just my $.02, take it or leave it, but I can tell you one thing, if you have a guitar with a fretboard you don't like, but you love the tone, don't be so scared about doctoring the tone by putting a different fretboard on it, any change in tone you hear will more than likely be subconcious only.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by littlegreenman

Couple of things, first, I don't know that the maple board Jems, and UV777GR ever had clear on them, I thought that they were just wood..

Shame shame shame! [Gomer Pyle]

Maple board is always a little brighter than it's darker board's cousin

[Petie]

Hmm, I dunno, maple seems brighter yet rounder to me. Seems to almost add its own phrasing to whatever you play in the way the notes open up. Could just be the tighter grain, and if you had rosewood that smooth it'd sound the same. *shrugs* Then again I'm sure Jeremy knows more about necks than me.

[littlegreenman]

by rights if you're going based just on grain density and hardness, ebony should be the brightest, I'd say maple looks brighter though for sure

[johncowan]

Jeremy,

My engineering background suggests the same conclusions you are finding. I mean tone should be more relative to the guitar supporting resonance. My experience says the maple JEM's are bright, but that Jem 90 I had was a bit brighter. Unfortunately for bolt on's I think most of the tone is coming from the pups, especially when using effects. Although, I'd say different story on the PRS neck throughs and acoustics. I think you should build a particle board guitar to see what the difference is. I mean if you can build guitar bodies out of acrylic (crystal planet)...the is should be all about rigidity. And if sound can carry from room to room in my house on drywall and 2x4's then maybe this fingerboard wood is an overrated contributor to tone.

JC

[sniperfrommars1]

Originally Posted by johncowan

Jeremy,

My engineering background suggests the same conclusions you are finding. I mean tone should be more relative to the guitar supporting resonance. My experience says the maple JEM's are bright, but that Jem 90 I had was a bit brighter. Unfortunately for bolt on's I think most of the tone is coming from the pups, especially when using effects. Although, I'd say different story on the PRS neck throughs and acoustics. I think you should build a particle board guitar to see what the difference is. I mean if you can build guitar bodies out of acrylic (crystal planet)...the is should be all about rigidity. And if sound can carry from room to room in my house on drywall and 2x4's then maybe this fingerboard wood is an overrated contributor to tone.

JC

As much as i respect both of your opinions I disagree completely, maple fretboards just happen to be brighter to me, mostly in my opinion, because you are matching maple on maple necks, then you have a nice brighter, more even resonance> I think the same thing of the paul reed smiths with solid rose wood necks and fretboards, far brighter than just maple and rosewood

[Knightmeir]

You can tell where the sound resonates through if you put your ear to it... literally. I've never slapped my ear up against the neck and listened, but out of curiosity I have put my ear to the body of my guitars while playing. The body, naturally, is where most of it's going to come from, I do believe the fretboard plays an insignificant role... Parker guitars don't use wood fretboards. I think it's more of a matter of looks and feel... I don't know about the rest of you, but my vwh feels like glass compared to my other guitars, all rosewood I might add.
As for the coating on maple, don't know... but I've seen plenty of strats, telecasters, and plenty of older jems with the same wear on maple fretboards. It's all just a matter of how much they get played.

[johncowan]

Actually,

It's all interesting conversation to me, because I have owned a McCarty Rosewood which again is not a bolt on which should produce greater resonance. However unplugged and plugged I'd take my custom 22 or Singlecut's any day...(I've since sold the Mccarty). My Mccarty did have a knot in the neck if that makes a difference. Anyway, my opinion is by no means correct...they are mostly just suspicions and experiences after owning 30 some guitars. I guess it also depends on what is meant by bright. To mean if bright means (treble) than I agree because my VWH and McCarty were very treble saturated. I always felt the maple combination was the warmest, but not the brightest. Wild...oh well.

John

[jim777]

I can't tell the difference in sound, but for feel I'll take a bound ebony board every day of the week

jim