Thinking of buying a Fender American Delux 'fat' strat, but which neck?

[chris101]

Maple or rosewood? All my Ibanez and PRS guitars are rosewood, so I've never really spent any serious time with a maple fretboard. Is there really that much of a tonal difference between the two, or are the differences more to do with the general feel of the maple compared to rosewood, or purely cosmetic?

Thanks in advance.

[jb4674]

If you're going to buy a strat, the maple will, more times than none, come with some sort of sealant applied to it, unless the guitar is a custom shop strat, at which point you can have your pick and choose of finish.

The upside of having a sealed maple neck is that you simply can wipe it clean when it becomes dirty. As far as tone differences, I personally haven't noticed a huge difference in tone but I'm sure that could be challenged if you record a guitar of the same specs with a maple neck and one with a rosewood one.

That's my $.02

Jimmy

[CityofBlindingLights]

MAPLE!

If you're buying a strat, maple's the way to go, both tonally and aesthetically. It's a tad brighter, but it sounds so much better and adds to the strat sparkle, while adding sizzle to the humbucker tone.

[Ibateur]

I must be tonally deaf or my mind is just not able to accept the significance of a fretboard's wood to the end tone of a guitar. I would guess that some guys have the ability to detect the probably 1% tonal impact of fretboard wood on a guitar.

Personally though, maple looks right on a strat.

[jb4674]

Originally Posted by Ibateur

I must be tonally deaf or my mind is just not able to accept the significance of a fretboard's wood to the end tone of a guitar. I would guess that some guys have the ability to detect the probably 1% tonal impact of fretboard wood on a guitar.

Personally though, maple looks right on a strat.

I agree. A maple neck with a maple fretboard is nice but, there is a minimal tone difference that is almost non-existent in relation to the final tone that a guitar outputs.

A lot of people buy a guitar with a maple fretboard because of looks but not because of any tonal differences.

Jimmy

[toneboy]

If you can't hear a difference between maple, rosewood or ebony fingerboards then just chose what you like the look and feel off.

I for one do hear a difference between all 3, less so between ebony and maple. I have a preference for ebony and maple because they're brighter and more percussive, especially ebony but there are lots other factors that affect a guitar's tone so I won't say that I like one fretboard wood over another unless we're talking about the exact same guitar with different fretboard.

[chris101]

Originally Posted by jb4674

A lot of people buy a guitar with a maple fretboard because of looks but not because of any tonal differences.

Jimmy

Maybe this is what it'll boil down to, the finish I quite like is the the 3 colour sunburst, which is quite dark around the edges, the rosewood neck seems to go quite well with the darker body edge, the maple I'm not too sure about, will try and attach some pics:





What do you guys think?

[jb4674]

I guess it depends on the color of the guitar and the personal preference. I have a similar paint scheme on my Strat Plus (except mine is a "Blue Burst") and it has a maple fretboard. Cid has the same color scheme on his with a rosewood fretboard.

If I was in your predicament, I'd pick the maple one just because it has abalone dots. Also, keep in mind that the guitar will look completely different in a picture.

Jimmy

[CosmicDebris]

Both of my Strats have rosewood and I am partial to it. I can't hear a difference in them. I choose Rosewood for the looks.

[losgatosrg350dx]

i have a american made fender, its crap complete crap...fender makes some of the worst guitars ever...we have american made new production, and my pops got old ass origional strats and tele guitars, the older ones hve a better tone to them...but all in all the woods/electronics/setup/acuracy is out right of the lowest quality ever...if you are that interested in a "strat" have warmoth build one for you, if you do the finishing work yourself, it will cost you alot less than a built strat, or maybe the same price, but with soo much more quality



pee on fenders is what i say

[chris101]

Originally Posted by jb4674

I guess it depends on the color of the guitar and the personal preference. I have a similar paint scheme on my Strat Plus (except mine is a "Blue Burst") and it has a maple fretboard. Cid has the same color scheme on his with a rosewood fretboard.

If I was in your predicament, I'd pick the maple one just because it has abalone dots. Also, keep in mind that the guitar will look completely different in a picture.

Jimmy

It'll be the colour in the pics above, might go for maple as it'd be something different for the fleet.

[chris101]

Originally Posted by losgatosrg350dx

i have a american made fender, its crap complete crap...fender makes some of the worst guitars ever...we have american made new production, and my pops got old ass origional strats and tele guitars, the older ones hve a better tone to them...but all in all the woods/electronics/setup/acuracy is out right of the lowest quality ever...if you are that interested in a "strat" have warmoth build one for you, if you do the finishing work yourself, it will cost you alot less than a built strat, or maybe the same price, but with soo much more quality



pee on fenders is what i say

I've had many bad Ibanez guitars also, its luck of the draw, but I always buy from a shop that gives me 14 days to return a guitar that I dont like.

[LonePhantom]

Originally Posted by losgatosrg350dx

i have a american made fender, its crap complete crap...fender makes some of the worst guitars ever...we have american made new production, and my pops got old ass origional strats and tele guitars, the older ones hve a better tone to them...but all in all the woods/electronics/setup/acuracy is out right of the lowest quality ever...if you are that interested in a "strat" have warmoth build one for you, if you do the finishing work yourself, it will cost you alot less than a built strat, or maybe the same price, but with soo much more quality

pee on fenders is what i say

I don't think that was answering the question the OP asked....

I'd go the maple fret board. I hadn't had one since my first electric guitar - a Cort Strat copy, and that was many years ago until last year when I got my RG20th. Maple fret boards are fantastic. If it is sounding a bit bright just turn down the tone a bit. Great feel on the maple too.

[Ayrton]

Originally Posted by losgatosrg350dx

i have a american made fender, its crap complete crap...fender makes some of the worst guitars ever...we have american made new production, and my pops got old ass origional strats and tele guitars, the older ones hve a better tone to them...but all in all the woods/electronics/setup/acuracy is out right of the lowest quality ever...if you are that interested in a "strat" have warmoth build one for you, if you do the finishing work yourself, it will cost you alot less than a built strat, or maybe the same price, but with soo much more quality



pee on fenders is what i say

You may not be old enough to know what Fender "crap" really is, so just trust me when I say Fender builds them far better now than 30 years ago.

You may get some spotty builds with the MIM, but I have yet to pick up an American Standard that was so bad I hated it.

You can pick up a used Eric Johnson strat for about the same money as a decent Warmoth build, and that is a FAR better investment.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by Ibateur

I must be tonally deaf or my mind is just not able to accept the significance of a fretboard's wood to the end tone of a guitar. I would guess that some guys have the ability to detect the probably 1% tonal impact of fretboard wood on a guitar.

Personally though, maple looks right on a strat.

That's crazy talk to me! I hear a HUGE difference; granted, it depends on the rest of the woods, too. But with strats, I hear a very big difference between rosewood and maple. I guess just everyone's ears are different.
But if you can't hear the difference, a good rule of thumb on Fenders in general is MAPLE. It just looks so much better (in my opinion, though some colors scream for rosewood...for example I would never mix 3-tone sunburst with maple. Then again, 2-tone sunburst can never be mixed with a rosewood fretboard.)
Rock that strat man.
smitty