Now let's see, so you closed your eyes and popped your Pop Tart., but it broke your neck? No that's not right. So, the sound was slight, and the frets were tight or bright but not right. Oh, I get it now. Thanks.
I feel like I heard a significant difference between the three... Regardless off the pick-up position or drive/overdrive and reverb setting... I feel like: Maple/maple: Significantly brighter than either the maple/rosewood or mahogany/rosewood. Maple/rosewood: Full but with bright tones. (This was surprisingly my favorite) Mahogany/rosewood: A little "fatter" thank the maple/rosewood, but very close to the maple/rosewood... I had to hear a few different samples to feel the difference, but it also lost the brightness of the maple entirely... Like I said, I liked the maple/rosewood the best, and I really could tell a difference. Thanks for this tho... I enjoyed the video.
The difference is amplified by gain - the cleaner, the less the difference. The mahogany was much warmer for sure, and to be able to hear the difference we heard over this video suggests that the difference is actually quite substantial. By the way, I’ve never seen your videos before, and this video was excellent. You do the great job and rang the bell. Hopefully you’re still making content. glad to have found you.
The mahagony was the most rounded on the high strings, but for me it muddied the low e a little too much. Maple/rw for the win, it's the most balanced.
Great video! I'd like to sea a tone shootout between the 25.5" and the 24.75" scale. And, of course, maple vs roasted maple (neck and fretboard). Both would be nice!
Something I think alot of comparisons overlook is the sound of the string slapping against the frets when you pop a note hard, ala SRV and Mark Knopfler. This is where I notice the difference in fretboard and neck wood the most. Popping the string, as well as regular picking, in different registers of the neck also will bring out more of the subtle differences between them. Awesome job. Thx 👍
The body test I heard less of a difference that I did with the neck test. Trusting the setups where all identical there is an incredible difference between each of the 3. I like the highs and chime of the maple / maple neck.
Every luthier I have ever met he said the same thing. When it comes to solid body Electric guitars its about comfortable and looks body and necks the biggest difference are good pick ups, electronics and the quality of the amp you choose .
I worked in a Guitar shop and the owner was adamant on that point. The best guitar is the one you can afford and play more often...and update the pickups.
Great test! I clearly heard the differences, they were ordered from bright to brooding. The maple neck with the rosewood fingerboard was the Swiss Army knife of all of the samples, but the mahogany rosewood was the best for the open chords and a certain niche of rhythm playing and likely muddy blues (to preference). All-maple’s brightness and cut-through is clearly desired for certain styles of funk and lead, and arguably certain styles of rock chord progression, and likely jazz styles (to taste and preference). Which sends the most energy to the body and is better for sustain was not conclusive. My best guess is all-maple does. My overall pick would be the maple rosewood.
My monitor chain: Mini Mac - thunderbolt - Apollo 16- with Antelope LIVE clock set to 192khz - AES to - Dangerous Music SOURCE Monitor Controller and Dynaudio monitors. Can I hear a difference? Sorry Aaron, but Hell yeah I can!!! M/M has attack. M/RW is smooth and warm. I was surprised with the M/RW. The chime of the Mahogany sparkled on top of the smooth RW. and of coarse added some meat on the low end. Think of a bump of 80hz, 800hz and 12khz. Side note: the last thing I got for my monitor chain was the clock. It added depth and clarity to the low end, which I did not expect, and added a little more space around each instrument, thus adding definition. Drum reverb was most notable. These are great comparisons. I hope you guys do a Fret board comparison - M/RW/E
Man, it takes HUGE concentration to hear a difference between those necks. But it is feels very rewarding that your conclusion was exactly the same as mine. I would have said the same as you almost word by word if asked for my opinion.
Love these comparison videos! What would be very cool, and not done yet (i think) is a comparison between a non maple top guitarbody and a maple top guitarbody!
A blind test was made on violins. New, old and a Stradivarius by professional violinists. No-one could guess which one was new old or the Strad. And was acoustic instruments and highly trained ears. I'm not convinced anyone could tell the difference between these guitars if they were blindfolded.
It is very subtle, but there is certainly a tonal difference between all combinations. Rosewood on Maple was a little more "tame" than Maple on Maple. However, the Mahogany with Rosewood fingerboard was noticeably warmer. Excellent test!
I totally agree that from maple to rosewood to mahogany I noticed less pronounced highs but on mahogany things changed quite a bit.. All notes seemed slightly darker but a flatter frequency response with more articulation of frequency response, the notes were more even tonally but a wider response with less harshness
Your sincerity and transparency in these tonewood tests really goes a long way. Thanks for having such a great attitude and approach for this! I thought I MIGHT be able to hear a difference, but it was so slight I know I'll never stress over neck/fretboard tone again. The body woods made a much bigger difference than I expected, so I was surprised that I couldnt really hear much of a difference here, not enough to prove it isnt just confirmation bias anyway. You'll hear a difference if you expect one. I imagine if none of us expected differences, we wouldnt have noticed at all. The body wood test I think you would have some people notice it right away. It's definitely there, even if it's not pronounceed.
Very surprised to find out the body made a bigger difference! Personally I can tell a greater difference in feel from the shaft wood as opposed to fretboard wood. And feel will affect how you play and obviously how you play affects your tone. So wood is important but for reasons that aren't as obvious.
4 หลายเดือนก่อน
Hi, with Shure SRDH440 I could hear the next differences: Maple Maple: shinny sound. Enhanced high freq....a blues wood Maple Rosewood: more even, nice sound too but plain. Mahogany Rosewood: dark, more body, low freq enhanced. Good for power chords! Great video!!
In essence: Differences are extremely subtle. You could achieve the sound of every 3 necks with minimal post-processing, which you ultimately do anyways so your guitar sound fits your song. I'd choose a neck by looks and feel :)
I agree The difference was almost imperceptible, except in the middle position the mahogany neck sounded warmer. The difference in fretboards only became apparent in positions 2 & 4, the rosewood fingerboard slightly warming the sound in the bridge/middle position and the maple fingerboard brightening the sound in the neck/middle position. Great test, thank you.
I agree with you... Maple sounded slightly shimmer / clearer sounding, whereas rosewood also sounded like they gave a slightly darker sound. Nice comparison and video.. Thank you.
The Mahogany neck sounded just that much more low and full that I'd default to it every time. (I find myself doing that with my personal collection anyway more often than not) Great shoot out as always, would love to hear baked vs natural necks in the future!
very nice. One more level of experimental information possibly, could be a videotaped recording of the tap test to specifically choose necks or bodies that have a clear differences in their resonant peak (a low and high) as well as perhaps relating it to the density or weight of the wood. pick a very dense piece of maple, and a very light weight piece of maple, perform the tap test, then see if that translates through the amplifier. Good work
On clean, the single notes from maple/maple had more "snap," while maple/rosewood had a more muted attack, and mahog/rosewood more muted still, but by a smidge. On overdrive, maple/maple was clear, while maple/rose wood gave a little more "grind," and mahog/rosewood more still to the point of being almost fuzzy.
Surprising. Way more subtle than the body wood test, agree. On electrics, tone wood isn’t such big deal. I think if you are a straight-into-the-amp person, play a old school, hifi style amp, and are “obsessed” with tone these subtle differences may count? Otherwise, the specific kind of guitar, and pickups matter way more. As always, dissecting or chasing tone is only useful for creating tone...playing! The magic is how it all comes together under your fingers. Weight, feel, look, price are probably the most important factors for choosing the wood.
Listening to this with some good studio headphones and without the visual as I just scrolled down and I was able to detect when you changed the necks in the test but it was pretty hard. Not much difference but then again youtube's vid compression probably weirds it up. Liked maple/rosewood the most!
Hey Aaron. I had several necks from you guys. My favorite is mahogany/rosewood: just as you noticed, more low mids. Plus if you strike a chord with a lot of harmonics (a G for instance) and let it ring, the notes will last longer with the mahogany shaft. The essential difference between maple/maple and maple rosewood is a rounder tone on the bass strings for the rosewood. I notice also a better attack against a bit more spank for the maple. Ever so slightly... Keep on pickin' ! PS: your warhead is just a great shape ! I wish there was more choice in the showcase (only one roundback 59 in maple/maple...) Cheers !
My favorite all around was Mahogany/Rosewood. On the body wood shootout you did I also preferred the Mahogany. Thanks for doing these videos. Very helpful.
i think the rosewood maple pinched the bottom and scooped i could hear a significant difference for some reason all necks had a diferening tone thanks you wramouth and loghair guy for making these i didnt realize these were such important factors in guitar tone !
You went from the brightest to the darkest! My preference is maple w/rosewood. But then I pretty much already suspected that before your test and it proved true.
Thanks for doing these!! Great to have as close to an apples-to-apples test as there can be. My 2 cents on hearing these, I agree that the differences were very subtle. So much so that it wasn't until the distorted samples that they could really be heard or felt. For me the maple / maple was the brightest (again, only by a touch) with a little more top end compared to the other two. The rosewood / mahogany had a weightier feeling to it, especially on that last distorted sample (it had a little something something going on with the way things resonated that made it feel a little more special, for a lack of a more precise way to describe it). Great vid!! :)
Thanks for the very well done test. The point for me is that neck tone woods certainly have an effect, just as many aspects of electric guitar construction do. Its mostly for the player to hear the subtle differences. People who say the difference is irrelevant, can either be right, or possibly wrong, it all depends on the context.
Finally, the neck test is here! :) Thank you! I relate to your conclusion. The slighter differences between rosewood and maple might also come from the fact that their responses are closer in spectrum than between mahogany and the two. I can hear a huge difference between the the mahogany neck and maple, particularly in test 7. Mahogany makes the sound louder and more bassy. Moreso than I could hear in the body test... The difference between maple and rosewood is subtle, but it matches my experience of a feeling I could not put my finger on, of a different timbre between the Ibanez (rosewood fingerboard) and Fender (full maple) guitars I tried: the former are a bit more airy and somewhat "buzzy" in the top-end, while the latter are more snappy and "rounded".
Maple neck / Maple fretboard had a lot snappier pick attack than the other 2 combinations, which is what I would expect from maple in an acoustic guitar. The more mahogany, the more mids and less highs. All sounded very good to me, it's a matter of personal preference which one is "best". Great playing!
Middle Pickup Revealed the biggest differences - and it was in order, from brightest to "smoothest" - Maple/Maple - Maple/Rose - Mahogany/Rose - however, the difference is so slight, especially between the first two, that it would be quite possible that, simply due to variations in construction or something in the wood, that a Maple/Rose could potentially sound brighter than a Maple/Maple neck. But in any case, a set of new pickups would make far more difference than a new neck.
Before the test, I scrolled down so I could NOT see which necks were being played as they were being played, and I wasn’t able to tell the differences between the guitars necks. That is, I couldn't tell when the guitars switched from one to the other. I then watched the video to see which necks were being played, and not surprising I thought I could tell slight differences between the necks, especially between the maple and rosewood necks. Granted, I’m listening through a computer speaker.... Nevertheless, human perception comes in a package. Two or more senses firing at the same time will affect the others, thus biasing the perceptual response toward our expectations of what we see, hear, touch, etc. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes perfect sense as survival depends on maximizing the perceptual information we gather through our sensory apparatus in conjunction with past experiences. From a scientific testing perspective, our sensory package comes at a disadvantage because we cannot effectively isolate (control) the effects of those sensory variables when they are all in play. In other words, I cannot un-see something, or ignore it, as I’m seeing it. So in this case, if we are both hearing and seeing the guitars as they’re being played, i.e., seeing the transitions between the guitars at the same time as hearing the transitions, we're unable to effectively close off what we're seeing from what we're hearing. Obviously, the only way to accomplish that is not to look at the guitars while they’re being played. And even better, would be to randomize the order in which the guitars are being played. By the way, the one person who is most susceptible to these confounding sensory biases is the guitar player himself. He has all of his sensory apparatus firing at the same time. I don’t know how a maple neck tastes while playing it, but I’m sure it’s delicious.
Heh heh… he said shaft wood. Also,.. thank you for doing this video and being honest! No cork sniffing here… just honest impressions and I actually agreed with you on most everything
ALL sounded GOOD ! But, the difference was most apparent to me in the Middle P-up position; The Maple/Maple was brightest and the Mahogany/Rosewood was the darkest.
Interesting, and well produced as ever. I was struck that I heard more difference in neck wood than fretboard, which is the reverse of my real life experience! Whle real life doesn't allow for controlled variables, it does allow patterns to be observed. All my rosewood guitars have had a distinctive harmonically rich ring, regardless of neck wood. It would be interesting to add to the mix a mahogany neck with ebony board.
Again....very subtle difference. Which, as far as I'm concerned is a good thing. I was putting a LOT of stock into those decisions. I heard the biggest difference between the maple and mahogany. The mahogany sounded warmer to me. But, that's how I viewed the body video. Another great video, thanks for taking the time to do these incredibly helpful videos!!!!
Fabulous video! True to me the difference was minute. Great to have that knowledge tucked away in my brain. I did actually prefer the Maple/Maple, but by a fraction of a nose. Er, ear. Thanks again guys.
Another very high-quality video. And what a PITA it must be to change all that hardware around, changing the strings and setting the action. Lordy, that’s beyond the call of duty, and then remembering to play the same licks every time. I’m impressed. I definitely think the maple on Maple is a tiny bit brighter, but giving the treble control an eight turn would overcome any tone inherent in the wood. Thanks a ton.
I know how much effort it takes to do these comparison tests, so thank you for once again proving that wood choice has no real effect on the tone of a solid body electric guitar. I tell my customers to pick wood based on how it feels and how it looks.
I think the differences were pretty huge. Mahogany had more mids, maple maple sounded much clearer to me while maple rosewood sounded a bit muffled. Good test! :)
I suggest you take a test without knowing what you are hearing, and if the differences between these options are significant as you think, you won't miss a guess. Once you've completed the test, most likely you will reconsider your opinion regarding these differences.
I did hear that same roundness on the rosewood vs. the maple alone. My takeaway is to pay closer attention to how I match my necks and bodies. Thanks for posting!
I’ve been sceptical about fingerboard wood tone so was surprised to hear a difference between the maple/maple and maple/rosewood. Seems to me the latter has more mids, a slight high frequency roll off and a high-mid peak just before the roll off. The mahogany was similar but without the high mid peak.
If you don't hear a difference with the neck pickup test hear again, it's there, maple snappier, mahogany warmer. Less difference in the middle pickup, and none as you go towards the bridge. Can understand that if the vibration is affected it would be most noticeable where it has more amplitude
If you own more than one guitar with different types of wood, it is relevant, especially if your interested in building your own custom guitar with the different tonal qualities in mind. A swamp ash guitar with a maple neck thru the body is way different than a single piece mahogany neck bolted to a two piece mahogany body(my personal preference) A fender strat with a maple body and maple neck.. same thing regardless of pickups.
My Take: Maple/Maple is transparent and detailed. Perfect for R&R. Maple/Rosewood is nice and round, but a little dull. Mahog/Rose is warm and to me great for less-distorted/no distortion. Thanks A-A-Ron for the test. Love the Vids!
Thanks for doing these excellent videos. You are confirming what I have known for decades. The maple/maple neck sounded brighter, glassier and has a kind of raw edge to it. I had a beautiful 62 strat with a rosewood/maple neck but I found myself wanting that harder edgier maple/maple sound. I had the same reaction to the body woods video. The swamp ash body was my favourite and the difference in sound was obvious. I had a swamp ash tele at one time and the sound was just incredible. The way you did these videos using the same body and switching only the part we’re interested in, plus the quality of your playing and the immediacy of the comparisons really brought out what I knew to be true. Thanks again.
I did a similar test years ago with a Maple/Maple Strat neck & one that was Maple/Rosewood. The difference was much more noticeable when playing unplugged. The all Maple was brighter & snappier. Thanks for these videos. I own a couple of Warmoth products.
Dude, need a test with bodies and necks changing, each body, each neck...9 tests... dude! So glad and grateful you did this!! I have ridiculous hearing, top 1% tested throughout my life, dog hearing. Can be a curse, because I’ll harmonize overtones when I’m supposed to play unisons.... everything in life is a trade right? LOL! But, the overtones on the rosewood neck and board were extremely noticeable to me, didn’t particularly like em. Do you have three tracks downloadable somewhere, or streaming? Awesome work dude!! Thanks so much!!!
This is a great vid! I was expecting a much bigger difference. Most of the tests, it was very slight with some exceptions, where mahogany seemed quite distinct (e.g. #4). Also appreciate the final summary. Thanks a lot for your scientific work!
This test confirmed for me something I'd come to believe since I got good enough to play in a real band that gigged regularly and recorded in the studio: Strat vs Les Paul, hard tail vs vibrato, single coils vs humbuckers, these things make a difference in tone that you can actually hear in the context of a song. Stainless vs nickel frets, thin nitro finish vs thick poly finish, Duracell vs Energizer 9v in the battery compartment, these things matter in every way EXCEPT tone... Way back when, I was re-stringing my guitar over and over between D'addarios and Slinkys, and explaining to my girlfriend in great scholarly detail why D'addarios sounded better for one style of music, and Slinkys for another, when she wisely quoted that wisest of guitarists and said "Shut UP 'n Play Yer Guitar"...
MKA82 the raw necks are my favorite too. Easier for me to play on. It's good to hear somebody's preference here, cause I prefer the maple one and it just goes to show you this is all preferential and it's what sounds best (or looks best) to you
Nice! Thanks for taking the time to test and put this up here. Although all of them sound good in their own way, my ears really like the mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard combination. Definite bias here. I really do think that Maple on Maple sure does look good with fender bodies though.
Really superb test...thank you. Excellently presented. I agreed with your conclusion. At first the difference was really slight but then as i kept watching i could hear the sound 'rounding out' going thru the 1-2-3. I've never owned a maple / maple but it always had that 'zingy-ness' in the test, and I really like that. I'm contemplating a partscaster with a mahogany body, but I think I may opt for a maple/maple neck this time. Cheers.
definitely a difference from maple-Rosewood/ Maple-maple. The mahogany neck had a growl to it. All sounded great. I’m ordering my first neck today. Love your videos man Thz k you for what you do!
I love that I didn't hear any difference. I'm a bass player and I'm in love with Maple necks. However, I also love darker sound. I was told many many times that rosewood sounds darker than maple. However, I always failed to notice a difference in the tests. This is the closest test to an actual scientific experiment - measuring the effect of X on Y while keeping everything else constant. I love that I can buy any neck I want knowing that it won't affect my tone.
Interesting. I definitely heard a big difference between every neck combo. The maple/maple was the most different when comparing to the other two necks, but each sounded different to me. Great video, thanks!
I heard a very very very slight difference in the mahogany neck. Slight. It might be more evident to the player. In the end, it's about comfort, methinks. One thing I will say, I've had quite a few warmoth bass necks in my life, and you guys make great stuff!!
To me, the MAIN difference in sound is that between a set neck and a bolt-on. Bolt-on: Percussive attack and decay. "Snappier". Set neck: More evenly distributed envelope. "Warmer". I tend to prefer bolt-ons for cleans and set necks for distorted stuff.
Very interesting. I heard differences much but I will admit that in the bridge position settings, I couldn't hear a difference at all. In the neck and middle, I think there was a noticeable brighter sound from the maple/maple neck versus the others with the mahogany being the least trebly. Thanks Aaron for this video too, I've subscribed to this channel now as well!
Listening with headphones, strangely, there seemed to be more of a difference with the neck/middle pickup combination than with either the bridge or neck pickups by themselves. I would have thought the neck pickup by itself would have shown the greatest difference. The straight maple sounds slightly more "open" than the maple/rosewood combi. The maple/rosewood seems slightly "tighter", as does the mahogany/rosewood. To my ear, the differences seem more pronounced with drive than clean but I agree with you; what differences there are, aren't very significant. Like you said, body wood was more noticeable in your other vid, which surprised me. Thanks for the great tests. Cheers! :)
I got a brazilian rosewood neck with a ziricote fretboard from you guys 20 years ago. I've put it on 3 different bodies, and every one of them sounds like that neck. I've never found anything else like it.
I thought I heard slightly warmer tones from the mahogany while watching. But if I looked away I could not detect anytime when the necks were switched just by the sound changing. I didn't expect that. Myth Busted!!
I went from a standard thin Warmoth neck on my Strat to a boatneck made from the same materials and the sound difference was so noticeable that even my band mates all heard a positive difference so I wonder if the material sound difference is more pronounced when thicker necks are involved. I believe it would obviously be so.
Excellent video! I too was very surprised at how little tone difference there was between the different necks! I also saw the body tone wood shoot out and agree with your assessment. These are some very nice go to reference videos for tone!
The red shirt had more haunting mids
Jason Stone: I differ with you on that because I heard more defiant higher scooped tones.
When I go into studio, I bring a quiver of guitar necks
Best comment!
Hahaha! Shut up, Nancy!
Hahaha
Clean:
1:50 Maple/Maple Neck Pickup
2:14 Maple/Rosewood Neck Pickup
2:38 Mahogany/Rosewood Neck Pickup
3:02 Maple/Maple Bridge/Middle
3:11 Maple/Rosewood Bridge/Middle
3:19 Mahogany/Rosewood Bridge/Middle
3:28 Maple/Maple Middle
3:37 Maple/Rosewood Middle
3:46 Mahogany/Rosewood Middle
3:55 Maple/Maple Middle/Neck
4:09 Maple/Rosewood Middle/Neck
4:23 Mahogany/Rosewood Middle/Neck
4:44 Maple/Maple Bridge
4:58 Maple/Rosewood Bridge
5:11 Mahogany/Rosewood Bridge
I always love the "Hey everybody It's Aaron at Warmoth". It's just so happy and inviting.
Oh yes, and it's just pasquinade as well.
I need some of what he smokes!
The difference is so slight. I chose my neck by looks and feel. Love my Warmoth guitar!
Now let's see, so you closed your eyes and popped your Pop Tart., but it broke your neck? No that's not right. So, the sound was slight, and the frets were tight or bright but not right. Oh, I get it now. Thanks.
@@louisaccardi6808 What the fuck are you trying to say
@@Robstrap lol
@@louisaccardi6808 what?
Very slight but not enough to worry about so go for comfort and let the pick ups make the difference Very cool 👍👌 Thanks Warmoth
And EQ
I feel like I heard a significant difference between the three... Regardless off the pick-up position or drive/overdrive and reverb setting... I feel like:
Maple/maple: Significantly brighter than either the maple/rosewood or mahogany/rosewood.
Maple/rosewood: Full but with bright tones. (This was surprisingly my favorite)
Mahogany/rosewood: A little "fatter" thank the maple/rosewood, but very close to the maple/rosewood... I had to hear a few different samples to feel the difference, but it also lost the brightness of the maple entirely...
Like I said, I liked the maple/rosewood the best, and I really could tell a difference.
Thanks for this tho... I enjoyed the video.
Agreed
This was my experience as well, when played on my iPhone. I really need to listen through decent speakers before I make a final call though!
Oh man, these videos are so fun and well produced that I can't stop watching them!
Closed my eyes and couldn't tell the difference of any of them. All comes down to what finish and look you want.
clothes were changed, test invalid
Chip Bellwood 😆😆
Exactly!
Oh, you're funny.
LOL
🤣🤣🤣🤪
The difference is amplified by gain - the cleaner, the less the difference. The mahogany was much warmer for sure, and to be able to hear the difference we heard over this video suggests that the difference is actually quite substantial.
By the way, I’ve never seen your videos before, and this video was excellent. You do the great job and rang the bell. Hopefully you’re still making content. glad to have found you.
The mahagony was the most rounded on the high strings, but for me it muddied the low e a little too much. Maple/rw for the win, it's the most balanced.
All about neck vibrations
Maple vs roasted/baked/torrified maple !!!
wolfhorsky ☝🏻This
A Warmoth neck video while I am waiting for my Warmoth neck to ship, making me even more excited and anxious to get it! Cool Vid guys!
Great video!
I'd like to sea a tone shootout between the 25.5" and the 24.75" scale.
And, of course, maple vs roasted maple (neck and fretboard). Both would be nice!
tone-wood doesn't exist. Conversely, distance on a plane bigger than two dimensions does.
@@NosceTe it absolutely does exist. you meant the impact is minimal to non-existent for *electric* guitars specifically.
Something I think alot of comparisons overlook is the sound of the string slapping against the frets when you pop a note hard, ala SRV and Mark Knopfler. This is where I notice the difference in fretboard and neck wood the most. Popping the string, as well as regular picking, in different registers of the neck also will bring out more of the subtle differences between them. Awesome job. Thx 👍
To me the maple/rosewood sounds like something i would prefer.
Neck
1:50 maple/maple 3:01 maple/maple 3:27 maple/maple 3:55 maple/maple 4:44 maple/maple 5:28 maple/maple 6:12 maple/maple
2:14 maple/rosewood 3:01 maple/maple 3:37 maple/rosewood 4:09 maple/rosewood 4:58 maple/rosewood 5:42 maple/rosewood 6:31 maple/rosewood
2:38 mahogany/rosewood 3:19 mahogany/rosewood 3:46 mahogany/rosewood 4:23 mahogany/rosewood 5:11 mahogany/rosewood 5:55 mahogany/rosewood 6:50 mahogany/rosewood
bridge/middle
3:01 maple/maple
3:10 maple/rosewood
3:19 mahogany/rosewood
middle
3:27 maple/maple
3:37 maple/rosewood
3:46 mahogany/rosewood
middle/neck
3:54 maple/maple
4:09 maple/rosewood
4:23 mahogany/rosewood
bridge
4:44 maple/maple
4:58 maple/rosewood
5:11 mahogany/rosewood
bridge -distortion
5:28 maple/maple
5:41 maple/rosewood
5:54 mahogany/rosewood
neck-distortion
6:11 maple/maple
6:30 maple/rosewood
6:50 mahogany/rosewood
_I am more happier when I believes tone-wood exists!_ - Said the cat
you really are not hearing the difference?
The body test I heard less of a difference that I did with the neck test. Trusting the setups where all identical there is an incredible difference between each of the 3. I like the highs and chime of the maple / maple neck.
Every luthier I have ever met he said the same thing. When it comes to solid body Electric guitars its about comfortable and looks body and necks the biggest difference are good pick ups, electronics and the quality of the amp you choose .
I worked in a Guitar shop and the owner was adamant on that point. The best guitar is the one you can afford and play more often...and update the pickups.
Great test! I clearly heard the differences, they were ordered from bright to brooding. The maple neck with the rosewood fingerboard was the Swiss Army knife of all of the samples, but the mahogany rosewood was the best for the open chords and a certain niche of rhythm playing and likely muddy blues (to preference). All-maple’s brightness and cut-through is clearly desired for certain styles of funk and lead, and arguably certain styles of rock chord progression, and likely jazz styles (to taste and preference).
Which sends the most energy to the body and is better for sustain was not conclusive. My best guess is all-maple does.
My overall pick would be the maple rosewood.
My monitor chain: Mini Mac - thunderbolt - Apollo 16- with Antelope LIVE clock set to 192khz - AES to - Dangerous Music SOURCE Monitor Controller and Dynaudio monitors. Can I hear a difference? Sorry Aaron, but Hell yeah I can!!! M/M has attack. M/RW is smooth and warm. I was surprised with the M/RW. The chime of the Mahogany sparkled on top of the smooth RW. and of coarse added some meat on the low end. Think of a bump of 80hz, 800hz and 12khz. Side note: the last thing I got for my monitor chain was the clock. It added depth and clarity to the low end, which I did not expect, and added a little more space around each instrument, thus adding definition. Drum reverb was most notable. These are great comparisons. I hope you guys do a Fret board comparison - M/RW/E
Man, it takes HUGE concentration to hear a difference between those necks. But it is feels very rewarding that your conclusion was exactly the same as mine. I would have said the same as you almost word by word if asked for my opinion.
Test #3 had a pretty noticeable difference. Thanks for sharing!
Severe major huge differences,
well done test, now onto the body video,
Love these comparison videos! What would be very cool, and not done yet (i think) is a comparison between a non maple top guitarbody and a maple top guitarbody!
A blind test was made on violins. New, old and a Stradivarius by professional violinists. No-one could guess which one was new old or the Strad. And was acoustic instruments and highly trained ears. I'm not convinced anyone could tell the difference between these guitars if they were blindfolded.
Definitely a difference between them. I liked them all but maple with rosewood was my favorite in this test. Warmoth is putting out some great videos.
It is very subtle, but there is certainly a tonal difference between all combinations. Rosewood on Maple was a little more "tame" than Maple on Maple. However, the Mahogany with Rosewood fingerboard was noticeably warmer. Excellent test!
I totally agree that from maple to rosewood to mahogany I noticed less pronounced highs but on mahogany things changed quite a bit.. All notes seemed slightly darker but a flatter frequency response with more articulation of frequency response, the notes were more even tonally but a wider response with less harshness
Your sincerity and transparency in these tonewood tests really goes a long way. Thanks for having such a great attitude and approach for this! I thought I MIGHT be able to hear a difference, but it was so slight I know I'll never stress over neck/fretboard tone again. The body woods made a much bigger difference than I expected, so I was surprised that I couldnt really hear much of a difference here, not enough to prove it isnt just confirmation bias anyway. You'll hear a difference if you expect one. I imagine if none of us expected differences, we wouldnt have noticed at all. The body wood test I think you would have some people notice it right away. It's definitely there, even if it's not pronounceed.
Very surprised to find out the body made a bigger difference!
Personally I can tell a greater difference in feel from the shaft wood as opposed to fretboard wood. And feel will affect how you play and obviously how you play affects your tone. So wood is important but for reasons that aren't as obvious.
Hi, with Shure SRDH440 I could hear the next differences:
Maple Maple: shinny sound. Enhanced high freq....a blues wood
Maple Rosewood: more even, nice sound too but plain.
Mahogany Rosewood: dark, more body, low freq enhanced. Good for power chords!
Great video!!
In essence: Differences are extremely subtle. You could achieve the sound of every 3 necks with minimal post-processing, which you ultimately do anyways so your guitar sound fits your song. I'd choose a neck by looks and feel :)
I agree The difference was almost imperceptible, except in the middle position the mahogany neck sounded warmer. The difference in fretboards only became apparent in positions 2 & 4, the rosewood fingerboard slightly warming the sound in the bridge/middle position and the maple fingerboard brightening the sound in the neck/middle position. Great test, thank you.
I agree with you... Maple sounded slightly shimmer / clearer sounding, whereas rosewood also sounded like they gave a slightly darker sound.
Nice comparison and video.. Thank you.
The Mahogany neck sounded just that much more low and full that I'd default to it every time.
(I find myself doing that with my personal collection anyway more often than not)
Great shoot out as always, would love to hear baked vs natural necks in the future!
very nice. One more level of experimental information possibly, could be a videotaped recording of the tap test to specifically choose necks or bodies that have a clear differences in their resonant peak (a low and high) as well as perhaps relating it to the density or weight of the wood. pick a very dense piece of maple, and a very light weight piece of maple, perform the tap test, then see if that translates through the amplifier. Good work
On clean, the single notes from maple/maple had more "snap," while maple/rosewood had a more muted attack, and mahog/rosewood more muted still, but by a smidge. On overdrive, maple/maple was clear, while maple/rose wood gave a little more "grind," and mahog/rosewood more still to the point of being almost fuzzy.
Surprising. Way more subtle than the body wood test, agree. On electrics, tone wood isn’t such big deal. I think if you are a straight-into-the-amp person, play a old school, hifi style amp, and are “obsessed” with tone these subtle differences may count? Otherwise, the specific kind of guitar, and pickups matter way more. As always, dissecting or chasing tone is only useful for creating tone...playing! The magic is how it all comes together under your fingers.
Weight, feel, look, price are probably the most important factors for choosing the wood.
Listening to this with some good studio headphones and without the visual as I just scrolled down and I was able to detect when you changed the necks in the test but it was pretty hard. Not much difference but then again youtube's vid compression probably weirds it up. Liked maple/rosewood the most!
The way you palmed the mag/rose neck. Could tell 'it' felt the best to you. Bam!
Hey Aaron. I had several necks from you guys. My favorite is mahogany/rosewood: just as you noticed, more low mids. Plus if you strike a chord with a lot of harmonics (a G for instance) and let it ring, the notes will last longer with the mahogany shaft. The essential difference between maple/maple and maple rosewood is a rounder tone on the bass strings for the rosewood. I notice also a better attack against a bit more spank for the maple. Ever so slightly... Keep on pickin' ! PS: your warhead is just a great shape ! I wish there was more choice in the showcase (only one roundback 59 in maple/maple...) Cheers !
My favorite all around was Mahogany/Rosewood. On the body wood shootout you did I also preferred the Mahogany. Thanks for doing these videos. Very helpful.
i think the rosewood maple pinched the bottom and scooped i could hear a significant difference for some reason all necks had a diferening tone
thanks you wramouth and loghair guy for making these i didnt realize these were such important factors in guitar tone !
They all sounded good but I noticed the biggest difference in the Mahogany in some parts of the test. Like others said they all sounded great. Thanks.
You went from the brightest to the darkest! My preference is maple w/rosewood. But then I pretty much already suspected that before your test and it proved true.
Thanks for doing these!! Great to have as close to an apples-to-apples test as there can be. My 2 cents on hearing these, I agree that the differences were very subtle. So much so that it wasn't until the distorted samples that they could really be heard or felt. For me the maple / maple was the brightest (again, only by a touch) with a little more top end compared to the other two. The rosewood / mahogany had a weightier feeling to it, especially on that last distorted sample (it had a little something something going on with the way things resonated that made it feel a little more special, for a lack of a more precise way to describe it).
Great vid!! :)
I LOVE that teal striped top looking strat in the background. Beautiful.
Can you guys give me the lowdown on that, if you remember, please? What woods and finishes are on it to get that beautiful multi-colored appearance?
Maple on maple had a very lightly warmer/mellow tone. Maple and rosewood seemed a little more bright but very slight.
Thanks for the very well done test. The point for me is that neck tone woods certainly have an effect, just as many aspects of electric guitar construction do. Its mostly for the player to hear the subtle differences. People who say the difference is irrelevant, can either be right, or possibly wrong, it all depends on the context.
Finally, the neck test is here! :) Thank you!
I relate to your conclusion. The slighter differences between rosewood and maple might also come from the fact that their responses are closer in spectrum than between mahogany and the two.
I can hear a huge difference between the the mahogany neck and maple, particularly in test 7. Mahogany makes the sound louder and more bassy. Moreso than I could hear in the body test...
The difference between maple and rosewood is subtle, but it matches my experience of a feeling I could not put my finger on, of a different timbre between the Ibanez (rosewood fingerboard) and Fender (full maple) guitars I tried: the former are a bit more airy and somewhat "buzzy" in the top-end, while the latter are more snappy and "rounded".
Maple neck / Maple fretboard had a lot snappier pick attack than the other 2 combinations, which is what I would expect from maple in an acoustic guitar. The more mahogany, the more mids and less highs. All sounded very good to me, it's a matter of personal preference which one is "best". Great playing!
Middle Pickup Revealed the biggest differences - and it was in order, from brightest to "smoothest" - Maple/Maple - Maple/Rose - Mahogany/Rose - however, the difference is so slight, especially between the first two, that it would be quite possible that, simply due to variations in construction or something in the wood, that a Maple/Rose could potentially sound brighter than a Maple/Maple neck. But in any case, a set of new pickups would make far more difference than a new neck.
Before the test, I scrolled down so I could NOT see which necks were being played as they were being played, and I wasn’t able to tell the differences between the guitars necks. That is, I couldn't tell when the guitars switched from one to the other. I then watched the video to see which necks were being played, and not surprising I thought I could tell slight differences between the necks, especially between the maple and rosewood necks. Granted, I’m listening through a computer speaker....
Nevertheless, human perception comes in a package. Two or more senses firing at the same time will affect the others, thus biasing the perceptual response toward our expectations of what we see, hear, touch, etc.
From an evolutionary perspective, this makes perfect sense as survival depends on maximizing the perceptual information we gather through our sensory apparatus in conjunction with past experiences. From a scientific testing perspective, our sensory package comes at a disadvantage because we cannot effectively isolate (control) the effects of those sensory variables when they are all in play. In other words, I cannot un-see something, or ignore it, as I’m seeing it.
So in this case, if we are both hearing and seeing the guitars as they’re being played, i.e., seeing the transitions between the guitars at the same time as hearing the transitions, we're unable to effectively close off what we're seeing from what we're hearing. Obviously, the only way to accomplish that is not to look at the guitars while they’re being played. And even better, would be to randomize the order in which the guitars are being played.
By the way, the one person who is most susceptible to these confounding sensory biases is the guitar player himself. He has all of his sensory apparatus firing at the same time. I don’t know how a maple neck tastes while playing it, but I’m sure it’s delicious.
Heh heh… he said shaft wood.
Also,.. thank you for doing this video and being honest! No cork sniffing here… just honest impressions and I actually agreed with you on most everything
ALL sounded GOOD ! But, the difference was most apparent to me in the Middle P-up position; The Maple/Maple was brightest and the Mahogany/Rosewood was the darkest.
The middle position is where I heard the most difference too. Ironic, because that's the position I use the least!
Totally agree with your conclusion - the difference is so subtle pick the one you like the looks of feel of the best.
Interesting, and well produced as ever. I was struck that I heard more difference in neck wood than fretboard, which is the reverse of my real life experience! Whle real life doesn't allow for controlled variables, it does allow patterns to be observed. All my rosewood guitars have had a distinctive harmonically rich ring, regardless of neck wood. It would be interesting to add to the mix a mahogany neck with ebony board.
Mahogany neck and ebony fretboard = Martin :-)
@@JohnShalamskas my thoughts exactly.
I didn't know warmoth had a youtube channel. Thank you! That headstock is really cool.
Again....very subtle difference. Which, as far as I'm concerned is a good thing. I was putting a LOT of stock into those decisions. I heard the biggest difference between the maple and mahogany. The mahogany sounded warmer to me. But, that's how I viewed the body video. Another great video, thanks for taking the time to do these incredibly helpful videos!!!!
Fabulous video! True to me the difference was minute. Great to have that knowledge tucked away in my brain. I did actually prefer the Maple/Maple, but by a fraction of a nose. Er, ear. Thanks again guys.
Another very high-quality video. And what a PITA it must be to change all that hardware around, changing the strings and setting the action. Lordy, that’s beyond the call of duty, and then remembering to play the same licks every time. I’m impressed. I definitely think the maple on Maple is a tiny bit brighter, but giving the treble control an eight turn would overcome any tone inherent in the wood. Thanks a ton.
Aaron thanks for the test!! Good methodology b/c rock and roll ain't noise pollution.
I know how much effort it takes to do these comparison tests, so thank you for once again proving that wood choice has no real effect on the tone of a solid body electric guitar. I tell my customers to pick wood based on how it feels and how it looks.
Haha....I think I just got slapped across the face with gratitude. :)
I think the differences were pretty huge. Mahogany had more mids, maple maple sounded much clearer to me while maple rosewood sounded a bit muffled. Good test! :)
I suggest you take a test without knowing what you are hearing, and if the differences between these options are significant as you think, you won't miss a guess. Once you've completed the test, most likely you will reconsider your opinion regarding these differences.
I did hear that same roundness on the rosewood vs. the maple alone. My takeaway is to pay closer attention to how I match my necks and bodies. Thanks for posting!
I love the look of maple necks, flame maple to be exact. But damn, that mahogany neck had a great tone to it.
I’ve been sceptical about fingerboard wood tone so was surprised to hear a difference between the maple/maple and maple/rosewood. Seems to me the latter has more mids, a slight high frequency roll off and a high-mid peak just before the roll off. The mahogany was similar but without the high mid peak.
Aron,i thought exactly what you said as you started speaking,such a subtle difference,but the body woods really had differences
Thank you so much for these tests. It's so minuscule and I really hope people get over it.
If you don't hear a difference with the neck pickup test hear again, it's there, maple snappier, mahogany warmer. Less difference in the middle pickup, and none as you go towards the bridge. Can understand that if the vibration is affected it would be most noticeable where it has more amplitude
If you own more than one guitar with different types of wood, it is relevant, especially if your interested in building your own custom guitar with the different tonal qualities in mind. A swamp ash guitar with a maple neck thru the body is way different than a single piece mahogany neck bolted to a two piece mahogany body(my personal preference) A fender strat with a maple body and maple neck.. same thing regardless of pickups.
My Take: Maple/Maple is transparent and detailed. Perfect for R&R. Maple/Rosewood is nice and round, but a little dull. Mahog/Rose is warm and to me great for less-distorted/no distortion.
Thanks A-A-Ron for the test. Love the Vids!
Thanks for doing these excellent videos. You are confirming what I have known for decades. The maple/maple neck sounded brighter, glassier and has a kind of raw edge to it. I had a beautiful 62 strat with a rosewood/maple neck but I found myself wanting that harder edgier maple/maple sound. I had the same reaction to the body woods video. The swamp ash body was my favourite and the difference in sound was obvious. I had a swamp ash tele at one time and the sound was just incredible. The way you did these videos using the same body and switching only the part we’re interested in, plus the quality of your playing and the immediacy of the comparisons really brought out what I knew to be true. Thanks again.
Maple-maple: slightly middly
Maple-rosewood: slightly scooped
Mahogany-rosewood: slightly dark
The only reason there was a slight tone shift was due to his picking location on the strings which has a huge impact. That's it. 2:11
Emphasis on the “slightly” but I agree exactly with this
The mahogany neck sounded like it had one more note in the chords.
I love the smooth feeling of maple fretboard when my fingers touches them
I did a similar test years ago with a Maple/Maple Strat neck & one that was Maple/Rosewood. The difference was much more noticeable when playing unplugged. The all Maple was brighter & snappier. Thanks for these videos. I own a couple of Warmoth products.
awesome comparisons, it really shows the subtle diferences between specs
Such a great dedication and comprehension!
I heard differences only on the mahogany neck on the bridge and neck pickup. Nailed it man!
Dude, need a test with bodies and necks changing, each body, each neck...9 tests... dude! So glad and grateful you did this!! I have ridiculous hearing, top 1% tested throughout my life, dog hearing. Can be a curse, because I’ll harmonize overtones when I’m supposed to play unisons.... everything in life is a trade right? LOL! But, the overtones on the rosewood neck and board were extremely noticeable to me, didn’t particularly like em. Do you have three tracks downloadable somewhere, or streaming? Awesome work dude!! Thanks so much!!!
This is a great vid! I was expecting a much bigger difference. Most of the tests, it was very slight with some exceptions, where mahogany seemed quite distinct (e.g. #4). Also appreciate the final summary. Thanks a lot for your scientific work!
This test confirmed for me something I'd come to believe since I got good enough to play in a real band that gigged regularly and recorded in the studio: Strat vs Les Paul, hard tail vs vibrato, single coils vs humbuckers, these things make a difference in tone that you can actually hear in the context of a song. Stainless vs nickel frets, thin nitro finish vs thick poly finish, Duracell vs Energizer 9v in the battery compartment, these things matter in every way EXCEPT tone... Way back when, I was re-stringing my guitar over and over between D'addarios and Slinkys, and explaining to my girlfriend in great scholarly detail why D'addarios sounded better for one style of music, and Slinkys for another, when she wisely quoted that wisest of guitarists and said "Shut UP 'n Play Yer Guitar"...
Compared to the body wood test this neck test has slight audible difference. I do prefer maple-rosewood board
You should try a neck that doesn't require a finish, like canary or pau ferro (both similar to maple). You'll love how slick they feel
@@ChrisRash I do have 2 roasted maple with rosewood board neck. It is raw unfinished, just burnished. Best feeling neck I have ever played
MKA82 the raw necks are my favorite too. Easier for me to play on. It's good to hear somebody's preference here, cause I prefer the maple one and it just goes to show you this is all preferential and it's what sounds best (or looks best) to you
nicely done. Clearly and obvious inconspicuous audible subtle difference
Nice! Thanks for taking the time to test and put this up here. Although all of them sound good in their own way, my ears really like the mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard combination. Definite bias here. I really do think that Maple on Maple sure does look good with fender bodies though.
Really superb test...thank you. Excellently presented. I agreed with your conclusion. At first the difference was really slight but then as i kept watching i could hear the sound 'rounding out' going thru the 1-2-3. I've never owned a maple / maple but it always had that 'zingy-ness' in the test, and I really like that. I'm contemplating a partscaster with a mahogany body, but I think I may opt for a maple/maple neck this time. Cheers.
definitely a difference from maple-Rosewood/ Maple-maple. The mahogany neck had a growl to it. All sounded great. I’m ordering my first neck today. Love your videos man Thz k you for what you do!
I love that I didn't hear any difference. I'm a bass player and I'm in love with Maple necks. However, I also love darker sound. I was told many many times that rosewood sounds darker than maple. However, I always failed to notice a difference in the tests. This is the closest test to an actual scientific experiment - measuring the effect of X on Y while keeping everything else constant. I love that I can buy any neck I want knowing that it won't affect my tone.
Great concept, great test, great player, great VIDEO. Thanks guys!
Interesting. I definitely heard a big difference between every neck combo. The maple/maple was the most different when comparing to the other two necks, but each sounded different to me. Great video, thanks!
I heard a very very very slight difference in the mahogany neck. Slight. It might be more evident to the player. In the end, it's about comfort, methinks.
One thing I will say, I've had quite a few warmoth bass necks in my life, and you guys make great stuff!!
To me, the MAIN difference in sound is that between a set neck and a bolt-on.
Bolt-on: Percussive attack and decay. "Snappier".
Set neck: More evenly distributed envelope. "Warmer".
I tend to prefer bolt-ons for cleans and set necks for distorted stuff.
Very interesting. I heard differences much but I will admit that in the bridge position settings, I couldn't hear a difference at all. In the neck and middle, I think there was a noticeable brighter sound from the maple/maple neck versus the others with the mahogany being the least trebly. Thanks Aaron for this video too, I've subscribed to this channel now as well!
Listening with headphones, strangely, there seemed to be more of a difference with the neck/middle pickup combination than with either the bridge or neck pickups by themselves. I would have thought the neck pickup by itself would have shown the greatest difference. The straight maple sounds slightly more "open" than the maple/rosewood combi. The maple/rosewood seems slightly "tighter", as does the mahogany/rosewood. To my ear, the differences seem more pronounced with drive than clean but I agree with you; what differences there are, aren't very significant. Like you said, body wood was more noticeable in your other vid, which surprised me. Thanks for the great tests. Cheers! :)
I got a brazilian rosewood neck with a ziricote fretboard from you guys 20 years ago. I've put it on 3 different bodies, and every one of them sounds like that neck. I've never found anything else like it.
I thought I heard slightly warmer tones from the mahogany while watching. But if I looked away I could not detect anytime when the necks were switched just by the sound changing. I didn't expect that. Myth Busted!!
Maple = very snappy & bright
Maple & rosewood = bloomy & bright
Mahogany & rosewood = dark , bloomy ,warm & more of a dominating presence in the mix
I went from a standard thin Warmoth neck on my Strat to a boatneck made from the same materials and the sound difference was so noticeable that even my band mates all heard a positive difference so I wonder if the material sound difference is more pronounced when thicker necks are involved. I believe it would obviously be so.
Excellent video! I too was very surprised at how little tone difference there was between the different necks! I also saw the body tone wood shoot out and agree with your assessment. These are some very nice go to reference videos for tone!