I actually like hearing solid body guitars acoustically. You can really tell the differences between them without an amp quite often. One example on my end is my Les Paul Custom and SG. I don't need an amp to hear how much more midsy the SG is!
@@apexvwarrior8082 In a perfect world, I'd be in that camp, but the optics of a guitar effect the way I think about the instrument, and therefor how I play on it. And tone is in the fingers. So the optics of the guitar really effect how I play on it, more than the tone wood. But that's in my particular case, everyone is different.
3 GUITAR CHALLENGE Best Copy, Worst Copy, Real Thing. One person picks a guitar, Say a Fender Strat, then searches the store for the most & lest expensive non Fender 'Strat type' guitars. The challenge is for the blindfolded person to work out which is the 'good copy' & which is the Original. Cheapo's there for comedy contrast ;)
You could even do this with real versions of the guitar. In your example, a bottom-of-the-line Squier Strat vs a Fender American Professional vs a high-end Custom Shop
I just want to say, because I haven't always seen it mentioned, kudos to the team doing support in the background on all the blindfold episodes. I appreciate that it can be hard to not react in the usual way with all the back and forth when filming episodes like these, so as to not give away significant details. Good job!
Agree with a comment below. Rosewood always feels granular under your fingers when you bend the strings. Also, Lee wanted to play acoustically but the argument is always about whether wood affects an electric sound as Rob said.
I'm sure his thinking was that if there was any difference at all acoustically, then theoretically there should be a difference when it's amplified. Whether or not that difference is significant enough to warrant one sounding "better" than the other is completely subjective.
@@damendobrilovic3815 But just because its different acoustically doesnt mean it will be different when its amplified. Doesnt work that way. Maybe more sustain but not different texture of tone! = ) Your guitar sound different when you stick your neck against the wall, but wont sound different in a recording.
Great stuff! I used to prefer rosewood because I don't like the glossy stuff that maple fretboards were typically lathered in, however I now have a satin maple fret board (on my tele) and I love it!
Don't ever hold a guitar by the neck horizontally like the guy did at 6:08. A Stratocaster can probably handle it, but another video I saw said that holding a guitar that way can cause cracks in finish or in the neck pocket. I don't know if that is true, but you can imagine that it does put pressure on the neck to hold it that way. Better safe than sorry.
Maple fretboards look so much better! Love them. I don't think or care about sound difference, i just love the way maple looks. Too many variables to determine a sound difference. I don't think there is any difference in sound if both wood types have the same density, shape and size.
You know the story, right? Leo Fender originally didn't use separate fingerboards. The frets were installed on the maple neck - hence the skunk stripe since the truss rod had to be installed from underneath. When he saw how grungy the well used maple "boards" were becoming, he didn't like it and switched to a separate rosewood fingerboard where the "finger gunk" wouldn't show. So we have three variants - fretted maple necks, separate rosewood fingerboards and separate maple fingerboards. What did you have? Fretted neck or separate board?
My 2002 MiM has a fretted maple neck, you can follow the grain around(and it looks gorgeous), and it has the skunk strip. This is the first I've heard of this, but it makes sense when you see the old nitro fingerboards. So if Leo Fender had had polyurethane available when he started we'd probably still have fretted maple one-piece necks on the whole range? The fingerboard finish on mine is immaculate, although I think that it has spent most of its life in a closet.
You want to buy it because of a quick description of the neck?? I haven't got a clue. It's getting its cavity shielded and electronics looked at, at the moment. I hadn't considered selling it, I just was so pleased to get such a nice playing guitar with a fat 50's style neck. There are quite a few examples of MiM strats on Ebay for what I got this for, and it's worth more to me than I paid for it.
Funny how the Skunk Stripe has become such an iconic part of the Neck, and it was really a "Band-Aid" just out of necessity! Cool story, thanks for sharing!
+Bellumfacere the 2 versions you speak of are the laminate and slab boards. In the first iteration (pre-1962) they were using slab boards (flat milled rosewood board glued on flat milled neck then radiused), but due to the glue they were using at the time, they were experiencing the fretboards coming unglued from the necks. In 1962, Leo then changed to the laminate boards (L series), where they laminated a thin "veneers" of rosewood over an already radiused maple neck. Thus resolving the issue of the slab board de-laminating from the neck.
Sometimes a shop has a small selection of identical guitars & the customer gets to play each & pick the one they prefer. I’ve been lucky enough to do this with a few guitar purchases & sometimes there is a difference in sound like those debated over maple vs rosewood. So my point is despite what materials are used, each guitar can be unique regardless of any general rule of thumb you might believe in regarding choice of materials. The final build & setup can effect just as much and more due to so many variables. If you can, just try different guitars when making a new purchase. It’s fun & you get satisfaction that you really made a personal choice. If like me you believe a guitar is greater than the sum of it’s parts, then you will get where I am coming from.
For a luthiers perspective, I would love to see this challenge done on acoustic guitars with either Rosewood or Ebony fingerboards. One of the expected difference is not as much tone but the attack, sustain and percussive nature of the two woods.
@@rolux4853 I believe CAP-10 is the name of his signature Chapman Guitar model (not to suggest that'll makes you less annoyed ofc). 7ender on the other hand is just unexcusable. Makes me think of the Reverse Flying V and that's NOT something I want to cross my mind again, ever
Team Rosewood! Sound wise, I don’t notice much, if any difference. Feel, eh, maybe a little, but not enough to get exited about. It’s really about the looks. Imho, rosewood always looks great with any color guitar, but maple has to be tinted just right - it’s often too pale, or way too tinted. I do really like 3 tone sunburst with a black pickguard, and a nice medium tint maple fingerboard tho. 😉
Blindfold Challenge Idea: Supermarket Sweep at Anderstons. Rob and the Captain have 5 min each to run through the store and put a rig together. They have to pick up the gear and get it to the cashier before the time runs out. They then have to play and see who got the best rig.
At first I was impressed with how well Rob did and started to think that maybe there really is something to the tones from the fretboard, then I watched the solid / semi-hollow / hollow comparison. For that video I realized Rob doesn't use just tones to make his choice, he is using things like type of pickup and likely body style, type of guitars he knows they have, etc. to decide. That defeats the test. As has been pointed out in other posts, the "listeners" should not have been allowed to handle the instruments as that potentially gives them another data point that has nothing to do with the tone. Further, unless you want to increase the sample size, the listeners shouldn't know how many of each are in the test, otherwise things like what Lee did just assigning guesses based on previous guesses can happen. Finally, they should not have been allowed to play the thing acoustically as that defeats the tone "pickup only vs wood" argument for electrics (and you aren't going to play them acoustically other than goofing around). NOTE: I'm not saying I don't or do believe in tone from the wood in electric guitars, I just don't have enough personal experience nor hard data to say one way or the other.
I am team rosewood, but it is mainly based on the look of rosewood vs maple. And I am more for the warmer tones, so the idea of Rosewood being a bit warmer has that appeal even if it is very subjective and debatable.
Not daft at all. There are acoustics with maple boards but not as many as rosewood. Some folk talk about brightness or maple being less hardwearing. Others put it down to tradition.
When you do these blindfold challenges you should put a title screen up telling everyone you're gonna put the blindfold on. That way people at home who want to try and guess with you, they can get their blindfolds on in time.
He's got plenty of singlecoils (I'm going to take a flying guess at 20%) in his collection but he definitely favours buckers. Perhaps RC will come along to enlighten us.
6 років тому+1
Not to forget that Chapman ML-3 is complete single coil guitar in itself which he often uses..
Better yet: metric vs imperial measurements of the pots and Jack's. It's well established that only imperial measurements are true tone-measurements, because they resonate more naturally with the frequencies!
This seems to be one of the least interesting blindfold challenges as you don’t need to see to feel the difference. It should be Pete playing and Rob and Lee listening.
Scorned that’s kind of the point, you can’t hear a difference. I think allowing them to play acoustically kills the whole concept. We know wood has an effect acoustically.
Russell ward And if it has an effect acoustically (which is the sound made by the strings vibrating) how does it not have some effect when amplified? After all the pickups are picking up the way the string are vibrating... it’s what they do. 🤷🏼♂️
Mark Seymour And where do you think that voltage comes from? The relative movement of the strings compared to the magnet of the pickups. Where do you think the acoustic sound of the guitar comes from? The movement of the strings. If you can hear a marked difference acoustically (I’m not the one who said you can or not, I was addressing the point others made that in their view there is a notable acoustic difference) then this implies strings vibrating differently which then means the pickups will sense this difference (because this difference comes mainly from the strings vibrating differently). These differences become less noticeable through amplification because there are so many steps in the signal chain, which is Chappers’ point about becoming difficult/impossible to tell a subtle difference like fingerboard wood with a signal with gain, but this doesn’t mean the differences aren’t picked up by the pickups.
David Burke but we’re talking about what we can hear not is there some minute bit that a pickup can pick up. There may be some mathematical difference but that’s not particularly important if we can’t discern a difference with our ears.
I had the advantage I could see the guitars you both couldn't. I have two Fenders Strat and a Tele. For what it is worth I agree with you both on the subtle perceived tonal differences. I agree exactly with the Captains comments on slippy neck and easier vibrato on the maple. I guess thats why youre the Captain! But I seem to get a "feeling" of more controllable vibrato with Rosewood. Both are great necks with inspiration to be found in both because of their subtle differences. Great video and nobody should really get angry about your honest endeavours. Cheers
I'm not team rosewood, nor maple. I'm team ebony! I don't know why, but maple and rosewood have a "cheap" look to me. That was ingrained in me by all of the cheap guitars I've played having those 2, and ebony only being on higher end ones (along with the other two). So now in my brain, ebony just looks nicer/classier/higher end/cleaner/better.
5:15 and 6:28 listen back to back. add a like, if you like. according to manufacturers, maple is brighter. the additional issue here, is that each guitar setup has a slightly different sound, very minimal but with many variables, but even the wood density and lacquer coats, including string age have an effect...there a quite a bit of things that will make a tone difference...wood denity, laquer coats, stringe age and tension, fret cleanliness, strum location, pick type, finger tone, fretted location, tone settings calibrated same?...etc.
Some are - bass players tend to get more choice because they're not as conservative as guitarists. And now that CITES is intervening we'll probably see a lot more 'alternative' woods used.
Issues - oily, therefore hard to glue. Will take glue if the surface is clean. Oil may cause allergic reaction, especially if inhaled, (eg when sanding) but only an idiot sands anything without dust protection. Uses - many. Close grain is good for inlays and it's a good choice for woodwind instruments. Also used for gun stocks, handles and guitar style instruments, especially for fretboards (because an entire guitar would be seriously heavy). Definitely a lot easier than carbon fibre. Or aluminium (hello - Europe calling).
I have both, including 1 piece rosewood necks and roasted maple necks. The roasted maple and rosewood almost feel identical. I think the big difference is whether or not it has a coating on it or not.
I'm a bit disappointed with this effort guys. Firstly you shouldn't be playing them yourselves and secondly you shouldn't be hearing them acoustically. Do it again with Pete or Bea playing the guitars through an amp, firstly a clean Fender and secondly a crunchy Marshall in a different order.
I was waiting for someone to say that I agree totally, I like Fenders with Maple for some reason and I can hear the difference when they play in the video
I love Anderton’s I’ve been going there for a very long time but when a man has to introduce himself as the captain in every video it makes me think he was c team rugger player back in the day
Magnets amplify existing vibrations. The entire system impacts the vibrations. The mass of the wood matters, as does the type of wood. Johan Segeborn has done these experiments better. If you watch those and still think wood doesn’t matter, I don’t really know know what to tell you. At that point it’s just denial.
That is not even how magnets work, please educate yourself by taking an actual physics course. Pickups create a magnetic field the metal strings oscillate through them and disrupt the field, instantly, and those disruptions are instantly sent to the amp.
@@michaelcosta7235 That's not even how electromagnetism works. Please educate yourself by taking an actual physics course. The current induced in the pickup winding by the string's vibration needs time to propagate, and therefore is not instant, nor is the actual propagation of the disturbance of the magnetic field on the way to the pickup. I mean, that's completely pedantic and utterly irrelevant, but I win the argument now, right?
The fretboard wood matters a tiny smidge, yes. But the type of fretboard wood matters very very little vs. the sealing or laquering of it's surface - this is what alters the intial transient ('attack') characteristic of the note. Going from note to note on the sealed maple produces less friction or deformation of the fingertip vs. rosewood since there is no grain to dig into; less 'drag'. The resultant sound of the laquered fretboard therefore has a quicker 'snap-back' from the initial transient as it settles into sustain. So it's no wonder that scalloping is by far most common on maple-fretboard Strats, as the lacquering glides under the fingers like nothing else. Under spectrum analysis any difference in the *sustained portion* of the note is sonically infinitesimal between the two types of wood used, or even whether it's lacquered(!). This is because sustain depends almost entirely on the total mass and coupling/construction of the guitar; the species of wood amounts to effectively nothing but eye candy as the note rings out. It always helps to know what *in fact* is contributing to sound and WHY.... vs. whatever else can be regarded as aesthetic benefit. Not to say psychology doesn't affect how I play - it suuure does - and it also affects how much I am willing to spend. Looks matter, too :o)
i got a great blindfold test idea- play a crappy song you have written on an expensive custom shop guitar, then a great song on a cheap guitar- then decide if you wasting your time writing and maybe take up gardening? that would be a good challenge! :-) love you guys, best guitar show on youtube!
Not impressed. They should have cut the experiment in two. One hearing (not acoustically) and later on just playing. Feeling the fretboard gives awat a lot.
"I am never going to tell the differences when you're playing with distortion". Agreed, which is why Rob's apparent love of distortion makes most of his demonstrations on Anderton's so frustrating and dare I suggest of little value.
1) How does the fingerboard material effect the sound when the string is vibrating and being picked up between the fret and the bridge? 2) Arent maple fingerboards covered in layer of lacquer? Wouldnt that have an effect on how it effects the string?
Honestly the tonewood debate is kinda pointless in my opinion. There may be difference in tone (there’s no solid evidence to prove that it does or doesn’t) but i think we can all definitely agree that it is so subtle compared to other factors like pickups, scale length, string gauge, amp, effect pedals, the room you are in, and finally, finger tone. The wood is mostly on the feel, smoothness and weight imo.
@@nicodabastard haha, probably right. I mean no one is claiming he didn't win the election by the rules set. I am just referring to his claim (which like those saying wood makes no difference, the earth is flat, evolution isn't true, vaccines cause autism etc) is verifiably false.
There is solid proof its wether or not people believe the truth like you obviously do lol sometimes people dont want to believe it because they already disagree to begin with and say its not possible when it is and guess what those people can be wrong and hsould know they were there is a huge difference in wood tone with beijng in a guitar and there is still a difference when iuts with a guitar I can hear it and most should be able to
Xactly. Maple seems to kill sustain... somehow, or maybe it is just so bright and snappy. I can live with rosewood, but maple is an effect for certain situations:)
My suggestion is that you test guitars with different scale lengths. You pair the guitars up, one with a shorter neck and one with a longer neck. Use the same tuning on both of the guitars in each pair. You even change to thicker strings on the shorter neck guitars if needed to match the tuning on the longer neck guitar to avoid floppy strings. Try and pick guitars with similar pick ups within each pair. The Captain and Chappers then has to guess which of the guitars in each pair has the shorter and longer scale length. Of course they don’t get to play the guitars themselves, Bea takes care of that.
I like how maple shows signs of wear. It also sounds brighter and more crispy. I’m not in the market for guitars but if I was I would go after a semi hollow and a maple fretboard tele. I can hear the difference, even with distortion
The channel for everything Nice idea, but they were trying to make it scientific and use what is otherwise exactly the same model. There isn’t a maple/rosewood/pao ferro set of options within any single range on the Fender catalogue anymore so they’d have to have mixed the guitar models and therefore additional specs as well, thereby muddying the tonal comparison much more.
Rob, you’re exactly right on why different woods sound a bit different. It’s the loss coefficient (and Young’s modulus of elasticity) at play. And a material will absorb energy at its resonant frequency (and harmonics) producing a notch effect. Combining materials changes that a bit.
There are tests with actual scopes that shows the frequency response and much of what rob says is just placebo effect. Much like when he saw a pickup cover last week and thought that guitar would be darker and less open.
I jumped back and forth between 5:23 and 6:37 for a direct comparison. I think I can hear a very slight difference in the low-mids for the rosewood, but we just got to be honest here that it's not substancial.
Definitive answer: You can't pick a guitar sound based on wood. Every guitar is different due to manufacturing tolerances in the electronics. Two IDENTICAL models can have a 450k (darker) pot on the volume, or a 550k (bright) pot based on the luck of the draw. They'll sound significantly different. Ignore the marketing bollocks, you have to try multiple guitars (even of the same model) and choose based on what your ears and hands tell you, not what the label says and not what you've heard on UA-cam. When the pro's find 'a good strat', it's not because of the 'tonewood'. These guys know it, the pro's know it, but they want you to purchase online without ever holding the guitar. That's great for business, awful for tone.
Theres a reason its so heavily debated though. IT DOES make a difference when you use more dense woods. I agree, dont give into the marketing. But if you prefer a certain kind of wood, its not always just because the color and grain pattern. Maple caps on les pauls are a good example. When going for certain types of wood, youre hoping to get the average molecular makeup of said wood. Youre right, depending on the cut, the deinsity will always vary. But, certain woods are KNOWN to just be more dense on average, so your agument there is kinda bunk. Your average maple is just simply more dense than your average rosewood. Of course there are a few outliers, but thats why we have guitar stores to try our shit out at before we make a purchase. Its your own dumb ass fault if you order an SG on the internet and expect it to feel or even SOUND anything like the one on the wall at GC lol oh, and as for the tone pots, spend maybe 25 bucks, and have extremely basic soldering knowledge. You must still have factory pots and thats almost always no bueno when going for a very specific sound, if you purchase them after market then you know exactly what you have and what their for. I think electronics was a bad example for you to use. As opposed to the majority of the molecular makeup of the entire guitar (the wood).
Wrong (sorry). The resistance (e.g. 500k) is when the pot is at 10. You have a 500K resistance between the hot pickup lead and the ground. That resistance mainly effects the high end. As pots are only made to within 10% of their rated value, thats 100k difference based on luck, and 100k is definitely a significant difference. The resistance is zero when the pot is turned off (i.e. all signal to ground.). That's why the 'blast switch' that puts the bridge bucker to the output is popular. Eliminating that 500k to ground makes a significant difference to the tone.
It really isn't a bad example, it's a huge factor. The 500k (LP pot) is the resistance between the hot lead and the ground when the volume is on full. Differing this by 10% (the standard manufacturing tolerance) makes a huge difference to the high end. That's why manufacturers use 250-330k for single coils, and 500k for humbuckers. They need more top end preserved for buckers, where strats would sound like an ice pick on 500k pots. However, most pots (unless very specialist/expensive) are made within 10% of their rating. That 10% is a big difference in top end tone. Your Les Paul might have a 450k pot which is noticably darker than a 550k pot... both are possible (although many tend to be in the middle, its a bell curve of probability, so the difference isn't so extreme). I would never say that wood doesn't have an effect, but it's a moot point when the electronics can vary by so much between the same model of guitar.
It's a terrible example a volume pot only changes the amplitude of the waveform, not the shape of the waveform, amplitude= volume shape equals= tone Tell you what play your LP or strat on 10, then desolder the pot & resolder straight to the jack then come back to me & say it makes a huge difference
Too dark, Phaser Gim. Maple is too light. Therefore...rosewood is just right (and this video is going to be demonetised due to 3 Bears copywrite infringement).
Lee: *Plays acoustically*
Rob: "So surely the objective is to know if you can tell through an amplifier"
Rob in another video: *Sniffs guitar*
Lmao
I actually like hearing solid body guitars acoustically. You can really tell the differences between them without an amp quite often. One example on my end is my Les Paul Custom and SG. I don't need an amp to hear how much more midsy the SG is!
@@bthellamGary Moore said that's the only way to know if it's worth buying. Strum it acoustically and if it sustains then it's gold.
I'm team whatever-makes-the-guitar-looks-cooler.
I think fender is in that team too lolz
I’m in team whatever is cheaper
No one said SOUND cooler lol. Idc what a guitar looks like so long as it sounds epic
@@apexvwarrior8082 In a perfect world, I'd be in that camp, but the optics of a guitar effect the way I think about the instrument, and therefor how I play on it. And tone is in the fingers. So the optics of the guitar really effect how I play on it, more than the tone wood. But that's in my particular case, everyone is different.
so team maple then? ;)
3 GUITAR CHALLENGE Best Copy, Worst Copy, Real Thing. One person picks a guitar, Say a Fender Strat, then searches the store for the most & lest expensive non Fender 'Strat type' guitars. The challenge is for the blindfolded person to work out which is the 'good copy' & which is the Original. Cheapo's there for comedy contrast ;)
I’d watch it. Lol
Shut up and take my view and like.
And the plectrum rieview video was 'good for business' was it? Increased plectrum sales did it? Sometimes you just gotta do things for laughs.
Yes
You could even do this with real versions of the guitar. In your example, a bottom-of-the-line Squier Strat vs a Fender American Professional vs a high-end Custom Shop
I just want to say, because I haven't always seen it mentioned, kudos to the team doing support in the background on all the blindfold episodes. I appreciate that it can be hard to not react in the usual way with all the back and forth when filming episodes like these, so as to not give away significant details. Good job!
Wait, so Pete whispering in Chappers ear - clearly saying the word 'rosewood' on the third guitar wasn't part of it all? :'D
You can tell if it's lacquered on the board, maple is , rosewood is not. So someone else should have played while the captain or rob guessed.
I know right? The lacquer is dead giveaway.
*IF* it’s lacquered, not all maple boards are lacquered.
You can see that the dark red one has a lacquered maple fretboard at 10:20 (lights reflecting on higher frets).
So they cheated? Not.
Who cares? It wasn't a truly scientific experiment any way. It was just a fun blindfold challenge.
3 years later, nobody is has still performed an exorcism on that cup teleporting around
2:48 Maple Acoustic
2:56 Maple Neck
3:03 Maple Bridge
3:28 Maple Bridge Clean
3:39 Maple Neck Clean
3:55 Maple Acoustic
4:07 Maple Neck
5:00 Maple Bridge
5:11 Maple Neck
5:32 Maple Acoustic
5:43 Maple Neck then Bridge
6:14 Rosewood Bridge
6:33 Rosewood Neck
6:54 Rosewood Acoustic
7:07 Rosewood Neck
7:15 Rosewood Bridge
7:21 Rosewood Neck
7:45 Rosewood Neck
8:04 Rosewood Bridge
8:17 Rosewood Acoustic
9:00 Rosewood Neck
9:42 Rosewood Acoustic Chord
9:55 Rosewood Acoustic Lead
10:18 Maple Acoustic Chord
10:21 Maple Acoustic Lead
Very underrated comment.
Thanks
8:05 chappers going crazy
I absolutely love the editing that is done in these. The coffee cup was comedic genius.
I dont hear a difference with most of these test I just enjoy watching these videos lol
Same. I just prefer whichever looks nicer with the other colors on the instrument
Even with headphones on there is a massive difference in what you'll hear live vs the recorded interpetation of the sound.
What the hell is with the dancing mug at 4:20?
just seeing if you were paying attention....
Idk man there are a lot of weird little things edited into these videos though...
Yeah, I was about to say the same.
I love the little odd tidbits they edit for absolutely no reason haha. I think the mug was slightly out of shot, so they edited it in.
Lee White They edited it onto the coaster haha.
the moving cup editing while the people where moving was crazy
Agree with a comment below. Rosewood always feels granular under your fingers when you bend the strings. Also, Lee wanted to play acoustically but the argument is always about whether wood affects an electric sound as Rob said.
I'm sure his thinking was that if there was any difference at all acoustically, then theoretically there should be a difference when it's amplified. Whether or not that difference is significant enough to warrant one sounding "better" than the other is completely subjective.
@@damendobrilovic3815 But just because its different acoustically doesnt mean it will be different when its amplified. Doesnt work that way. Maybe more sustain but not different texture of tone! = ) Your guitar sound different when you stick your neck against the wall, but wont sound different in a recording.
The real title of the video " touching maple vs rosewood blindfold challenge"
A better title, "Touching your wood. Does it make a difference?"
Cry baby
Great stuff! I used to prefer rosewood because I don't like the glossy stuff that maple fretboards were typically lathered in, however I now have a satin maple fret board (on my tele) and I love it!
Here for the rage, I saw Tonewood in the title...
Im i simple man, I see the possibility of butthurt kids, i click
smae
(grabs popcorn)
need to do a blind sound test without touching the guitars, any fool can feel the difference between rosewood and maple by touching the neck...
agreed. the rosewood would feel like rosewood. the person not playing should be doing the only guessing.
And when playing
Don't ever hold a guitar by the neck horizontally like the guy did at 6:08. A Stratocaster can probably handle it, but another video I saw said that holding a guitar that way can cause cracks in finish or in the neck pocket. I don't know if that is true, but you can imagine that it does put pressure on the neck to hold it that way. Better safe than sorry.
Maple fretboards look so much better! Love them. I don't think or care about sound difference, i just love the way maple looks. Too many variables to determine a sound difference. I don't think there is any difference in sound if both wood types have the same density, shape and size.
That grey strat with rosewood board is GORGEOUS
You know the story, right? Leo Fender originally didn't use separate fingerboards. The frets were installed on the maple neck - hence the skunk stripe since the truss rod had to be installed from underneath. When he saw how grungy the well used maple "boards" were becoming, he didn't like it and switched to a separate rosewood fingerboard where the "finger gunk" wouldn't show. So we have three variants - fretted maple necks, separate rosewood fingerboards and separate maple fingerboards. What did you have? Fretted neck or separate board?
My 2002 MiM has a fretted maple neck, you can follow the grain around(and it looks gorgeous), and it has the skunk strip. This is the first I've heard of this, but it makes sense when you see the old nitro fingerboards. So if Leo Fender had had polyurethane available when he started we'd probably still have fretted maple one-piece necks on the whole range? The fingerboard finish on mine is immaculate, although I think that it has spent most of its life in a closet.
You want to buy it because of a quick description of the neck?? I haven't got a clue. It's getting its cavity shielded and electronics looked at, at the moment. I hadn't considered selling it, I just was so pleased to get such a nice playing guitar with a fat 50's style neck. There are quite a few examples of MiM strats on Ebay for what I got this for, and it's worth more to me than I paid for it.
Funny how the Skunk Stripe has become such an iconic part of the Neck, and it was really a "Band-Aid" just out of necessity! Cool story, thanks for sharing!
Juliet P. Not only that, rosewood fingerboards had two versions, one thicker than the other
+Bellumfacere the 2 versions you speak of are the laminate and slab boards. In the first iteration (pre-1962) they were using slab boards (flat milled rosewood board glued on flat milled neck then radiused), but due to the glue they were using at the time, they were experiencing the fretboards coming unglued from the necks. In 1962, Leo then changed to the laminate boards (L series), where they laminated a thin "veneers" of rosewood over an already radiused maple neck. Thus resolving the issue of the slab board de-laminating from the neck.
Sometimes a shop has a small selection of identical guitars & the customer gets to play each & pick the one they prefer. I’ve been lucky enough to do this with a few guitar purchases & sometimes there is a difference in sound like those debated over maple vs rosewood. So my point is despite what materials are used, each guitar can be unique regardless of any general rule of thumb you might believe in regarding choice of materials. The final build & setup can effect just as much and more due to so many variables. If you can, just try different guitars when making a new purchase. It’s fun & you get satisfaction that you really made a personal choice. If like me you believe a guitar is greater than the sum of it’s parts, then you will get where I am coming from.
For a luthiers perspective, I would love to see this challenge done on acoustic guitars with either Rosewood or Ebony fingerboards.
One of the expected difference is not as much tone but the attack, sustain and percussive nature of the two woods.
I love these comparisons videos! Don't worry about what others post. Have fun chaps!
Blindfold test: exists
Lee: I can read the comment section already
QED blindfold tests are invalid since Cap10 is psychic.
Good work ion 53.
But...Cap10 knew you were going to say that.
Cue the Twilight Zone music!
pd4165 somehow it extremely annoys me, that you write Captain as Cap10.
That’s even worse than the people writing 7ender.
@@rolux4853 I believe CAP-10 is the name of his signature Chapman Guitar model (not to suggest that'll makes you less annoyed ofc). 7ender on the other hand is just unexcusable. Makes me think of the Reverse Flying V and that's NOT something I want to cross my mind again, ever
Love the creativity on this one lads! As soon as i saw the title i was like, can't wait to see what shenanigans this is gonna bring on!
Team Rosewood! Sound wise, I don’t notice much, if any difference. Feel, eh, maybe a little, but not enough to get exited about. It’s really about the looks. Imho, rosewood always looks great with any color guitar, but maple has to be tinted just right - it’s often too pale, or way too tinted.
I do really like 3 tone sunburst with a black pickguard, and a nice medium tint maple fingerboard tho. 😉
Keep the videos up! There will always be haters but just remember the are watching your videos which is making you $$$. Love watching you guys!
Blindfold Challenge Idea: Supermarket Sweep at Anderstons. Rob and the Captain have 5 min each to run through the store and put a rig together. They have to pick up the gear and get it to the cashier before the time runs out. They then have to play and see who got the best rig.
4:18 look at the milk mug on the left, it dances to the music. You crazy guys, lol. :-)
I've played a ton of strats and I can't hear the difference between rosewood and maple. That said, I prefer maple but for feel reasons alone.
7:49 cracked me right open. Pete's laugh. Hahaha
but they would be able to feel it anyway right?
Especially with the tumb over like they both suddenly do....
Yeah that was a useless blindfold...
Easy feel the join with your thumb! Chappers cheats on every blindfold challenge
Both maple and rosewood are glued to the neck.
vjau75 they always did that, but ye, it’s dumb
THIS IS VERY FUNNY and HIGHLY ENTERTAINING!!! Thank you, lads!!
some one need to say this, TONE is in Pickups...not the wood
As always the editing is top notch. Love the moving mug! Lol
I'm positive it's there as a gag.
At first I was impressed with how well Rob did and started to think that maybe there really is something to the tones from the fretboard, then I watched the solid / semi-hollow / hollow comparison. For that video I realized Rob doesn't use just tones to make his choice, he is using things like type of pickup and likely body style, type of guitars he knows they have, etc. to decide. That defeats the test. As has been pointed out in other posts, the "listeners" should not have been allowed to handle the instruments as that potentially gives them another data point that has nothing to do with the tone. Further, unless you want to increase the sample size, the listeners shouldn't know how many of each are in the test, otherwise things like what Lee did just assigning guesses based on previous guesses can happen. Finally, they should not have been allowed to play the thing acoustically as that defeats the tone "pickup only vs wood" argument for electrics (and you aren't going to play them acoustically other than goofing around).
NOTE: I'm not saying I don't or do believe in tone from the wood in electric guitars, I just don't have enough personal experience nor hard data to say one way or the other.
you should be able to play it, sound comes from the player too and you should know what you did and how the guitar reacted to it
Gents, thanks very much for continuing with these blindfold challenges, i always enjoy them, regardless or their scientific merit!
4:19 the coffee cup lol
Part of me thinks if you say you can hear a difference you’re subconsciously lying to yourself.
4:14 most amount of suspense in my life
Same. But Chappers pulled through. The suspense also increased the laugh when it started hopping around a few seconds later.
4:20 what’s up with the coffee mug 😂
Fender American Professional Strat Antique Olive (Maple)
2:47 Chappers: Acoustic
2:54 Chappers: Distorted
3:27 Chappers: Clean
3:56 Captain: Acoustic
4:06 Captain: Clean
Guess: 4:38 Both correct
Fender American Professional Strat Sunburst (Maple)
5:00 Chappers: Clean
5:32 Captain: Acoustic
5:41 Captain: Clean
Guess: 6:06 Chappers correct, Captain wrong
Fender American Professional Strat Olympic White (Rosewood)
6:14 Chappers: Clean
6:53 Captain: Acoustic
7:06 Captain: Clean
Guess: 7:33 Both correct
Fender American Professional Strat Sonic Grey (Rosewood)
7:44 Chappers: Clean
8:16 Captain: Acoustic
8:32 Captain: Clean
Guess: 9:12 Chappers correct, Captain wrong
I am team rosewood, but it is mainly based on the look of rosewood vs maple. And I am more for the warmer tones, so the idea of Rosewood being a bit warmer has that appeal even if it is very subjective and debatable.
I prefer maple, only for the look. I don't think the tonal differences are really significant. At least I can't tell...
you dont hear the poink ?
tele? squire?
When chappers picks up the second he says ‘that feels like the first guitar’. Proof they’re feeling the board not hearing the difference
daft question….. why dont we see maple boards on acoustics ??
Not daft at all. There are acoustics with maple boards but not as many as rosewood. Some folk talk about brightness or maple being less hardwearing. Others put it down to tradition.
When you do these blindfold challenges you should put a title screen up telling everyone you're gonna put the blindfold on. That way people at home who want to try and guess with you, they can get their blindfolds on in time.
the chappers playing single coils is a rare fascinating sight
He's got plenty of singlecoils (I'm going to take a flying guess at 20%) in his collection but he definitely favours buckers.
Perhaps RC will come along to enlighten us.
Not to forget that Chapman ML-3 is complete single coil guitar in itself which he often uses..
Rob is also a big Telecaster fan, isn't he?
5:23 watch the index finger lol
Rob coping a feel 🤫🤫🤫🤣🤣🤣
New challenge idea
Covered VS. Uncovered Pickups
Better yet: metric vs imperial measurements of the pots and Jack's. It's well established that only imperial measurements are true tone-measurements, because they resonate more naturally with the frequencies!
4:20 WTF, man. Invisible aliens are playing tricks with that coffee mug.
This seems to be one of the least interesting blindfold challenges as you don’t need to see to feel the difference. It should be Pete playing and Rob and Lee listening.
Impossible. They wouldn't be able to tell a broom with a string tied to it from a Fender if Pete is the one playing. :)
Scorned that’s kind of the point, you can’t hear a difference. I think allowing them to play acoustically kills the whole concept. We know wood has an effect acoustically.
Russell ward And if it has an effect acoustically (which is the sound made by the strings vibrating) how does it not have some effect when amplified? After all the pickups are picking up the way the string are vibrating... it’s what they do. 🤷🏼♂️
Mark Seymour And where do you think that voltage comes from? The relative movement of the strings compared to the magnet of the pickups. Where do you think the acoustic sound of the guitar comes from? The movement of the strings. If you can hear a marked difference acoustically (I’m not the one who said you can or not, I was addressing the point others made that in their view there is a notable acoustic difference) then this implies strings vibrating differently which then means the pickups will sense this difference (because this difference comes mainly from the strings vibrating differently).
These differences become less noticeable through amplification because there are so many steps in the signal chain, which is Chappers’ point about becoming difficult/impossible to tell a subtle difference like fingerboard wood with a signal with gain, but this doesn’t mean the differences aren’t picked up by the pickups.
David Burke but we’re talking about what we can hear not is there some minute bit that a pickup can pick up. There may be some mathematical difference but that’s not particularly important if we can’t discern a difference with our ears.
I had the advantage I could see the guitars you both couldn't. I have two Fenders Strat and a Tele. For what it is worth I agree with you both on the subtle perceived tonal differences. I agree exactly with the Captains comments on slippy neck and easier vibrato on the maple. I guess thats why youre the Captain! But I seem to get a "feeling" of more controllable vibrato with Rosewood. Both are great necks with inspiration to be found in both because of their subtle differences. Great video and nobody should really get angry about your honest endeavours. Cheers
Lee's playing that G chord. I like that G chord.
I was watching the coffee cup waiting for it fall and then I thought I was having a stroke. The editor of this video is amazing
I'm not team rosewood, nor maple. I'm team ebony!
I don't know why, but maple and rosewood have a "cheap" look to me. That was ingrained in me by all of the cheap guitars I've played having those 2, and ebony only being on higher end ones (along with the other two). So now in my brain, ebony just looks nicer/classier/higher end/cleaner/better.
This is the exact reason why I don't care for rosewood fingerboards. Couldn't have said it better.
I've always preferred the feel of a lacquered maple board, but rosewood is not a deal-breaker if I like the guitar.
"Mine says Claptain."
It depends on what the body looks like certain body's just go with certain necks so, I like both rosewood and maple.
I know this is random folks (I've been watching Andertons for 8 years) but what watch is Lee wearing? Rolex Explorer? Tudor BB? Anyone know? Gracias
I could tell the difference visually just by watching the video.
Look at the cup on chappers table 4:22
nice catch. they always do something fun with the cups but i didnt even see this one until your comment
4:19 I think your coffee cup just glitched.. haha.
Don't crucify them!
I'm a tonewood believer!
I'll build my tonewood church.
After all, Jesus was nailed to a (tone)wood....
5:15 and 6:28 listen back to back. add a like, if you like. according to manufacturers, maple is brighter. the additional issue here, is that each guitar setup has a slightly different sound, very minimal but with many variables, but even the wood density and lacquer coats, including string age have an effect...there a quite a bit of things that will make a tone difference...wood denity, laquer coats, stringe age and tension, fret cleanliness, strum location, pick type, finger tone, fretted location, tone settings calibrated same?...etc.
Why arnt fretboards made from African Blackwood or cocobolo?
Some are - bass players tend to get more choice because they're not as conservative as guitarists. And now that CITES is intervening we'll probably see a lot more 'alternative' woods used.
True cocobolo wood has some serious issues. In the working of it, there is some toxicity to it. Look it up.
Issues - oily, therefore hard to glue. Will take glue if the surface is clean. Oil may cause allergic reaction, especially if inhaled, (eg when sanding) but only an idiot sands anything without dust protection.
Uses - many.
Close grain is good for inlays and it's a good choice for woodwind instruments. Also used for gun stocks, handles and guitar style instruments, especially for fretboards (because an entire guitar would be seriously heavy).
Definitely a lot easier than carbon fibre. Or aluminium (hello - Europe calling).
@@pd4165 what about carbon fibre?? That might be cool.
there is a version of blackwood which is coming in as a rosewood replacement I was offered it on a kit the other day
I have both, including 1 piece rosewood necks and roasted maple necks.
The roasted maple and rosewood almost feel identical. I think the big difference is whether or not it has a coating on it or not.
4:20
Look at the mug on the left xD
XDD
Your edits are gold x'DD
I'm a bit disappointed with this effort guys. Firstly you shouldn't be playing them yourselves and secondly you shouldn't be hearing them acoustically. Do it again with Pete or Bea playing the guitars through an amp, firstly a clean Fender and secondly a crunchy Marshall in a different order.
I'm with the Captain, I prefer Rosewood, but mostly because I love the way it looks
Maple for Tele and Strat, Rosewood for most everything else
This deserves more attention.
I was waiting for someone to say that I agree totally, I like Fenders with Maple for some reason and I can hear the difference when they play in the video
The way I read that is maple for single coils and rosewood for humbuckers
Super strats deserve Ebony
Or mapple for single coils and rosewood for humbuckers
I love Anderton’s I’ve been going there for a very long time but when a man has to introduce himself as the captain in every video it makes me think he was c team rugger player back in the day
You know why Lee wants to play them acoustically to determine the difference? Because wood doesn't affect magnets.
Exactly.
Magnets amplify existing vibrations. The entire system impacts the vibrations. The mass of the wood matters, as does the type of wood.
Johan Segeborn has done these experiments better. If you watch those and still think wood doesn’t matter, I don’t really know know what to tell you. At that point it’s just denial.
That is not even how magnets work, please educate yourself by taking an actual physics course. Pickups create a magnetic field the metal strings oscillate through them and disrupt the field, instantly, and those disruptions are instantly sent to the amp.
@@michaelcosta7235 That's not even how electromagnetism works. Please educate yourself by taking an actual physics course. The current induced in the pickup winding by the string's vibration needs time to propagate, and therefore is not instant, nor is the actual propagation of the disturbance of the magnetic field on the way to the pickup. I mean, that's completely pedantic and utterly irrelevant, but I win the argument now, right?
The fretboard wood matters a tiny smidge, yes.
But the type of fretboard wood matters very very little vs. the sealing or laquering of it's surface - this is what alters the intial transient ('attack') characteristic of the note. Going from note to note on the sealed maple produces less friction or deformation of the fingertip vs. rosewood since there is no grain to dig into; less 'drag'. The resultant sound of the laquered fretboard therefore has a quicker 'snap-back' from the initial transient as it settles into sustain.
So it's no wonder that scalloping is by far most common on maple-fretboard Strats, as the lacquering glides under the fingers like nothing else. Under spectrum analysis any difference in the *sustained portion* of the note is sonically infinitesimal between the two types of wood used, or even whether it's lacquered(!). This is because sustain depends almost entirely on the total mass and coupling/construction of the guitar; the species of wood amounts to effectively nothing but eye candy as the note rings out.
It always helps to know what *in fact* is contributing to sound and WHY.... vs. whatever else can be regarded as aesthetic benefit. Not to say psychology doesn't affect how I play - it suuure does - and it also affects how much I am willing to spend. Looks matter, too :o)
i got a great blindfold test idea- play a crappy song you have written on an expensive custom shop guitar, then a great song on a cheap guitar- then decide if you wasting your time writing and maybe take up gardening? that would be a good challenge! :-) love you guys, best guitar show on youtube!
Not impressed. They should have cut the experiment in two. One hearing (not acoustically) and later on just playing.
Feeling the fretboard gives awat a lot.
The point is for YOU to do it yourself, this is just an exercise in a video for fun. I'm not impressed by your comment.
"It's just for fun." Meanwhile, throughout the comment section: "THIS PROVES TONEWOOD"
Yeaaaa mate, another Chappers & Capt. video!!!!
"I am never going to tell the differences when you're playing with distortion".
Agreed, which is why Rob's apparent love of distortion makes most of his demonstrations on Anderton's so frustrating and dare I suggest of little value.
1) How does the fingerboard material effect the sound when the string is vibrating and being picked up between the fret and the bridge?
2) Arent maple fingerboards covered in layer of lacquer? Wouldnt that have an effect on how it effects the string?
Honestly the tonewood debate is kinda pointless in my opinion. There may be difference in tone (there’s no solid evidence to prove that it does or doesn’t) but i think we can all definitely agree that it is so subtle compared to other factors like pickups, scale length, string gauge, amp, effect pedals, the room you are in, and finally, finger tone. The wood is mostly on the feel, smoothness and weight imo.
nicodabastard there isn't, the earth is obviously flat
SO what you are really saying is that Trump actually DID win the popular vote?
@@nicodabastard haha, probably right. I mean no one is claiming he didn't win the election by the rules set. I am just referring to his claim (which like those saying wood makes no difference, the earth is flat, evolution isn't true, vaccines cause autism etc) is verifiably false.
There is solid proof its wether or not people believe the truth like you obviously do lol sometimes people dont want to believe it because they already disagree to begin with and say its not possible when it is and guess what those people can be wrong and hsould know they were there is a huge difference in wood tone with beijng in a guitar and there is still a difference when iuts with a guitar I can hear it and most should be able to
@@joep963 If the earth is flat why aren't millions of cats randomly pushing shit off the edge?
Anybody notice chappers mug situation? Hahaha! I love these videos!
I'm an ebony guy!
Photo with today's paper or it's not true.
we all know that once you go black you never go back!!
Talking bout girls amma right ?
i have heard it from both sexes..so somehow it must be true :-)
Xactly. Maple seems to kill sustain... somehow, or maybe it is just so bright and snappy. I can live with rosewood, but maple is an effect for certain situations:)
Forget the challenge...Can we talk about how Rob's coffee mug is possessed at 4:20?
My suggestion is that you test guitars with different scale lengths. You pair the guitars up, one with a shorter neck and one with a longer neck. Use the same tuning on both of the guitars in each pair. You even change to thicker strings on the shorter neck guitars if needed to match the tuning on the longer neck guitar to avoid floppy strings. Try and pick guitars with similar pick ups within each pair. The Captain and Chappers then has to guess which of the guitars in each pair has the shorter and longer scale length. Of course they don’t get to play the guitars themselves, Bea takes care of that.
I like how maple shows signs of wear. It also sounds brighter and more crispy. I’m not in the market for guitars but if I was I would go after a semi hollow and a maple fretboard tele. I can hear the difference, even with distortion
Should’ve thrown in Pao Ferro in the mix
The channel for everything Nice idea, but they were trying to make it scientific and use what is otherwise exactly the same model. There isn’t a maple/rosewood/pao ferro set of options within any single range on the Fender catalogue anymore so they’d have to have mixed the guitar models and therefore additional specs as well, thereby muddying the tonal comparison much more.
Ebony
"Scientific". LOL
The cup 04:20
Maple and Rosewood totally feel different while playing though
I could be deaf and tell the difference
Love Pete’s Carter Vintage Guitars shirt! Best guitar store in Nashville imo
Rob, you’re exactly right on why different woods sound a bit different. It’s the loss coefficient (and Young’s modulus of elasticity) at play. And a material will absorb energy at its resonant frequency (and harmonics) producing a notch effect. Combining materials changes that a bit.
There are tests with actual scopes that shows the frequency response and much of what rob says is just placebo effect. Much like when he saw a pickup cover last week and thought that guitar would be darker and less open.
I thought the new fenders always have pau ferro fretboards
I jumped back and forth between 5:23 and 6:37 for a direct comparison. I think I can hear a very slight difference in the low-mids for the rosewood, but we just got to be honest here that it's not substancial.
All that matters is that maple looks better 😁
only on strats and teles i think.
@@Simbetam Agreed!
Kay If we really mean on Fenders then I’m prepared to double agree. 😃
Eww strats between 1959-1965 are all rosewood best years by far
When Lee does vibrato the entire planet moves up and down hahahah
Definitive answer: You can't pick a guitar sound based on wood. Every guitar is different due to manufacturing tolerances in the electronics. Two IDENTICAL models can have a 450k (darker) pot on the volume, or a 550k (bright) pot based on the luck of the draw. They'll sound significantly different. Ignore the marketing bollocks, you have to try multiple guitars (even of the same model) and choose based on what your ears and hands tell you, not what the label says and not what you've heard on UA-cam. When the pro's find 'a good strat', it's not because of the 'tonewood'. These guys know it, the pro's know it, but they want you to purchase online without ever holding the guitar. That's great for business, awful for tone.
Theres a reason its so heavily debated though. IT DOES make a difference when you use more dense woods. I agree, dont give into the marketing. But if you prefer a certain kind of wood, its not always just because the color and grain pattern. Maple caps on les pauls are a good example. When going for certain types of wood, youre hoping to get the average molecular makeup of said wood. Youre right, depending on the cut, the deinsity will always vary. But, certain woods are KNOWN to just be more dense on average, so your agument there is kinda bunk. Your average maple is just simply more dense than your average rosewood. Of course there are a few outliers, but thats why we have guitar stores to try our shit out at before we make a purchase. Its your own dumb ass fault if you order an SG on the internet and expect it to feel or even SOUND anything like the one on the wall at GC lol oh, and as for the tone pots, spend maybe 25 bucks, and have extremely basic soldering knowledge. You must still have factory pots and thats almost always no bueno when going for a very specific sound, if you purchase them after market then you know exactly what you have and what their for. I think electronics was a bad example for you to use. As opposed to the majority of the molecular makeup of the entire guitar (the wood).
When both these pots are fully open the resistance is pretty much zero, debunking that 'electronic tolerance BS'
Wrong (sorry). The resistance (e.g. 500k) is when the pot is at 10. You have a 500K resistance between the hot pickup lead and the ground. That resistance mainly effects the high end. As pots are only made to within 10% of their rated value, thats 100k difference based on luck, and 100k is definitely a significant difference. The resistance is zero when the pot is turned off (i.e. all signal to ground.). That's why the 'blast switch' that puts the bridge bucker to the output is popular. Eliminating that 500k to ground makes a significant difference to the tone.
It really isn't a bad example, it's a huge factor. The 500k (LP pot) is the resistance between the hot lead and the ground when the volume is on full. Differing this by 10% (the standard manufacturing tolerance) makes a huge difference to the high end. That's why manufacturers use 250-330k for single coils, and 500k for humbuckers. They need more top end preserved for buckers, where strats would sound like an ice pick on 500k pots. However, most pots (unless very specialist/expensive) are made within 10% of their rating. That 10% is a big difference in top end tone. Your Les Paul might have a 450k pot which is noticably darker than a 550k pot... both are possible (although many tend to be in the middle, its a bell curve of probability, so the difference isn't so extreme). I would never say that wood doesn't have an effect, but it's a moot point when the electronics can vary by so much between the same model of guitar.
It's a terrible example a volume pot only changes the amplitude of the waveform, not the shape of the waveform,
amplitude= volume
shape equals= tone
Tell you what play your LP or strat on 10, then desolder the pot & resolder straight to the jack then come back to me & say it makes a huge difference
Great video. Great explanation Rob. You guys enjoy your job so you never work a day in your life! Awesome job!
Team Rosewood. I love me dem dark tones.
To The GAMES ebony is my favourite
Too dark, Phaser Gim.
Maple is too light.
Therefore...rosewood is just right (and this video is going to be demonetised due to 3 Bears copywrite infringement).
Ebony is bright like Maple because it's so dense.
Rosewood is brighter than maple
So, we're just not gonna mention the magical teleporting coffee mug around 4:15? (to the left)