3 Different Necks On The Same Guitar (I’m Shocked)

Funny how Fender went with rosewood because the maple showed age and usage….now they charge extra to make maple necks look that way!

Now, the only problem is convincing my wife why I need three Strats.

Rosewood: softer attack, darker tone Maple: sharper attack, brighter tone

Brett, you are absolutely spot on that the average listener in the audience will not tell the difference but as players we sometimes get into the slight nuances and this comparison, is definitely cork sniffing territory.

When I compared a Squier to a Fender standard/custom shop/original '63 loads of people didn't hear a difference either, which is totally understandable. They all sound very much like a guitar. This is basically the same, but even more extreme I guess. There are differences, but they are marginal. But if you've been playing guitar for so many years and for so many hours a day, these subtleties are easier to spot. I don't even know if it's the wood, or just the fact that it's different necks/nuts/tuning pegs. For what it's worth: camp Rosewood.

I think we can all agree that what made Jimi Hendrix so great was his incredible choices of fretboard wood.

At 10:50, you encapsulated a great answer to your query about neck woods. "Nobody in the audience is going to be thinking..." As in most solitary pursuits such as guitar playing, snowboarding or canoeing, a lofty issue is how it feels while participating and how the activity creates enjoyment for the doer of it. If an onlooker is uplifted in the process, bonus. It's why one needn't always keep score when playing golf. Winning equates to being out there - perhaps even noticing one's own improvement - whether grinding an axe, hitting a straight drive, sinking a chip from the rough, surfing a frozen white wave or listening to the sound of a paddle being drawn through water. The Strat at my house has a rosewood fretboard because the color combo pleases the eye. When I tell life to stop so I can take a half-hour escape while concentrating on perfecting a new (or admired) riff, the guitar needs to look like a vacation when its case lid is raised. Great video content resulted from your desire to research this neck wood idea. Thanks for posting it.

Thank you very much for sharing the wav files!

I closed my eyes and listened to the entire thing and I could not tell when you switched.

I heard more of a difference than I expected. Thanks for taking the time to run this experiment.

As a person with a lot of high-frequency hearing loss, I love my maple necks because they are snappier and cut through; I can hear my treble better without EQ'ing my tone to the point where it sounds harsh to everyone else.

Definitely agree..! I have rosewood, maple and ebony neck guitars. The rosewood is really warmer, absolutely. Maybe that's why Jimmy Page, Slash, Satriani and Vai always wanted rosewood neck on their guitars.. Keep rockin' guys..!

I've got a 3 year college degree in lutherie. Altho I've not made a career out of it yet for obvious financial reason I can tell you this. Even if you pick wood from the same exact tree it can end up souding totally different from each other. We tuned our soundboards not by thickness but by putting weights on it and measuring how it flex and also various test with a frequency generator. A case could be made for neck thickness/ rigidity and sound.

I’ve often wondered if the visual lightness of maple makes us think it sounds “brighter”, and the darkness of rosewood makes us characterise the sound as “darker”. The mind plays funny games…

Awesome Rhett. Never saw a demonstration like this. You're incredible.

This is a really useful video mate. Thanks and subscribed!

It's over Rhett. You live in a post-Jim Lill world now.

11:14 In my humble opinion that is true for so much more than just fretboards. Even switching from a Peavey Wolfgang to a 1971 Les Paul Custom during a live concert doesn't change that much of what's being experienced by the audience in the room, but obviously it makes an immense difference for me. For me, whatever inspires you in any given moment is the right thing to use!

Very very cool video!! I loved the sound of all three necks but for me the snappyness of that Roadworn Neck maple neck was so friggin sweet! I have done several neck swaps on my strats and teles turning average playing, feeling and sounding guitars into great guitars. It was fun listening to it in a test last this. Thank you!

Thanks for this video. I totally agree that you can hear the difference and that the rosewood is slightly warmer. Also great that you point out that no one who isn’t as nerdy as us “guitar people” ever will hear the difference or care. So the only one it matters to is the player and like you say if you have a preference you should go with it. It’s not better or worse just a matter of taste. Love that you did this. 😊 Also, isn’t it reasonable to assume that Leo, being a business man, quite simply skipped a step in production and just put the fret wire straight in to the neck to save cost? I mean there is a reason why strats are kind of the most common and wide spread guitar type ever. Partly because it was readily available to the mass market at a affordable cost. Again thanks for great video.