Are Exotic Guitar Necks Better Than Maple?

Very interesting test. Sound differences are negligible and would never be distinguishable to non-guitar players or in a mix (I'm listening on Genelec 8040 studio monitors). What would be really interesting to know is which is the strongest/most stable.

In blind test I was wrong with roasted maple and wedge. So the differences are audible but not dramatic by any means. Roasted maple is imho the king: eco friendly, stable, nice looking and has that universally good sound. All the rest is just a matter of aesthetics, not the tone wood mambo-jumbo. Great vid, as always. You do a GREAT job with debunking all the myths.

The Goncalo Alves was fun to discover. The rosewood is beautiful. Great shootout, Aaron! Really appreciated this share!!!

I could hear my two favorites in the blind test: Canary and Rosewood. But I could not guess the others.

Great neck shootout , thank you for taking the time to do all this !!!

Thanks Aaron, much appreciated topic, and a great presentation! Particularly appreciate the shortness of the demo clips (for my goldfish memory) and your own comments at the end. I had a Goncalo Alves (+ pau ferro fingerboard) strat neck once, and loved it! It did have a sort of sweet top end (no ice-pick), but it was also super clear and articulate. Particularly the bass notes were amazing - clear like a grand piano. Playing it was like driving a sports car!

That canary neck might be the most beautiful neck I've ever seen.

Here's a tip. Buy the one that you think looks/feels the best. Woods may make a difference in solid body electric guitars, but it's not something a guitar amp EQ can't balance. Don't stress this stuff! Playing guitar is supposed to be fun!!

Great video. Most of the differences are subtle. Good to get your feedback on the way each neck feels. Goncalo Alves was a revelation. I think this video might have sold a few of those... Maybe you could do a part 2 with any of the woods you might have missed, Reg. Maple, maple/rosewood etc.

I think I’m in love with that rosewood neck, I liked the tone and had no problem picking it out of the crowd. Keep up the good work with the videos!

Excellent,all sound good,my pick was Rosewood,and Roasted Maple,kind of a snap to the note,but subtle,good to see Aaron again,always detailed,and informative

Awesome shootout, Aaron! I have a Wenge baritone neck with an ebony fretboard arriving tomorrow. I'm so excited to get to work on this project. Then I can start on my next Warmoth guitar.

These videos are awesome. I can't wait to watch all the Warmoth videos bc I'm sure I'll learn a lot

Great comparison video, thanks! I couldn't hear any differences when you played 'em all, and my 2/5 "correct" score is probably just lucky guesses. I have a Warmoth canary strat replacement neck and two Ibanez wenge necks, and these are my favorites compared to many maple necks I have/had. I guess I like a bit of grainy/waxy feel. Really appreciate the weight comparison you included. I know necks don't vary nearly as much as bodies, but I've always wondered about the neck wood variance b/c that's not listed on showcase items.

It's amazing how Goncalo Alves sounds like clean and driven... sounds big and wide clean, but not so much when driven... amazing... Thank you for ALL the great videos.. :D

I've been playing a warmoth wenge neck with an ebony board with stainless steel frets on my jaguar for about 5 years. I absolutely love it. I chose it purely for the open grain feel. It's also beautiful. Also seems to be the most stable out of all my guitars tuning-wise.

Excellent job playing and editing, as always! I could, at no point, hear an appreciable difference... So I guess buy the wood you think it prettiest or has a nice feel.

Good demo! Thanks. I envy your ability to maintain a consistent touch between the various samples.

Another excellent video and test! Thank you.

I've always been curious about Gonçalo Alves. For starters because it is a light coloured wood that doesn't require finish but I was surprised it was the heaviest. Great job once again. Pity you left out Pau Ferro. I love it's caramel mocha hues. Always thought about making a Pau Ferro tele, like George Harrison's but Pau Ferro instead of Rosewood.