Maple dreadnoughts

BigPaulie

I know about the Jumbos, and the Dove/Frontier dreads, but what else is out there (off the shelf)?

Why are solid maple b&s dreads so rare? Seems like a much more sustainable wood choice than RW or hog, and we know it sounds awesome, so are manufacturers missing a trick?

ICBM

BigPaulie said:

I know about the Jumbos, and the Dove/Frontier dreads, but what else is out there (off the shelf)?

Why are solid maple b&s dreads so rare? Seems like a much more sustainable wood choice than RW or hog, and we know it sounds awesome, so are manufacturers missing a trick?

Yes.

Overly conservative buyers are the problem though, really - it's not just maple which should be much more common as a body wood.

stickyfiddle

My Dove was a spectacular sounding thing. I don't know why more makers don't build them. I guess "because people want Martin style dreads" except people don't have much choice, so that's inevitable.

BigPaulie

You'd think with maple's long established track record on Doves, old Epiphones, J200s, Levin Goliaths, etc. the guitar buying public would be ready to accept it as a mainstream choice by now.

We really are a backwards bunch, aren't we?

bertie

wasnt Maple always was punted as a "neutral"  tone wood great for recording  ??  -  I had  Taylor 612 and a 614  and nice to play were very......... blanced  but TBH ."non descript"  now that Ive played other combinations of tonewoods (mahogany/rosewood/gum etc) much wamer/fuller sounding,   and more "organic"  -  maybe maple is a V30 and others are G12Ms and Hs    

ICBM

bertie said:

wasnt Maple always was punted as a "neutral"  tone wood great for recording  ??  -  I had  Taylor 612 and a 614  and nice to play were very......... blanced  but TBH ."non descript"

That's Taylors, not maple .

My Dove is anything but neutral or nondescript - it's hugely powerful but detailed, fantastic for strumming but almost equally good for fingerpicking.

I did once have a Taylor too - nice guitar, extremely easy to play, but the very definition of an acoustic guitar with no specific character.

BillDL

The Yamaha FG840 has maple back and sides.

BigPaulie

Laminated, unfortunately

Tannin

Maple makes a wonderful back and sides timber; it has that magic snap and bark, and it looks great. Credit to Taylor for using it; discredit for using stain to disguise a timber beautiful in its own right.

I'd never thought about the maple dreadnought thing BigPaulie, but you are right: most of the well-known maple instruments are jumbos. I'm very fond of my Tacoma Thumderhawk, which is a maple jumbo.

earwighoney

Guitar players and builders are so set in traditional means even when there are cheaper options which exceed other alternatives, for example Maple, which should be cheaper than Mahogany but doesn't seem to be that way.

For acoustic guitars, as Martin in their golden era (which then went on to be a more significant influence than others) only seemed to use Mahogany and Rosewood. Which isn't to say Maple wasn't used in the golden era, there are some wonderful maple Larson Bros guitars from the 30's, Gibson J200 and Guild used it for a number of guitars, I still lament not buying a maple Guild in Tin Pan Alley about 10 years ago it wasn't that expensive but it sounded remarkable. 

It also really works really well for classical and flamenco guitars. 

Epsilon

Guild put out quite a few maple dreads over the years, though not so much recently. They 'd do an arched maple back rather than solid or laminated in the traditional sense, which I think improves the projection. It's a big part of why the F-412 12 string sounds so huge.

The G37s were nice and you can pick them up for very reasonable prices.

Tannin

The F-412 is no more. But there is the F-512 Maple, which so far as I know, is exactly the same thing. I've said this before (and will doubtless say it again): the F-512 Maple is the best 12-string I have ever played by quite a margin, and one of the best few guitars of any kind it has been my pleasure to meet. At around 8 grand it was too much to spend on an occasional-use instrument (I'm not really a 12-string player at all these days and I've even taken six strings off my Cole Clark 12) but I still think about it wistfully from time to time.

Epsilon

Tannin said:

The F-412 is no more. But there is the F-512 Maple, which so far as I know, is exactly the same thing. I've said this before (and will doubtless say it again): the F-512 Maple is the best 12-string I have ever played by quite a margin, and one of the best few guitars of any kind it has been my pleasure to meet. At around 8 grand it was too much to spend on an occasional-use instrument (I'm not really a 12-string player at all these days and I've even taken six strings off my Cole Clark 12) but I still think about it wistfully from time to time.

Yep, a weird model change move but there you go. I suspect the logic was that the F-412 and F-512 were traditionally the joint top of the line 12 string for Guild, and they didn't want people to think the F-412 was lesser than the F-512 due to the lower numbering.

I had a chance to try one of the new F-512 maples and I agree that it was exceptional, which as a long-time Guild fan I was really pleased to see. I have 1973 F-412, but fantastic as it is the modern one sounded just as good and played better. The New Hartford versions were, I think, the best of the lot. I passed on the chance to purchase a brand new F-512 for £1500 just after Fender sold Guild in 2014. Still kick myself for not going for it.

bertie

ICBM said:

I did once have a Taylor too - nice guitar, extremely easy to play, but the very definition of an acoustic guitar with no specific character.

"word" (I believe is the phrase of choice )

DavidR

I know it's a jumbo but for good looks alone Eastman AC630-BD must deserve a few points! Gorgeous. Never played one though. Some express concerns about wood sourcing.

BigPaulie

It certainly is visually striking!

Stuckfast

Washburn make a few maple guitars but I can't see a dread among them. I remember trying one of their maple jumbos years ago and it was a nice guitar but super bright.

BigPaulie

I imagine they're all laminated maple though...

thermionic

Taylor have just announced an all-maple model.

meltedbuzzbox

BigPaulie said:

I imagine they're all laminated maple though...

I dont get why people get pissy about laminate. 
If it sounds good it sounds good...

if its for the purpose of bringing a guitar in at a certain price then you have to consider that too.

DavidR

thermionic said:

Taylor have just announced an all-maple model.

Do you know name thermionic?