“Stevie always sounded the same whether it was a rosewood or maple neck”: Jimmie Vaughan doesn’t think it makes any difference what wood your guitar’s fingerboard is made of
Jimmie Vaughan feels the wood used to make your guitar’s fretboard doesn’t have much of an effect on its overall sound.
The tonewood debate remains ever divisive in the guitar world, with some believing it makes a significant difference, while others sit on the opposite side of the debate. But be it rosewood or maple on your fretboard, Jimmie feels it really doesn’t change anything, and in fact, his brother Stevie Ray Vaughan sounded the same regardless of the neck he played.
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Speaking to Guitar World for its new print edition, Jimmie recalls buying a 1963 Fender Stratocaster which he now describes as a “parts” guitar. It was put together by Charley’s Guitar Shop in Dallas and guitar tech René Martinez, and its rosewood neck was later swapped out for maple by Jimmie.
“I’d wanted a white Strat for years; it felt like it was unobtainable when I was a kid. I remember seeing Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps in an old movie, and they all had white Strats with the maple neck. I just thought it looked better than the dark rosewood, so I replaced it. I know there are people who think it makes a big difference to the sound, but I really don’t think it does,” he says. “I know Stevie always sounded the same whether it was a rosewood or maple neck.”
Last year, guitarist and YouTuber Rhett Shull put the tonewood debate through an experiment in which he tested out three neck variations on the same guitar, and in his opinion, there were noticeable differences between each. He tested a rosewood neck, a road-worn maple neck, and a roasted maple neck, which were all set up the same, for play straight through his amp with no pedals.
Of course, the tonewood debate isn’t limited to just the fretboard material; people in the guitar world debate furiously as to whether the wood used for a guitar’s body has a significant effect on its sound. Indeed, two titans of the industry have even put forth opposing viewpoints. Leo Fender, founder of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, apparently “didn’t really see differences between woods”, while PRS head honcho Paul Reed Smith has, on numerous occasions, spoken about the importance of tonewood on an instrument’s sound.
The post “Stevie always sounded the same whether it was a rosewood or maple neck”: Jimmie Vaughan doesn’t think it makes any difference what wood your guitar’s fingerboard is made of appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
