Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

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Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby ernie1958 » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:31 pm

8-) Don't know if anyone's discussed this before,so I'll give a go anyway.. :mrgreen:
There is a period in Shads history that I've seen them using Fiesta Red Strats with ROSEWOOD fretboards instead of the usual mapleneck
that every Shad nerd :lol: seems to be using these days..
I know that there is a subtle difference in sound when comparing the two,but imo they both have a different "FEEL" to them
which some players prefer and others not...I myself prefer the rosewood fretboard considering it has a more "mellowish" sound and is
more appealing with string-bends to my own taste.
Anyway...I was wondering why the Shads used the rosewood fretboard Strats for a while and then obviously switching back to the
mapleboard ones?

Any clues? :think:

Cheers,
Ernie
Last edited by ernie1958 on Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ernie1958
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby Bill Bowley » Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:03 am

Ernie,

I think you would have to look a bit deeper for the answer - for instance, a pre 59 maple neck Strat differs in a couple of ways from the later necks. According to Duchossoir, Bill Carson (one of the big wheels at Fender) said : 'another thing that influenced the decision to opt for rosewood was that, in those days, we didn't have the polyesters for material on the neck and the lacquer wore through very rapidly on a maple neck. Then it became discoloured and it also started to wear into the wood'. Duchossoir goes on to say that: 'by 1959 the decision had been made at Fender to switch the whole range of electrics to rosewood fretboard'. He goes on to say: " the change in neck construction somewhat altered the overall sound of the Stratocaster, which had then lost some of its crystal clear and ultra brilliant sound trademark. The early '60's Strats are known indeed for their mellower sound, compared to their 1950's counterparts. It should be mentioned, however that the slight variations in the pickups produced after 1960 tend to magnify the sonic nuances between the 1950's and 1960's models'.

It would be decades before the polyester finshed maple neck Fenders became readily available.

Regards
Bill Bowley
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby cockroach » Fri Nov 20, 2009 4:00 am

Ernie,

As far as I know, the reason why the Shads changed to matching red rosewood fingerboard Fenders is because they were given them to use, in some sort of hire/endorsement deal (?) between their management and the dealer(Jennings?)

When they changed again, to the white Fenders, and then later the Burns guitars, presumably the red ones went back to Jennings..

Although today people make a big issue of such differences in gear, back then nobody knew any different.

The important thing then was that the band got nice new matching guitars which they didn't have to buy directly out of their own pockets....!

Apparently Hank gave the original red neck maple neck job back to Cliff, who owned it, and Bruce sold or gave his Jazzmaster to a chap in the Hunters band, but what happened to Jet's old sunburst Precision bass I don't know...

A lot of people believe that Hank's sound changed when he changed guitars...but as nearly all guitars sound a bit different from each other anyway, maybe he didn't notice much difference at the time.
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Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby Geoff Alderton LH » Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:49 pm

Hi Ernie, The Shads had a period of eleven years with rosewood board guitars and not a maple board in sight. The period March 1961 to Feb 1964 was all rosewood board Strats followed by rosewood board Burns, Feb 1964 to the summer of 1972 when I believe they got stolen. I personaly think that the rosewood Strat period gave us some of the finest examples of "That Sound".
Regards Geoff.
Geoff Alderton LH
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby Paul Creasey » Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:53 pm

Naaaagh!!
It's THE DRUMMERS that make all the difference.........you Guys really ARE barking up the wrong (Rosewood)tree! :lol:
Regards
Paul
P.S. I've already GOT my coat, and am heading north at high speed! :twisted:
Paul Creasey
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby neil2726 » Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:16 pm

So have you tried rosewood sticks paul? ;)
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Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby Paul Creasey » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:29 pm

No, Neil, I haven't!
...........but I HAVE tried Oak, Maple and Hickory (Javanese AND American - no kidding!).
American Hickory wins hands down every time.............but it HAS to be from the perimeter of the forest, preferably on a south-facing slope, kiln dried, and machined using High Speed Steel (rather than Carbon Steel) tools.
SEE..............even Drummers can be as "picky" as Guitarists, sometimes! :P
Regards
Paul
P.S. STILL doesn't make me sound like Tony or Brian, though! :roll:
Paul Creasey
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby Bluesnote » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:54 pm

I've had maple necks and rosewood necks on guitars I've owned before. I much prefer the rosewood for feel. It seems warmer to the touch somehow and the maple feels kinda cold.
I once had a guitar with an ebony fingerboard, it was the nicest neck I''ve ever had by far.
I had two strats with maple, one was an older model,(American) around early seventy I think, it was nice to play, but I got another one in the eighties(Japanese) and it was lousy to play. Never did find out what possessed me to buy it in the first place :geek:
This new Strat(Squier) is rosewood and feels great to play 8-)
Bluesnote
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby ecca » Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:58 am

I got an ebony neck on my Cakeocaster and it's just the best neck I've had.
ecca
 

Re: Rosewood or maple neck Strats...Influential for Shads music?

Postby Geoff Alderton LH » Sat Nov 21, 2009 3:41 pm

STILL doesn't make me sound like Tony or Brian, though!
Hi Paul. Even us guitarists, be it rosewood or maple, dont sound like Hank. We think we do ,in the back room or at the club meet, but we dont. Just like drummer's though, we will keep on trying to get the best sound out of the best gear we can afford and hope one day we get close to sounding like Tony, Brian, Jet, Licorice, John, Bruce or Hank.
Regards Geoff.
Geoff Alderton LH
 

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