Maple Caps vs. Solid Mahogany: Tonal Differences?

[synthetic88]

A thousand pardons, I meant Special.

 

[jb_abides]

A thousand pardons, I meant Special.

No worries!

The question was really focused on how a carved top maple cap over a mahogany back sounds versus a solid carved top as found on the 50s Customs. So was expecting a Custom somewhere in the video... Cool P-90s though.

 

[ZigM]

I know the original intent of the maple cap was to brighten the tone a bit, from the darker sounding Mahogany. Many agree this does occur. Some differ, I think Big Al represents those who feel there is little or no real difference (chime in Big Al if I've mis-stated your position). I'm curious what others have to say. I guess the test guitars would be 50's GoldTops vs. Customs (or the modern versions).

I worked in the music industry for 25 years, including for a Gibson importer and in manufacturing. I sold a lot of Fender, Ibanez but less Gibsons (must have been the high price). I'd be wealthy if I got a dollar for every time that my boss told an unwitting customer that the Les Paul's Honduran body with maple cap means glorious balanced sound. I usually own three of the same guitars. The three Fender Stratocasters that I currently own all sound different. The overall sound is still Fender-ish but there are unique and minor differences in certain frequencies and how they fade, including overall brightness. My Ibanez RG550's sounded extremely different with the lightest guitar sounding Fender-ish (with a lot of treble) while the other guitar, which was really heavy, sounded fat, meaty and with enhanced mid-range - more like a Les Paul. Neither Fender nor Ibanez guitars mixed different woods for their guitar bodies. Fender uses alder and Ibanez used basswood. So, while a thin, carved piece of maple might alter the sound a very, very tiny bit, overall it does not. I am looking at three Les Pauls right now. All three have solid African mahogany bodies with poplar caps. They have the same hardware but sound completely different. The lightest one has a chambered body and it vaguely responds like a 335. The next lightest one (3.25 kg) is bright and toppy. The heaviest guitar (4.25 kg) has a chunky, honky, Les Paul-ish sound. So, in my experience, the weight and density of the wood PLUS the pickups, hardware and the strings, make the sound of the guitar. The maple cap itself is almost inconsequential.

 

[David Currie]

I worked in the music industry for 25 years, including for a Gibson importer and in manufacturing. I sold a lot of Fender, Ibanez but less Gibsons (must have been the high price). I'd be wealthy if I got a dollar for every time that my boss told an unwitting customer that the Les Paul's Honduran body with maple cap means glorious balanced sound. I usually own three of the same guitars. The three Fender Stratocasters that I currently own all sound different. The overall sound is still Fender-ish but there are unique and minor differences in certain frequencies and how they fade, including overall brightness. My Ibanez RG550's sounded extremely different with the lightest guitar sounding Fender-ish (with a lot of treble) while the other guitar, which was really heavy, sounded fat, meaty and with enhanced mid-range - more like a Les Paul. Neither Fender nor Ibanez guitars mixed different woods for their guitar bodies. Fender uses alder and Ibanez used basswood. So, while a thin, carved piece of maple might alter the sound a very, very tiny bit, overall it does not. I am looking at three Les Pauls right now. All three have solid African mahogany bodies with poplar caps. They have the same hardware but sound completely different. The lightest one has a chambered body and it vaguely responds like a 335. The next lightest one (3.25 kg) is bright and toppy. The heaviest guitar (4.25 kg) has a chunky, honky, Les Paul-ish sound. So, in my experience, the weight and density of the wood PLUS the pickups, hardware and the strings, make the sound of the guitar. The maple cap itself is almost inconsequential.

Interesting observations, although I don't agree the maple cap is inconsequential - perhaps it's overrated? I have four Les Paul Custom Epiphone guitars - two with a maple cap, two with all mahogany bodies, and there is more to their tone than just the mahogany vs maple cap tops, but the harder maple cap does effect the initial attack along with extending the sustain and bloom slightly (to my ears anyways). Not sure which I prefer, and I like both. I have four different versions of the Les Paul Custom from Epiphone: 1955 reissue with mahogany body (my birthy), 2024 Custom with maple cap and humbuckers, 2024 Custom special edition with P90 pickups and maple cap, and soon a 1955 Tak Matsumato with P90s maple cap and wraparound bridge. I much prefer light weight Les Paul models, which also usually sound better to me. All my Les Paul Epiphone guitars are just over 8 pounds, and my '59 reissue is 7.7lbs. The weight is more important to me than mahogany vs maple cap tops.