heritagefan7 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Having listened to several 535s & owned a 555---It seems to me that the 555 is a brighter guitar. I'm sure that this has been discussed before (apologies if it's a dead horse)---and I'm light years from having the quals of the so many of the folks around here...but is it just me or is there a discernable tonal difference b/w these 2? (the ebony board give the triple nickle more snap maybe?) Just my 44 yr old drummer in bands that played too loud ears on this...so who knows, I might just be looney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonar Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 It's the Advanced Jumbo position markers on the 555 that does it. I'm kidding. I really don't know. Ebony can add brightness though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAM Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Interesting... Cheers! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bob Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Some 555 have maple necks, some mahogany. I would imagine this would make them sound different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Pickups will make the most discernable difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tone woods should be the only difference. Of course that is taking in consideration all other things being equal such as pickups, pots, and caps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steiner Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tone woods should be the only difference. Of course that is taking in consideration all other things being equal such as pickups, pots, and caps... +1 and amp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tone woods should be the only difference. Of course that is taking in consideration all other things being equal such as pickups, pots, and caps... Don't think you would detect that with the human ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I previously owned a 555 with maple neck & ebony and it was MUCH brighter & snappier than other 535s I had played with a mahogany neck & rosewood fretboard. Because of this bright, snappiness (of which I didn't care for), I ordered a Custom 555 with all the bling of a 555 but with a mahogany neck & rosewood fretboard for warmth (ala Larry Carlton & Lee Ritenoir's 335s). Ren said they stopped using maple necks & ebony fretboards as standard features on the 555 because they had so many requests for a more 335 (535) sounding 555 guitar. I can definitely hear the difference in the quicker, snappier sounding maple/ebony 555 vs the newer mahogany/rosewood 555 (535) models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyGrass Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Maple has an effect on brightness. I owned a maple LP. It was quite bright- no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthpawGuy Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I have two non Heritage guitars with maple neck and ebony board, a Jackson Soloist and Ibanez Artist, and both do indeed sound brighter than expected with plenty of bite. The Jackson in particular has a Duncan JB in the bridge which I'm familiar in several other guitars, and it sounds a lot more vocal and biting in the Soloist. On the other hand my Heritage VIP has a two piece solid maple body with a mahogany neck and rosewood board / HRWs and it doesn't sound as bright as I expected a maple bodied guitar to be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heritagefan7 Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 my 555 also had schallers...schallers can get quite bright IMO esp compared to pups like Seth Lovers...again IMO. My new (new to me) Comins semi can get bright (Kent Armstrong pups) but it can also warm up w/ the best of them. I was surprised at this, esp considering it's 1 5/8 rim depth....BUT it's a mahogony body (lam maple top) and a rosewood board.....Hmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 the neck wood makes a huge difference, I think a big percentage of the tone comes from the neck! I've said this before, I used to swap tele necks around and the tone would follow the neck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soybean Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 the neck wood makes a huge difference, I think a big percentage of the tone comes from the neck! +one. The maple makes a bigger difference than even the ebony, which does have a small effect on the tone as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Flying Bird Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 the neck wood makes a huge difference, I think a big percentage of the tone comes from the neck! I've said this before, I used to swap tele necks around and the tone would follow the neck! +one. The maple makes a bigger difference than even the ebony, which does have a small effect on the tone as well. I agree with this. I also can hear a difference between ebony and Rosewood fingerboards unplugged. This is why I love my ebony boards so much. I wouldn't want them any brighter but just the way they are. Forget a maple neck on my electric guitars. Just a touch of ebony for a little attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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