Does anyone find tinted maple necks ugly?

[Intune]

when you understand the difference between an aniline dyed finish with nitro over the top compared to a dye-in-the-finish job, the resulting difference when the top coat is worn away becomes immediately obvious.

Ok sure. What does that have to do with a tinted neck being fake or faking something? If referring to a vintage reissue or fake relic, sure.

There’s thousands of ultra modern guitars with tinted urethane necks, what are they trying to fake? I don’t care either way, I buy what I like and not what others think is cool. Just trying to figure out the fakeness of tinted urethane.

 

[Bcorig]

Not I.

 

[heltershelton]

Where's the guitar of yours that has the naturally darkened maple fretboard? He might really like that one.

its on a guitar stand.

 

[Guitarchaeologist]

Quite the contrary, i prefer roasted or yellow tinted necks to the pale ones. I do not care for the look of a really pale neck.

I'm with you. I have a couple 1988 U.S. Vintage necks- tinted and have darkened over the years even more. I am so used to them that I find the 59 AV necks I have (perfect shape BTW) needing sun exposure!

 

[Neil.C]

I do like the lightly tinted necks on my MIM Classic series guitars.

I think the bright yellow/oranges seems to be more prevalent on Squiers in my experience

All maple darkens over time though. When I bought my US Standard new in 1989 the neck was virtually white. Over the years it has darkened to a light tan colour.

 

[AJBaker]

I like a slight tint, but I agree it shouldn't be overdone. I also don't like it when it's too light. I think the colour on my CP50s neck is just perfect.

What I really don't like, however, are artificially dark cream colored knobs and pickup covers on a white pickguard.

 

[Thrup'ny Bit]

I do like the lightly tinted necks on my MIM Classic series guitars.

I think the bright yellow/oranges seems to be more prevalent on Squiers in my experience

All maple darkens over time though. When I bought my US Standard new in 1989 the neck was virtually white. Over the years it has darkened to a light tan colour.

Yep, 40 years will tint a white maple neck nicely. The body finish didn't do so well...

 

[PCollen]

Wondering if its only me that thinks this.

It's only YOU.

 

[stratocarlster]

I was just playing my J Mascis Jazzmaster and admiring the richly tinted maple neck. It goes perfectly with the olympic white body and gold pickguard. Maybe the look goes better with lighter coloured bodies.

 

[Ruscio]

There's such a huge range of maple shades, with natural variation, tinting, roasting, aging, finishes, etc. Sometimes maple looks great on a particular guitar, sometimes awful, IMHO. I don't find any particular shade of maple uniformly attractive or unattractive, it depends on what it's paired with. The neck can either complement or clash with the body, hardware, pickguard, and accessories.

The only maple aesthetic that doesn't work for me under any circumstances is the worn fretboard that just looks dirty. That's not my thing, though others clearly like it!

 

[Agtronic]

I have never liked the look of a pale-white maple neck. And this isn't something that has developed for me with the trends. I remember when my dad bought a brand new Strat in the '90s, the neck and fretboard looked almost white. I always thought it looked too "sterile". I much prefer a tint, from moderate to dark, and more specifically, I like when it is darker in certain spots and lighter in others, such as you would see with natural patina. And oddly enough, I don't like when the entire neck is dark, such as with full rosewood necks or roasted maple*.

Edit: *Looking through Google images, came across a beautiful roasted maple neck. I take what I said back. It is very nice.


Not a huge fan of this sort of pale maple:

Preference leans more towards:

Nice Roasted Maple I just came across:

And finally, I am quite happy with how the maple on my Strat has aged over the last 20 years:

 

[CigBurn]

I like them tinted, from moderately to heavy. Just looks nicer to my eye, which is all I care about.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

...There are nine and sixty ways...

 

[Guithartic]

I thought I preferred the tinted look, but lately I can see the appeal of a nice new pale maple neck and let it age on its own.

 

[fattboyzz]

I digg it either way

 

[Guithartic]

There's such a huge range of maple shades, with natural variation, tinting, roasting, aging, finishes, etc. Sometimes maple looks great on a particular guitar, sometimes awful, IMHO. I don't find any particular shade of maple uniformly attractive or unattractive, it depends on what it's paired with. The neck can either complement or clash with the body, hardware, pickguard, and accessories.

The only maple aesthetic that doesn't work for me under any circumstances is the worn fretboard that just looks dirty. That's not my thing, though others clearly like it!

I’ve seen those worn fretboards where they’re worn down more on the highly used areas, but it always seems like it would negatively affect the playability. I’d like to try one and see.

 

[Guithartic]

Not ugly, but I prefer un-tinted.

Is tinted maple a new thing (Strat wise), or am I just uneducated?

I don’t know if it’s new, but it’s definitely an advertised selling point on some guitars, mostly vintage reissues.

 

[Intune]

Nope, nothing new. Since 1982 vintage reissues came out with tinted necks. Lots and lots of modern guitars also have tinted necks. It’s a look and type of finish. Let’s complain about it.

 

[Davono]

Can't stand the colour on the lacquer on the sires

 

[RL21980]

No. I think they're awesome. I think stark white maple necks look ugly. Pale, sick, in need of chicken soup and a nap.