Having played my maple SJ for a bit now I've come to some observations and opinions about this guitar.
First let me post this description of maple pulled off the Luthiers Merchantile site "Maple is well known for imparting bright tone to an instrument, with excellent separation (a guitar with good separation allows each note of a chord to ring independently as opposed to sounding thick or clustered). It has long been a popular choice on the Gibson Jumbo series because the bright tone helps balance out the boomyness of guitars that have a large body."
This is a pretty good description of what's going on with my Collings SJ, especially as it is a copy of a Gibson J-185. One notices the separation immediately, which I like. However, it also makes this guitar more unforgiving than either my rosewood or mahogany. Part of it is the responsiveness of the Collings over the other guitars, and part the tonewood.
It will not let me get away with as much as I can with my other guitars. What you don't hear on a barred chord halfway or more up the neck on the BR163 is painfully obvious on the SJ. Hammer on's and especially pull offs and slides have to be executed much more precisely; vibrato needs to be more subtle, etc. Without the overtones of a rosewood and a heavier bass to transition between notes, each move is more direct, more noticeable. When done correctly it does sound special, you can coax every bit of color, volume, and sustain you want; but IMO, it requires better technique.
So...... this guitar will either force me to become a better player
,
simply because of it's construction and tonewood; or magnify my shortcomings forever more 
.
The journey begins!
First let me post this description of maple pulled off the Luthiers Merchantile site "Maple is well known for imparting bright tone to an instrument, with excellent separation (a guitar with good separation allows each note of a chord to ring independently as opposed to sounding thick or clustered). It has long been a popular choice on the Gibson Jumbo series because the bright tone helps balance out the boomyness of guitars that have a large body."
This is a pretty good description of what's going on with my Collings SJ, especially as it is a copy of a Gibson J-185. One notices the separation immediately, which I like. However, it also makes this guitar more unforgiving than either my rosewood or mahogany. Part of it is the responsiveness of the Collings over the other guitars, and part the tonewood.
It will not let me get away with as much as I can with my other guitars. What you don't hear on a barred chord halfway or more up the neck on the BR163 is painfully obvious on the SJ. Hammer on's and especially pull offs and slides have to be executed much more precisely; vibrato needs to be more subtle, etc. Without the overtones of a rosewood and a heavier bass to transition between notes, each move is more direct, more noticeable. When done correctly it does sound special, you can coax every bit of color, volume, and sustain you want; but IMO, it requires better technique.
So...... this guitar will either force me to become a better player
,
simply because of it's construction and tonewood; or magnify my shortcomings forever more .
The journey begins!
