Maple is widely used in many instruments for a reason. It's strong, generally straight grained (unless it's curly maple or something), and has a solid, distinct tone. Whether you like that tone or not doesn't matter.
I'm not an expert on dead spots but I think I would blame them on poor neck joints, or even the headstock in general. I've heard alot of experienced luthiers say the headstock has detrimental effect on tone, in general. I forget the reason and all the logic behind it though.