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Thread: Ash or Alder?

  1. #1
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    Ash or Alder?

    I like both . what's your flavor.

  2. #2
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    I have both and like both.....:60burst

  3. #3
    Forum Member sunburst's Avatar
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    I have both, and like both. But, I prefer see through SUNBURST so I usually go ash because I really like the awesome grain of ash.

  4. #4
    Forum Member gitardude's Avatar
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    I preferr Ash

  5. #5
    Forum Member Electron's Avatar
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    I prefer ash, for the wood grain, although I've seen some interesting alder grain occasionally.

  6. #6
    Forum Member Tonefiend's Avatar
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    Ash for the look weight and tone.
    Great Alder is almost non existant these days.

  7. #7
    Forum Member SteveB334's Avatar
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    alder for strats ash for tele's IMHO

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    Originally posted by Tonefiend
    Ash for the look weight and tone.
    Great Alder is almost non existant these days.
    You can't beat old growth wood from back in the days of yore. It must be very hard selecting wood on a production basis for you guys. I want one of those Tele Customs with the Ash body , maple neck and two tone burst. Cool stuff.

  9. #9
    Forum Member tom3k's Avatar
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    While they all have their merits, I generally prefer the lighter weight and warmer tone of alder. I prefer my strat-style guitars in solid colors anyway so interesting grain isn't an issue.
    Last edited by tom3k; 07-27-2002 at 04:14 AM.
    5E3 Deluxe, '74 hardtail, Strat XII, many copies.

  10. #10
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    I like them both, ash seems a little snappier sounding, alder is a little smoother sounding to me.

  11. #11
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    Depends

    Ash for Teles, Alder for Strats.

  12. #12
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    It really depends what your ears are used to, Alder usual;y has a limited tonal range mostly mid and treble rarley great bass. Light Ash usually has a full tonal range bass and treble,depending on how light.

  13. #13
    Forum Member Guildx700~'s Avatar
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    IMO a lot depends on the pups in each one, so it's a moot question. FWIW I prefer both over poplar though.

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    "Ain't nuthin' like a nice piece of Ash"

    :sean Yeah, Bay-bee!

    More seriously, Natural Swamp Ash...be it on a Strat or a Tele...is a thing of rare beauty, IMO. :2c

  15. #15
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    Originally posted by Scott Lentz
    Light Ash usually has a full tonal range bass and treble,depending on how light.
    So that is why this '54 Strat I have sitting here sounds so good.

    It is a very light guitar and has good lows and really nice highs. The body is the only original '54 part, the rest is aftermarket. It is a killer guitar.

    Before playing this guitar I always liked alder better, mostly because ash seemed so heavy.

    So Scott, do you think the finish affects the sound as well? I think the lighter the finish the more resonant the wood seems to be.

    Tim C. :)

  16. #16
    Forum Member Black Bear's Avatar
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    I really dig ash...
    Jason
    The Bear Guy

  17. #17
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    Ash for strats, actually, make that lightweight ash. Very nice! Alder is good too, but ash, ahh ash. :)

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    Both of my ash Stratocasters are very light guitars. :60burst

  19. #19
    Forum Member Riscchip's Avatar
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    Most of my strats are alder, but I'l take either one.
    --Carson

    http://www.riscchip.com

  20. #20
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    You really have to play each one. But that said, I generally prefer Swamp Ash because it seems that the receeding water from the wood leaves all those tiny pores that act like tone cavities.

  21. #21
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    I prefer ash because it has a wider tonal spectrum. If the higher highs are too much roll back your tone knob a bit.

    Ash genreally looks more interesting too!

  22. #22
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    About the finish ,I use a very thin finish for everything I finish. I think if a marginal sounding guitar has a thick finish and you like a thin finish it matters! Now your 54 Strat I bet that guitar burns down the house! Some guitars are great inspit of the pup choices, you just can't stop them. Others it doesn't matter what you use the wood just doesn't have it. Also I find the neck contributes greatly to the over all sound.

  23. #23
    Forum Member Tonebender's Avatar
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    Right on Scott.............A dead piece of wood just can't be saved

  24. #24
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    Originally posted by Tonebender
    Right on Scott.............A dead piece of wood just can't be saved
    I had a butterscotch '52 RI Tele and that thing was dead, like they just put a finish on green wood. Heavy and lifeless, but looked great!

    How do you know what kind of wood is in an off the shelf Strat?

    Ken

  25. #25
    Forum Member Electron's Avatar
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    Just yesterday, I received the light weight (3lb 3oz) 2-pc swamp ash body I ordered from Warmoth 7 weeks ago. It assembled easy, looks better than I'd hoped and sounds great! Fuller than the original body. I'm lovin' it!

    http://akaelectron.tripod.com/c08.html

  26. #26
    Forum Member Troy T. Blues's Avatar
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    Electron, cool.............That guitar looks wonderful bro! Congrats!

    I love ash! I have a 1979 Strat that is HEAVY ash with blunt contours, etc (70's imperfections) I have modded it with a compound radius neck, graphite nut, HUGE frets, pop in/pop out whammy bar (instead of screwing), RWRP middle pup and let me say, this guitar sounds and plays wonderful!

    I wish I had a pic of a Strat that I recently say on Ebay. It was a MIJ '54 RI, S/B ash body. The grain was so incredible, gave me a MAJOR GAS attack!

    I love both alder & ash, but if I had to make a choice, I would pick ash.

  27. #27
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    i've gotta say... i like both... although i don't like heavy ash.

    ash is a bit more snappy and i love the looks of ash with the see-thru white (mary kaye) finish.

    i also love the darker tones of alder. i currently have a real light alder bodied sea foam green 60's relic and it's a killer gee-tar.

  28. #28
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    I only have experience with Alder, and I love it! I did demo a Ash American Series Strat recently and thought it sounded too ice-picky.

  29. #29
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    what would a '73 black finish Strat's body be made of? I understood they used ash for sunburst/natural finishes and alder for solid colors. Is that correct?

    whatever it is, I like it!

  30. #30
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    Then there's the special Hendrix Monterrey body; alder before the gig, ash afterwards....

  31. #31
    Forum Member Black Bear's Avatar
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    Originally posted by badtone
    Then there's the special Hendrix Monterrey body; alder before the gig, ash afterwards....
    :lol2
    Jason
    The Bear Guy

  32. #32
    Forum Member Aaron Maxon's Avatar
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    Well, I perfer ash if the color is transparent, but if opaque it doen't really matter.
    Aaron
    Alias: Fat Dog Lee
    Play it like ya mean it.
    http://www.groups.msn.com/aaronsclub

  33. #33
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    Guildx700~
    Regarding your preference of the other two, do you not like poplar because of the tonal properties or for some other reason........

    I'm asking because I have a jones on for a Jimmy V Strat, which only comes as poplar....

    I'm in the sticks, and have not played one, but I foresee a trip in the next few days to a much larger town, so I can check out how it feels....then I'll probably order online......

    I love my alder strat, and I love my ridiculously heavy tele...so either way on those two is fine by me.....I know nothing about poplar.........gibs

  34. #34
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    gibs: I've heard that now or soon the MIM Strats--including th JV--will be made with alder bodies.

    I've got a swamp ash Tele with a maple board that gets all sorts of tones; it's certainly not overly bright, and it'll get dark without being muddy. I've been planning on building a 60's style Strat and I had figured I'd use alder, but now I'm thinking of going with swamp ash as it seems that lighter pieces than alder are availble. I think that a rosewood board will warm the tone of a swamp ash body.

  35. #35
    Forum Member gibs's Avatar
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    Thanks CCK......I'll try to find out if they're available now with the alder...that most likely would cinch the deal, if I find I like playing whatever JV I can find this week.....gibs

  36. #36
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    Ash Alder or Balsa, if You use standard Fender pickups it wont matter what kinda wood Your strat has. Dont agree ? I didnt either until I added some Chris Kinman AVN-62's in one of my strats, and some Fralins in My other... Made both my strats into an altogether different guitar, and better sounding toneful monster. I went for years thinking that the amp made the difference. Or that some had better wood than others, and You were just lucky to get that special one.... While most of this is possible, the fact is Fender uses poor quality sounding pups in strats, IMO... Just get a set of Kinman blues specials installed, and then tell Me Im wrong !

  37. #37
    I havent found much consistency with either alder or ash. But ash even though it looks cool, has presented more problems with the highs being too brittle. Ive had alder strats that were rather non-tonal to where even Fralins didnt help. But overall, out of nine strats that Ive had I'd say alder is my choice for the bridge pickup and ash is my choice for the neck pickup.

    By the way, has anyone heard of Fender or some other manufacturer considering changing from wood to a synthetic material?
    Last edited by BluejazzMalmsteen; 08-02-2002 at 09:42 PM.

  38. #38
    Forum Member bjm007's Avatar
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    Originally posted by CCK
    gibs: I've heard that now or soon the MIM Strats--including th JV--will be made with alder bodies.

    That is already the case for the MIM "Classic" series...
    Last edited by bjm007; 08-03-2002 at 12:34 AM.
    Don't you know that it's a fool that plays it cool...

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