Ash or Alder?

**qtipburst** · 07-26-2002, 04:49 PM

I like both . what's your flavor.

**60burst** · 07-26-2002, 04:50 PM

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

**sunburst** · 07-26-2002, 05:44 PM

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.

**gitardude** · 07-26-2002, 05:48 PM

I preferr Ash

**Electron** · 07-26-2002, 06:16 PM

I prefer ash, for the wood grain, although I've seen some interesting alder grain occasionally.

**Tonefiend** · 07-26-2002, 06:26 PM

Ash for the look weight and tone.
Great Alder is almost non existant these days.

**SteveB334** · 07-26-2002, 08:03 PM

alder for strats ash for tele's IMHO

**qtipburst** · 07-26-2002, 08:52 PM

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.

**tom3k** · 07-27-2002, 04:13 AM

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.

**Dave Paetow** · 07-27-2002, 05:39 AM

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

**ElTigre** · 07-27-2002, 05:45 AM

Ash for Teles, Alder for Strats.

**Scott Lentz** · 07-27-2002, 08:23 AM

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.

**Guildx700~** · 07-27-2002, 08:47 AM

IMO a lot depends on the pups in each one, so it's a moot question. FWIW I prefer both over poplar though.

**Preztone** · 07-27-2002, 09:42 AM

: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

**Tim C.** · 07-27-2002, 09:56 AM

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. :)

**Black Bear** · 07-27-2002, 10:04 AM

I really dig ash...

**burst_king** · 07-27-2002, 10:07 AM

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

**60burst** · 07-27-2002, 10:09 AM

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

**Riscchip** · 07-27-2002, 10:14 AM

Most of my strats are alder, but I'l take either one.

**nickcha** · 07-28-2002, 11:19 AM

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.

**GeetarGoul** · 07-29-2002, 10:29 AM

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!

**Scott Lentz** · 07-29-2002, 10:49 AM

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.

**Tonebender** · 07-29-2002, 11:51 AM

Right on Scott.............A dead piece of wood just can't be saved

**stratton** · 07-30-2002, 04:35 PM

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

**Electron** · 07-30-2002, 04:48 PM

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

**Troy T. Blues** · 07-31-2002, 06:37 AM

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.

**moozak** · 07-31-2002, 07:28 AM

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.

**Stanze** · 08-02-2002, 10:56 AM

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.

**jmp2204** · 08-02-2002, 11:17 AM

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!

**badtone** · 08-02-2002, 11:29 AM

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

**Black Bear** · 08-02-2002, 12:11 PM

Originally posted by badtone
Then there's the special Hendrix Monterrey body; alder before the gig, ash afterwards....

:lol2

**Aaron Maxon** · 08-02-2002, 12:26 PM

Well, I perfer ash if the color is transparent, but if opaque it doen't really matter.

**gibs** · 08-02-2002, 02:06 PM

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

**CCK** · 08-02-2002, 06:01 PM

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.

**gibs** · 08-02-2002, 06:13 PM

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

**spikey** · 08-02-2002, 09:26 PM

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 !

**BluejazzMalmsteen** · 08-02-2002, 09:41 PM

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?

**bjm007** · 08-03-2002, 12:33 AM

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...

Thread: Ash or Alder?

Thread Tools

Ash or Alder?

Depends

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

Posting Permissions