Ash or Alder body wood?

[PearlyHellhound]

I am not buying anything new as far as guitar, but I would like to know the pros and cons of ash and alder. As far as hard rock/metal tones. Bottom line is Ash body worth the extra cash. I know tone is subjective. I personally love alder body guitars. Have at least 3, but I am curious about swamp ash body guitars.

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

have you checked the warmoth site? loads of info on body woods here

[MetalManiac]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

Best thing to do would be to joining the Telecaster forum TDPRI, and ask this question there. They love discussing this.

[John_L]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

Ash is sharper and promotes the high harmonics, Alder is darker and promoted mid harmonics. However wood is a natural product and some bits of ash sound more like alder and vice versa.

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

warmoth site, but it's a preference thing for the most part.

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

yeah

just like almost every other vague comparison thread you've started

not only is the information available already if you search for it, but it largely comes down to opinion and personal preference, so even if you do what most people on the forum tell you to do, your opinion could be completely different.

you really need to go to some guitar shops and play lots of different guitars and figure out what you like

there's no such thing as "good, better, best" or "worst" in the guitar world. They're tools we use to make art. There are no good, better, or best paint brushes but there are artists who use more fine-tipped brushes than broad-tipped and vice versa. That's why when i buy a new guitar or new gear I try to make sure it fills a void in my current line-up.

For example, I know that I like maple-neck, alder-body Strats. I know there are different tones between hardtail and trem-equipped Strats so i have one of each. The one with trem has single coils, the hardtail has humbuckers. I recently had a chance to purchase my friend's Telecaster, which I only did because it has an ash body and Duncan Tele pickups -- similar to my other guitars but very different in lots of ways, with its own unique character, so it has a place here.

Anyway enough of that rant -- from what I've noticed, ash seems to add just a bit of twang and sizzle that isn't as prevalent on alder. Alder has a bit more complexity in the midrange though. I think for modern tone and chug-chug riffs I prefer my hardtail alder strat...but i much prefer my Les Paul or SG.

I'm totally crazy about the gnarly sizzly twang my new Tele spits out tho. It's not as growly on the power chords but leads jump out of that bridge pickup....

...and that's kind of why you can't just start threads like "Which one is the best." Cuz they're most of them are damn good, and it comes down to the player instead of the guitar anyway.

[KeeperOS]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

Pretty much everything said here is spot on.
Just wanted to add that a pickup can make or break a guitar wood-wise.

For instance, a JB is too flabby for many in an Alder Strat (wouldn't know personally, I have it in a Mahogany with a Maple top one and it rips) whereas in an Ash body it would probably tighten up considerably.

On the other hand, a trebly pickup would rather go in an Alder or even mahogany body instead of an Ash one.

One last tidbit of info, I personally believe that an Ash body is a natural for an All-maple neck. A rosewood fingerboard, in my experience, adds too much sizzle. And I should know, I have one...

[PearlyHellhound]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

yeah

just like almost every other vague comparison thread you've started

not only is the information available already if you search for it, but it largely comes down to opinion and personal preference, so even if you do what most people on the forum tell you to do, your opinion could be completely different.

you really need to go to some guitar shops and play lots of different guitars and figure out what you like

there's no such thing as "good, better, best" or "worst" in the guitar world. They're tools we use to make art. There are no good, better, or best paint brushes but there are artists who use more fine-tipped brushes than broad-tipped and vice versa. That's why when i buy a new guitar or new gear I try to make sure it fills a void in my current line-up.

For example, I know that I like maple-neck, alder-body Strats. I know there are different tones between hardtail and trem-equipped Strats so i have one of each. The one with trem has single coils, the hardtail has humbuckers. I recently had a chance to purchase my friend's Telecaster, which I only did because it has an ash body and Duncan Tele pickups -- similar to my other guitars but very different in lots of ways, with its own unique character, so it has a place here.

Anyway enough of that rant -- from what I've noticed, ash seems to add just a bit of twang and sizzle that isn't as prevalent on alder. Alder has a bit more complexity in the midrange though. I think for modern tone and chug-chug riffs I prefer my hardtail alder strat...but i much prefer my Les Paul or SG.

I'm totally crazy about the gnarly sizzly twang my new Tele spits out tho. It's not as growly on the power chords but leads jump out of that bridge pickup....

...and that's kind of why you can't just start threads like "Which one is the best." Cuz they're most of them are damn good, and it comes down to the player instead of the guitar anyway.

Annoying. But very true. I rather get info I want and need from people who have alot of experience. I prefer alder body/maple neck, I have 3 strats and love them with high gain amps. But I get curious.

[tone?]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

http://online-discussion.com/Suhr/viewtopic.php?t=5468

About the best comparison on these woods as you could ever dream of

[uOpt]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

There is too much variance, in particular in Ash, to answer this question.

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

^ that too. you can find an unusually bright and twangy piece of alder and an unusually dark and boomy piece of ash.

don't stress the details so much, is what i'm getting at.

[JeffB]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

Best thing to do would be to joining the Telecaster forum TDPRI, and ask this question there. They love discussing this.

[PearlyHellhound]

Re: Ash or Alder body wood?

Alrighty. Thank you for your answers.