alder vs. swamp-ash

[mig50]

i'm planning on buying a jazzmaster body from warmoth in a couple months, but i can't decide if i want swamp ash or alder.

i'm leaning toward swamp ash simply because it has nicer grain and i'm planning to do a transluscent finish.

however, i'd like to hear some pros and cons of both woods before i make my final decision.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: alder vs. swamp-ash

Tone differences aside, if you're planning on doing the finishing yourself, alder is about 100 times easier to work with than swamp ash, as you don't need to use grain filler. However, translucent finish over dark brown grain-filled swamp ash looks awesome. Grain filler isn't hard to use, just really messy and tedious.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: alder vs. swamp-ash

Ash.....Swamp ash anyway....Lightweight,snappy,percussive,clean,articulate tone,grainey wood,and can be brighter sounding......

Northern Ash...Heavier(Normally)....Not like Swamp Ash...

Alder....Warmer,slightly darker in tone,a bit heavier in weight,nice overall balance between the highs and lows...The alder body on my American Deluxe Strat reminds me of ash though,in that it's brighter,snappy and percussive sounding,so naturally it depends on the given plank of wood...

 

[mig50]

Re: alder vs. swamp-ash

i have a few alder-bodied guitars, and there's definitely a lot of variation between them. one is the most beautifully resonant solidbody i've ever played, while the others are nothing special.

one of my friends has a warmoth made swamp ash jazzmaster, and it sounds amazing.

as for the finishing - i will be doing it on my own, so alder would be a lot easier. hmm..

so right now i'm completely stuck.

tonally, i could go either way (depending on the chunk of wood), and as far as the finish goes, i'd love swamp ash for the grain, but it will mean a lot of extra work. hmmm....

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: alder vs. swamp-ash

I should complete a swamp ash strat project with in the next few days.

As far as finishing goes, I'm going trans blue. It looks darn good! It hasn't really been that bad, but the dark grain borders seem to be hard to fill smooth regardless, of grain fillers and sanding sealers. I've decided that it doesn't need to be as smooth as glass everywhere, if it that means putting a thick finish on it, and I'm going to keep the nitro finish rather thin.