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.
