hows does alder wood sound????

[gianniboy]

hi, i am building a custom axe, soloist shape, how is alder, tone wise...???no maple cap though, its gunna be all one color.

 

[Armotron]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

Alder is always good. Are there any certain pickups are you looking to put in the custom guitar? That might be an easier start, for example if you knew you were going to put in p90s everyone would tell you to go with mahogany.

 

[gianniboy]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

Alder is always good. Are there any certain pickups are you looking to put in the custom guitar? That might be an easier start, for example if you knew you were going to put in p90s everyone would tell you to go with mahogany.

i'm going with the dd/jazz

 

[Armotron]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

Im not too familliar with that combo, alder i THINK should sound good, but ill let people who know tell you exactly

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

i tried the distortion in a alder strat a while back and it was way too thin sounding IMO so i took it out. if your set on the distortion i'd go with a mahogany body personlly.

-Mike

 

[Guitarist]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

Alder is a very light wood. It's very bright and full.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

I think the quality of the wood may have something to do with it (any thoughts, Lew?), but some people find alder to be very bright. I have guitars in alder, ash, maple, and basswood, and I find alder to be medium weight, with good sustain, a slightly dark quality, with lots of nice 'plunk' on the strings. Great for high gain riffing, imo.

 

[some_dude]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/options_bodywoods.cfm

Scroll down and read up.

 

[JeffB]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

I think the quality of the wood may have something to do with it (any thoughts, Lew?), but some people find alder to be very bright. I have guitars in alder, ash, maple, and basswood, and I find alder to be medium weight, with good sustain, a slightly dark quality, with lots of nice 'plunk' on the strings. Great for high gain riffing, imo.

Seconded. Quality/density of wood has alo to do with it.

I find Alder to be about halfway between Mahogany and Ash or Maple for brightness.

For a bolt on neck guitar, it's hard to beat Alder for versatility. I found I've got to to tone down the pups/amp settings with Ash, or Maple, and Mahogany is the opposite...I prefer brighter/more trebly pups in Mahogany. Alder is a nice medium.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

I think the quality of the wood may have something to do with it (any thoughts, Lew?), but some people find alder to be very bright. I have guitars in alder, ash, maple, and basswood, and I find alder to be medium weight, with good sustain, a slightly dark quality, with lots of nice 'plunk' on the strings. Great for high gain riffing, imo.

I agree that it totally depends on the piece of alder, but also on the neck and fingerboard material.

Some alder is heavier than swamp ash and has a brighter tone...some alder is lighter than swamp ash and has a warmer tone. My experience is that most alder is slightly heavier than the light weight swamp ash we all love and look for, and that most alder is a little brighter than swamp ash.

For example, when I did the Ultimate Tele Tone thread I tried the same set of Antiquity I Tele pickups in two of my Teles, both with a one piece maple neck/fingerboard and vintage bridge with 3 brass saddles.

The Antiquitys sounded brighter in my alder Tele...and that particular Tele is not heavy, but it is heavier than either of my light weight swamp ash Teles.

Lew

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

no maple cap though, its gunna be all one color.

I believe that's spelled gonna not gunna. :smack: :laugh2:

 

[MattPete]

Re: hows does alder wood sound????

Doc Barlo has a nice comparison somewhere on these boards.

My impression is that alder is a nicely balanced wood. Brighter yet fuller than swamp ash. Not as full as mahogany, but probably better balanced overall.