If I like Swamp Ash...

[Robert Delahunt]

I was wondering, if I like Swamp Ash's sound a lot, and basswood not as much (but I don't hate it), is there a wood I would really like?

For example, I was saying I like speed ball paint ball, and a friend told me that if I loved that, I'd really love woods ball (which I did).

So if I like Swamp Ash, I'd really like _____ (fill in the blank)

Thanks! I appreciate all the help you guys have been on here!

Yes this is one of those wood connoisseur questions

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

Perhaps Korina?

It's got the treble and bottom end attack more like the traditional woods such as ash, but also has the fat midrange between basswood and mahogony.

 

[FretFire]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

IMO Korina (or Limba) is very similar to mahogany, just more complex and airy. Sort of like a super-mahogany if you will.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

.......Which leads us to alder, very close to ash, but with more mids.

 

[pstarove]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I find alder and swamp ash VERY different. Swamp ash has huge bottom end, scooped mids and sparkling highs. Alder has a very balanced sound from bass to treble with slightly less treble than bass and mids (those two are about equal). If you want numbers, then swamp ash is 7B-3M-8T and alder is 6B-6M-5T. I'm talking about MY guitars here, one is a Steinberger GSX with a graphite neck and a swamp ash body and the other is a Shamray custom shop guitar with an alder body and a maple neck/rw board.

I would say, there is nothing totally like swamp ash, but you might probably like maple (it is said to have less bass and more mids) and agathis (it is said to be a cross between mahogany and northern ash).
Also check out this page:
http://www.espguitars.ru/html/wood.html

it is in russian, but it has tone curves: the first number is treble, then middle and bass. as you may see, their numbers are a bit different from mine, but wood varies a bit and neck and fingerboard woods also mean a lot.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I appreciate all the responses! I think I "get it" now. Thanks!

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I'm not in total agreement with ESP's ratings. If we go by their numbers, alder has more mids than basswood, and virtually as much as mahogany. Not by my expeiance.......

 

[FretFire]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I'm not in total agreement with ESP's ratings. If we go by their numbers, alder has more mids than basswood, and virtually as much as mahogany. Not by my expeiance.......

I find rating tonal qualities pretty hard to do most of the time, and it often comes down to personal opinion. How do you know if one wood type has more mids than another and doesn't just have a similar frequency response in that range but with softer lows/highs, when compared to another species? Sometimes it helps to listen for the relationships between the boundaries of low/mid/high to get a feel for a piece of wood.

So like you're saying, you don't hear the same amount of mids in alder as the other types of wood mentioned as your ear picks up more treble, etc. But when actually measured it may have a very similar frequency response as the other woods, but different values in the other areas.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

There's probably nothing like swamp ash.

Some claim that hollow hard ash reminds swamp ash... don't have enough experience with thinlines to know for sure. Solid bodies made out of hard ash sound good, but not quite like swamp ash. They produce some great mids, they are vocal even when you try them unplugged.

I think that you need to specify more about what you like about swamp ash and then you'll get better answers...

 

[shogunlegend]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

i built a swamp ash superstrat and it sounds unbelievable. it has a real rich sound that's deep and vibrant. i love it.

 

[BTMN]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

Big solid one piece Mahogany, Honduran in paticular and Korina fan here. I like when you knock on the wood it has a little ping to it rather than a thunk. Guitar might be a stringed instrument but it has percussive charateristics too. Good wood produces good percussive overtones. Yes, you strike the strings not the wood, but they vibrate the wood. Ahh, wood density. I love old guitars so much because of the way the wood has breathed and dried out. OK, I rambled enough. Search on my friend. :13:

 

[Ayrton]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

While I have never tried myself, I know those who liked swamp ash, and then loved maple.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

While I have never tried myself, I know those who liked swamp ash, and then loved maple.

I hated maple and loved swamp ash lol

 

[jeremy]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I hated maple and loved swamp ash lol

me too!

 

[pstarove]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I hate my swamp ash Steinberger 8) but I don't know if I like maple because I have never played one.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: If I like Swamp Ash...

I hated maple and loved swamp ash lol

:laughing: Well there you go...