The pros & cons of alder?

[Masta' C]

OMG...stop

 

[Mincer]

Plywood is not quite the same as 5 random pieces of wood glued together any which way and then sawed into a shape. Plywood is thin layers of wood and glue. Like pancakes. And it is heavy, and sounds pretty bad.

 

[hamerfan]

I like this vid about 9 tone woods in a identical strat. Most audible differences on the bridge pickup.

I liked Obeche most

 

[Chistopher]

I appreciate the idea, but that's 9 different guitars. They could all be made from the same wood and still different.

 

[Clint 55]

OMG...stop

No good?

 

[idsnowdog]

I appreciate the idea, but that's 9 different guitars. They could all be made from the same wood and still different.

Yes but all of them have the same poor intonation.

 

[The Guitar]

When I was looking at body blanks, I went with alder over ash. Main reason is ash needs to be filled in before painting/finishing since it's porous. I don't want to mess with that, so I snagged a piece of alder.

 

[Masta' C]

I like this vid about 9 tone woods in a identical strat. Most audible differences on the bridge pickup.

I liked Obeche most

But they aren't "identical" at all...they're 9 different guitars!

Have you ever played two identical models of a guitar and noticed differences in how they sound and respond? Of course! And that's with guitars made from the same materials.

What that comparison is missing is an appropriate "sample size" for each wood type. With just one "subject" for each wood "type", you're left making assumptions based on "anecdotal" evidence, which is the weakest form of "evidence" and really shouldn't be termed that at all.

It's a statistical error to assume that the differences you are hearing in that video come down to wood "type" based on just one single sample from each group. It's pseudo-science, but most people don't know any better.

More useful would be a 9-guitar shootout using the same "type" of wood each time, but we know that would highlight how much variance exists within an individual species and work counter to the marketing hype of "tone woods", so it'll never happen...

 

[zionstrat]

I think others have mentioned, although alder is very balanced and gorgeous tone, it's not terribly pretty and needs to be painted, so it costs less.. My best strat is alder.

And it's some have already mentioned, there are plenty of rules to be broken. My Parker nightfly is maple, it's a wee bit bright but a JB works great in it and it's not ridiculously heavy.

From my perspective, wood does have a significant impact on tone, however pickups have the most impact and the variations in any slab of wood can really mix up the final tone.

 

[Securb]

Poplar is pretty rough. I wasn't able to use it at all.

My Schecter is mahogany with a poplar top, it sounds amazing. Like I said a couple of pages ago I thinking the wood grade is more important than the species.