I am going to build a custom strat sometime and I had a few questions about types of wood that would effect the guitars tone. I wondered what a strat would sound like with a maple body with a SSS configuration. Other types of wood I was thinking of are walnut, ash, and mahogony. Thanks
Which type of wood???
- Thread starter bjeans79
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Voxman
New member
Re: Which type of wood???
I think maple will be way too bright. If you wan`t some bright tones/presence
you should go for hard ash. The most common woods for a strat is Alder,Swamp ash and sometimes basswood(alder like).
If you want those single coils to sound fenderish i recommend Alder or swamp ash, Mahogany and walnut belongs to the darker side of the tonal spectrum.(read gibson etc).
I think maple will be way too bright. If you wan`t some bright tones/presence
you should go for hard ash. The most common woods for a strat is Alder,Swamp ash and sometimes basswood(alder like).
If you want those single coils to sound fenderish i recommend Alder or swamp ash, Mahogany and walnut belongs to the darker side of the tonal spectrum.(read gibson etc).
Re: Which type of wood???
Well thats something I def. needed to know. I was going for a vintage fender strat thing, and I want the guitar to sound big, full, and very bluesy. Oh and very fat too.
Well thats something I def. needed to know. I was going for a vintage fender strat thing, and I want the guitar to sound big, full, and very bluesy. Oh and very fat too.
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Re: Which type of wood???
SRV's did! I know all about heavy strings and his style im just saying... Please check this out its a great video. SRV's Hug you, Squeeze you. Just a demonstration of the fatness that I love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK3tLuGyVR8
I think both Alder and swamp ash can give you what you wan`t if you
combine it with a rosewood board on the neck.
Remember that a fender with singles don`t sound big naturally
SRV's did! I know all about heavy strings and his style im just saying... Please check this out its a great video. SRV's Hug you, Squeeze you. Just a demonstration of the fatness that I love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK3tLuGyVR8
Voxman
New member
Re: Which type of wood???
Cool,go for A good piece of alder for the body
Indian or Brazilian rosewood for the fingerboard on a high quality maple neck.
Both warmoth and usacg can make you a neck with a SRV back contour on the neck aswell
Go for Callaham hardware (brass saddles) ,their parts will give you the best sustain and tone available
I would go for a set of surfers aswell,but that`s just my way of thinking about the 60`s !
Cool,go for A good piece of alder for the body
Indian or Brazilian rosewood for the fingerboard on a high quality maple neck.
Both warmoth and usacg can make you a neck with a SRV back contour on the neck aswell
Go for Callaham hardware (brass saddles) ,their parts will give you the best sustain and tone available
I would go for a set of surfers aswell,but that`s just my way of thinking about the 60`s !
JohnnyGuitar
New member
Re: Which type of wood???
Alder and a maple neck... rosewood fretboard should be a good choice for SRV, but a maple fretboard also gives you good fat tone - think Buddy Guy or Eric Clapton.
A chamberd body with a maple top might also be a good solution for you (don't know about the chamberd Warmoth Strats though, I don't like the way they chamber them).
Alder and a maple neck... rosewood fretboard should be a good choice for SRV, but a maple fretboard also gives you good fat tone - think Buddy Guy or Eric Clapton.
A chamberd body with a maple top might also be a good solution for you (don't know about the chamberd Warmoth Strats though, I don't like the way they chamber them).
Re: Which type of wood???
Nobody mentioned poplar yet, is there a reason? Doesn't look that good with natural finish, but tonally it's great (maybe under-respected because cheaper?) and does the vintage sound too. Sound is pretty much like alder, but it weights a bit more so that changes it's behaviour a bit. Can't say for sure how, I've never compared otherwise similar alder and poplar Strats. Guess it might bring a bit more sustain, and there must be some difference in attack character but can't say what. I bet most guitarists can't tell is the Strat alder or poplar if it's solid color from anywhere but the weight...
I'd go with alder, swamp ash or poplar. You may want to spend a thought on the finishing factor too, some woods are easier to finish than others, and it also counts what kind of finish you want. Any of these three will satisfy you, I'm sure (if the wood is high quality). The rest is up to the pickups and your other gear - and your playing touch, most of all.
Good general info on different body woods: http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/options_bodywoods.cfm
Nobody mentioned poplar yet, is there a reason? Doesn't look that good with natural finish, but tonally it's great (maybe under-respected because cheaper?) and does the vintage sound too. Sound is pretty much like alder, but it weights a bit more so that changes it's behaviour a bit. Can't say for sure how, I've never compared otherwise similar alder and poplar Strats. Guess it might bring a bit more sustain, and there must be some difference in attack character but can't say what. I bet most guitarists can't tell is the Strat alder or poplar if it's solid color from anywhere but the weight...
I'd go with alder, swamp ash or poplar. You may want to spend a thought on the finishing factor too, some woods are easier to finish than others, and it also counts what kind of finish you want. Any of these three will satisfy you, I'm sure (if the wood is high quality). The rest is up to the pickups and your other gear - and your playing touch, most of all.
Good general info on different body woods: http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/options_bodywoods.cfm
Robert Delahunt
Showmasterologist
Re: Which type of wood???
I have an Ibanez wanna-be-super-strat, which if you check my soundclick, I have clips of a Custom Custom in it. It's soft maple body.
Me, I don't like the sound. Bass is mushy, guitar tends to be bright, and it has way too much upper mids (i.e. installing a JB in it made it sound like an ice pick).
Supposedly, however, according to a guy I talked with on the phone at seymour duncan, you can install all alnico ii magnet pickups in it and it should sound much better. All I have in mine is the Custom Custom, for now. I'm actually thinking about selling it (is that thread still on the trading post area?).
However, I can tell you from experience that ash sounds beautiful in a guitar, especially swamp ash. I have a Lite Ash stratocaster that comes stock with all Alnico II Pro Staggered pickups from SD, and they are awesome! Best purchase in guitars I've ever made so far! You can sometimes find them on eBay and other places, since most people seem to buy them but then they don't do metal so they sell them. Me, I love mine to death, and got it for $400 as a dent item (the dent on the back is so unnoticeable that this was a steal! ) I could actually sell every other guitar I own and it would be able to do what I need.
EDIT: Check my soundclick page, the 3 most recent music clips on there are my Lite Ash Strat. One ("Hallelujah Demo") is live.
I have an Ibanez wanna-be-super-strat, which if you check my soundclick, I have clips of a Custom Custom in it. It's soft maple body.
Me, I don't like the sound. Bass is mushy, guitar tends to be bright, and it has way too much upper mids (i.e. installing a JB in it made it sound like an ice pick).
Supposedly, however, according to a guy I talked with on the phone at seymour duncan, you can install all alnico ii magnet pickups in it and it should sound much better. All I have in mine is the Custom Custom, for now. I'm actually thinking about selling it (is that thread still on the trading post area?).
However, I can tell you from experience that ash sounds beautiful in a guitar, especially swamp ash. I have a Lite Ash stratocaster that comes stock with all Alnico II Pro Staggered pickups from SD, and they are awesome! Best purchase in guitars I've ever made so far!
You can sometimes find them on eBay and other places, since most people seem to buy them but then they don't do metal so they sell them. Me, I love mine to death, and got it for $400 as a dent item (the dent on the back is so unnoticeable that this was a steal! ) I could actually sell every other guitar I own and it would be able to do what I need.EDIT: Check my soundclick page, the 3 most recent music clips on there are my Lite Ash Strat. One ("Hallelujah Demo") is live.
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JohnnyGuitar
New member
Re: Which type of wood???
Eeroplane, poplar wasn't mentioned because if you want to go custom you can do it with better wood. The poplar guitars I've played were dead sounding but they also usually came with cheaper hardware so I don't know if it was because of the wood... Alder and swamp ash are better choices IMO.
Chamberd mahagony or hard ash could also be an option (an interesting one:6: ). Basswood with a maple top works well too...
Eeroplane, poplar wasn't mentioned because if you want to go custom you can do it with better wood. The poplar guitars I've played were dead sounding but they also usually came with cheaper hardware so I don't know if it was because of the wood... Alder and swamp ash are better choices IMO.
Chamberd mahagony or hard ash could also be an option (an interesting one:6: ). Basswood with a maple top works well too...
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Which type of wood???
I've got an SSH guitar with a maple neck/fretboard and mahogany body. The neck brings some brightness to the guitar and the body brings some fullness. The guitar sounds great for blues, rock, reggae, funk, (even jazz if you roll of the tone a bit). Maybe this is what you're looking for.
I've got an SSH guitar with a maple neck/fretboard and mahogany body. The neck brings some brightness to the guitar and the body brings some fullness. The guitar sounds great for blues, rock, reggae, funk, (even jazz if you roll of the tone a bit). Maybe this is what you're looking for.
tone?
New member
Re: Which type of wood???
Hey man i have a super strat SSH as well made of One peice Mahogany and one peice maple neck.
Since the body is around 5 pounds it isnt that dark, plus the all maple neck
adds to some of the brightness as well.
Awesome sounding for rock, blues as you said. Has alot of mids. How are the mids on yours?
Mine has just got better with time. It is my favorite axe now by far. The notes just sing. Great overtones as well. Mahogany is an amazing tonewood.
Hey man i have a super strat SSH as well made of One peice Mahogany and one peice maple neck.
Since the body is around 5 pounds it isnt that dark, plus the all maple neck
adds to some of the brightness as well.
Awesome sounding for rock, blues as you said. Has alot of mids. How are the mids on yours?
Mine has just got better with time. It is my favorite axe now by far. The notes just sing. Great overtones as well. Mahogany is an amazing tonewood.
Re: Which type of wood???
Yes and no. Maple is not only bright, it's also one of the heaviest wood and that makes your tone warm and singing. Just find the good pickups.
Yes and no. Maple is not only bright, it's also one of the heaviest wood and that makes your tone warm and singing. Just find the good pickups.
Re: Which type of wood???
You basically just read my mind. If you ever read my previous posts you would find out that I am going to get callaham block and bridge, surfers, and I was most likely going with a Warmoth neck. Callaham has alot of prodicts that are vintage correct so I will probably get one of their kits with springs, block, tuners and so on. I dont however know what the back contour is you are talking about. Thanks!
Cool,go for A good piece of alder for the body
Indian or Brazilian rosewood for the fingerboard on a high quality maple neck.
Both warmoth and usacg can make you a neck with a SRV back contour on the neck aswell
Go for Callaham hardware (brass saddles) ,their parts will give you the best sustain and tone available
I would go for a set of surfers aswell,but that`s just my way of thinking about the 60`s !
You basically just read my mind. If you ever read my previous posts you would find out that I am going to get callaham block and bridge, surfers, and I was most likely going with a Warmoth neck. Callaham has alot of prodicts that are vintage correct so I will probably get one of their kits with springs, block, tuners and so on. I dont however know what the back contour is you are talking about. Thanks!
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Re: Which type of wood???
Thanks! I was definatly going for the Nitro finish. Real thin too. I will most likely go with an alder body. I will make my final decision on wood when I play quite a few swamp ahs and ash strats. I already have an alder body on my Highway 1. I havent heard much about poplar but I will definatly check it out.
Thanks! I was definatly going for the Nitro finish. Real thin too. I will most likely go with an alder body. I will make my final decision on wood when I play quite a few swamp ahs and ash strats. I already have an alder body on my Highway 1. I havent heard much about poplar but I will definatly check it out.
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