Wood choice for FR strat

[phred]

Hey I have a problem. I have a nice figured maple Warmoth FR neck and I need a body. What wood would you go with? I usually go with Poplar or Alder, but I think a solid color wouldn't go well with the neck. How about book matched Swamp Ash? I was thinking of doing a black grain fill then ebony stain. What would you choose and why?

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Hey I have a problem. I have a nice figured maple Warmoth FR neck and I need a body. What wood would you go with? I usually go with Poplar or Alder, but I think a solid color wouldn't go well with the neck. How about book matched Swamp Ash? I was thinking od doing a black grain fill then ebony stain. What would you choose and why?

Swamp Ash looks GREAT!!! Mahogany too.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Hey I have a problem. I have a nice figured maple Warmoth FR neck and I need a body. What wood would you go with? I usually go with Poplar or Alder, but I think a solid color wouldn't go well with the neck. How about book matched Swamp Ash? I was thinking od doing a black grain fill then ebony stain. What would you choose and why?

Seriously dude that would look awesome.

 

[jaybonitrane]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Swamp Ash. Has better grain than alder for that type of finish.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

What is a FR neck?

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Swamp Ash, all about the grain, baby!

 

[DeathALT.]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Like muttsnmongrelz suggested, maybe go with mahogany. You already have poplar and alder guitars, which are on the brighter side, so having a darker sounding mahogany one might be a nice change. If you choose a mahogany body, I'd recommend something similar to the Cherry SG's. That colour looks great with maple fretboards.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

If your going with stock single coils, stay with either Alder or Poplar, or maybe Limba. Ash looks great, but has a really bright Tele like tone.Mahogany eats up a stock single coil strat pickup IMO, so better for humbuckers. mahogany has to be grain filled, and doesnt really look great casue it has a tendency to turn pumpkin orange, unless you know what you are doing. If you go mahogany, get a bookmatcched maple top- preferably burled , flamed, or better yet, Splated!Yumm!
How about North American Black Walnut? The most expensive indigenous species, Its bright, its heavy, but its truly beuatiful and reponds quite a bit better than , say , Maple, and ages well tonally. Probably better for at least a bridge humbucker thouhg .
Lots of exotic woods out there. I dont know much..Purpleheart is one..lots of them have mahogany like characteristics.

 

[phred]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Like muttsnmongrelz suggested, maybe go with mahogany. You already have poplar and alder guitars, which are on the brighter side, so having a darker sounding mahogany one might be a nice change.

I have had Mahogany and it is too dark for my tastes. Most of the Super Strats I have owned were Alder, Poplar or Basswood and it was easier to get the tone I was needing with those woods.

I'm just worried about Ash possibly making it too bright.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

I have had Mahogany and it is too dark for my tastes. Most of the Super Strats I have owned were Alder, Poplar or Basswood and it was easier to get the tone I was needing with those woods.

I'm just worried about Ash possibly making it too bright.

Have you thought about Black Limba? That would give you awesome grain pattern like the Ash but not nearly as bright. You just need to pick out a good looking piece. I've been told that Limba is a bit brighter than mahogany but not as bright as Ash. Koa is also a bit brighter than mahogany but not as bright as Ash, it's more expensive though. Check out this guide as a reference:
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Options/BodyWoodOptions.aspx

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Yes the Ash will be bright, and the Floyd won't help. My floydy-strat is Alder and I love that sound. I love Swamp Ash too, just usually with tightened down smaller trems or hardtails. Having said that, it will still be a fantastic guitar and the bright, liveliness will lend itself to more pickup choices. You can use thicker sounding pickups and still have a nice crisp pick attack.

If you do go with Alder, it still can look darn good with a nice sunburst, and still show off that figured maple neck.

 

[tubecrunch]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

I thought my ears were ringing. My pic is a warmoth ash body, black filler. Finish by rs Guitarworks, and yes, sounds like a tele.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

I have found Black Limba to be a great middle-of-the-road between Mahogany and Ash, has characteristics from both woods but sounds like neither really, perhaps a tad closer to Mahogany than Ash but still not quite the same. I really love Black Limba as a body wood (as is apparent by my hand-built custom guitar).

On the other hand I have a FR guitar with Alder body and maple cap which is pretty bright. The man I bought her from had installed an Alternate 8 in the bridge and I tell you it's a match made in heaven.

Frank is right, bright guitars lend themselves to some pretty interesting pickup combinations

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

You could also go with an alder core and an ash top for beauty. Keeps the tone bright and straty but not over the top.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Wood choice for FR strat

Do you think you can make your own body? Because Warmoth really has a limited selection of wood compared to a quick trip to a local lumber yard.

If not, then you can go with Alder, but with an Oak top (because I'm pretty sure Warmoth offers oak tops). Oak + Black Stain/Satin finish = SECKZ.

The stain I used with PERFECT results is this. You may want to do what I did though which is apply very FEW coats because it is polyurethane, which gets a bad rep with a lot of guys because manufacturers usually apply too much poly. It really is great if you only put as much as you need. I only needed two coats, and there was no preparation needed. Just sanding, and none of that grain filling. Just sand and apply and you're done.