Ash or Alder?
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2015
- I took my 1980 Strat (serial number #S944796 - I got it new at the start of 1981) and swapped out the old and very heavy ash body for a Warmoth alder body. Does it make any difference to the sound?
The pickups in this video are the original pickups, which are now up for sale separately on Reverb.com as I've swapped them out for EMG SAV's.
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Thank you so much!, I like them both and it's great to have atleast a handfull of youtube videos to listen to. Thanks for your effort!
Thank you for making this video. I too am building a Warmoth guitar. You just changed my mind from alder to Ash.
Thanks for the comparison - amazing to hear the difference on the same guitar and electronics.
you guys are crazy, the original body was much warmer and nicer then the super bright alder sound you have now
Ash body with the 1st amp sounded way better than any other combo.
Great video.. Gives a great impression of what a hard dense ash bodies does to the soft compared to the softer alder body.. The heavy ash body with bolt on maple neck and single coil pickup are tinny and very bright..
Well ... the alder sounds brighter in this video lol .
great video..yesss there is a difference..not huge but there is…especially bridge positions..finally putting to rest the difference that wood makes ..it can be small or huge…but It is different!! nice playing
I prefer the sound of the ash.
Great vid informative
i have exactly the same stratocaster '77. i was change pickups, and many other things (tuners, bridge..) nothing radically didn't changed with the sound.. then i was change original ash body, with the alder body , ('99) all i can say is; miracle !
Ash seemed to have a little more "beef" to it. Both sound great
Ash sounded noticeably better to me. I know that opinion may not be a happy one since you have an alder body now but to me, the ash sounded a little less focused and less midrangy but had more of that strat quack going on. ? 1:54 vs 4:57 Just how I am hearing them. I assume the ash was northern ash, not swamp ash since you said it was heavy and darker sounding.
I think I'm going to get swamp ash for the body when I finally buy some parts and build one. thanks for the comparison!
Yeah, I think is must have been northern ash because the weight was astounding. I was ready to go with swamp ash or alder, either way, it was just a matter of finding something lightweight at a reasonable price. My Robert Cray Strat is alder, so I didn't mind trying that on this older Strat. The good news is I'm very happy I can once again play this older Strat without killing my back and it sounds nice and Strat-like.
Alder is what Fender used after using the Swamp ash earlier on. I guess most strats are alder bodies. I wish there was a way to just combine stuff in experiment mode until you went YES! That's the best tone for me. Barring any weight/health issues. I have a brown strat shape guitar. heavy as hell because for one, neck is solid Indian rosewood and body is some kind of mahogany and some other wood. But if I hollow out any of the body that neck will be tilting the guitar and it'll be out of balance. So... I'll just leave it alone. I want to build one from almost scratch (buy parts) so I think I'll try the swamp ash body and a cooked maple neck and prob maple fretboard. that thing prob will be twangy as hell. hehehe
I have done another major mod on this old Strat; I got tired of the single coil buzz so dropped in a set of EMG SAV pickups. They were kind of crispy and was thinking of pulling them, but then added the EMG SPC tone pot for midrange boost and hey presto, very good results
I used EMG once. Sounded good but I didn't like the high hiss and losing sleep at night wondering if the 9V battery was drained and my tone was sucking w/o me knowing it. I went to passives and just won't use anything with a battery. :( I get hum using the single coils. I think there are solutions now to get that sound w/o the hum and maybe I'll put a guitar together one day. Baked maple sounds like an option for the neck.
I do not think you can compare the sound of a lightweight swamp ash body with a heavy nothern ash body which is typically what you see from the late 70s ash fenders.. Those really heavy hard ash bodies with a janka hardness of ~1200-1300 always sound midscooped and not very loud.. The ash it not "darker" sounding. It is just so dense that if you tapped on it, it would give a very bright short ping and not much in the high and low mids. late 70 stratocasters sound dead and cold to my ears.. THe really featherweight swamp ash bodies are the often the really warm ones, with alder being a consistent wood not hav emuch variation. Though a heavier alder sounds tighter with less midrange with a lighter one giving you more of a mid focus..
Fantastic! The new body sounds like a 50s Strat, fits much better with the Maple.
@Karl - great video and I subscribed - but - did you tune the amps exactly the same between body swaps?
I like both!.
I listen again using different speakers, to me alder more warm and softer? Ash more bit attack and mid?
I like ash body sound )
WOW BUDDY HOLLY BACK AGAIN
I find the Ash has more bass and sustain. Alder tone is more mid focused.
err lol... you still believe in 'tonewood'?
@@Tasmanaut yes.. LOL. Guitar strings resonate.. and so do the neck and body!
@@helixworld guess what, Einstein, a pickup isn't a microphone - it's a magnet.
Nice video, Tks 1:30-3:36 ash has better tone.
I use a hollow strat with noiseless pickups best solution for the weight, tone and hum. imho. Ah and sustains much more. Just an opinion.
I use my ash fender just at home because is heavy to me too.
For the style of music you play- old school blues- some may prefer the airy tone you're getting from the ash. You said yourself you prefer the rounded, more mid focused sound that comes from alder, though. That's what counts.
I will say this, when you get into playing power chords and leads on overdrive (for hard rock), the alder has that very defined upper mid "bite" that sounds amazing. Everyone has a different taste. My preference is with alder. Thanks for posting.
new alder body sounds great!
thanks, yeah I'm liking it
It's incredible how different they sound. Alder sounds more sparkling, brighter... Ash sounded more balanced to me
Wow
Maybe just by tunning the EQ of the amp
I have a Warmoth ash body guitar and have been thinking I would be a ton happier with an alder one. Have to say, both sounded great here.
+Patrick Keating Thanks!
Nice video! Ash more balanced for my taste.
Not even the same guy playing tho! Who's that second guy with the glasses and flannel?Haha just kidding Karl , sounds and looks great man.
You do definitely know what a sexy strat looks like, that's my biggest takeaway from this video haha. I prefer the ash but I know my friend would prefer the alder, it's all subjective :)
What are you doing with that fender body though?
yeah, it's way more noticeable in person than the video can show
Now did you have the volume on the same level for the Ash as you did for the Alder? cause it sounded like the volume was half the way down on the Ash and all the way up on the Alder. The Alder sounded waaaaaay better. AAAAAH now I see! It is the fender amp that makes the big difference. I was listening to the Ash guitar with the HK and the Alder with the Fender. The Alder is still better just not so much.
I definitely prefer the ash, and am looking for an ash bodied strat myself -- but there's nothing wrong with alder either. Ash is tigher and more balanced, alder is brighter with untamed highs and tons of mids (which I like with moderate output humbuckers for heavier rock/metal, but I prefer ash on my single coil strats).
Than have a look to an used ESP-800-Series Strat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@Ingeborg323 I am now good on strats - I have since picked up an ash bodied Fender American standard strat which I put some Lollar Sixty Fours in for the 60s strat sound, and a Charvel Model 1 that I put the EMG VG20 pickguard in - stock pickups sounded too close to my Fender but had jacked pole pieces - ewww
..however ash looks great in an unpainted guitar if you were thinking of building one.
I’m here because I just got my first ash body strat style guitar and maaaaannn the weight! 😮 I just wanted to see if ash was indeed a heavy wood. The finish on mine is a gorgeous natural honey colour but I’m sure glad I’m a well built guy because it;s gonna be demanding on my shoulders 😅
Hi Dylan, my understanding is that Swamp Ash is typically the lighter ash than northern ash. I have a "Stelecaster" I assembled with a swamp ash body and the weight is not an issue. Back in the CBS days of Fender ownership they looked to cut costs and abandoned swamp ash for nothern ash, which can make for a very heavy guitar. Swamp ash is harder to find now on new guitars due to climate change. The ash literally is in a swamp, used to be for something like three months of the year, and then you could harvest it. Now it's typically inaccessible for much longer parts of the year, and oh yeah, beetle infestations have been wreaking havoc as well. www.guitarworld.com/features/fender-will-no-longer-use-ash-bodies-for-production-line-guitars-we-found-out-why-and-what-woods-will-be-used-instead
Most guitarists would say that the bridge was the 1st position with the neck being the 5th position.
Correct. Fender describe it that way. I always thought it was the other way around but have since learned the error of my way. 😊
@Karl Hourigan. Karl, I hope you're still checking older videos. It was a great video to start with. Here's the question I have for ya, I have 2 - 1970's Strat Bodies. So I'll just call them #1 & #2. The #1 is a 1973-1975, maybe even a 76 Strat Body & it is lighter than the 1979 Strat Body, or #2. At any rate, #1 weigh's in at 4lb 13oz, almost 14 oz. #2: weigh's in at 6lb 4oz & it's the Ash. The wood Grain looks so close, I was just wondering if it's an Alder, while the heavier of the 2, my 1979 is an Ash & since these gal's are completely bare, no hardware at all, just the wood so the other way I labeled them was 4 3/4lbs & 6 1/4lbs. Could Swamp Ash be that much lighter than Northern Ash, or could it be what I was thinking, Alder & Ash..... Let me start from the day I opened the boxes. The guy who owned the older Strat, might have been a little bit high because he had all kinds of stuff going on. He drilled holes into the Body. First off he decided to cut out the Pickup Dividers & turned into a Bath Tub. Next he drilled 4 holes. 1 in each corner of the ''New Bath Tub Cavity.'' I stopped by a Mill in my area. Bought a piece of Ash board about 12'' w x 32''L x 1''thick & I had them Plane it down to the depth of the Tub, which was 22/32. Cleaned up the Tub with my Router & then some so I could recreate the dividers, so I could rebuild the Pickup Cavities like it did have prior to the original owner getting out his router & drill gun so he could try & ruin the Body. So in all actuality, I fixed his work I guess. Now it's starting to look like a Strat. So far all this so I could get the weight up to the 4lb. 13oz, up from the original weight of 4lbs 3 1/2oz. That's not all. He also sanded off the original Fender Red Finish. I'm not 100% sure what Fender Color was on this Body but it's ready to either be a Road Worn Red, or just go with a ''Natural'' Finish. It looks decent enough to take to the Luthier who helps do my work.
Now sorry I gave you the full story but let this be a lesson for those who are thinking of doing their own refinishing & changing their Strat from a S/S/S over to a H/S/H. So with the weight's given & man, the grain looks so close to the 1979 Hardtail, I've been telling myself that this is gotta be a Ash Body. If only I could post some pictures, you'd be able to see what I mean about the grain. Thanks for reading, MD.............
Hi Monty, interesting story...and weird, but I've seen some pretty strange "improvements" that people have made to their Strats. Your luthier should be able to identify the wood for you. My understanding is that there is indeed a big difference between swamp ash, which can be relatively light, and the northern ash which is generally a lot heavier. The Strelecaster (ruclips.net/video/rDDGdO0Acxk/видео.html) I built for myself uses a swamp ash body, and it's under 5 lbs. The new Strat body in this video is alder and also under 5 lbs. The old northern ash body must have been weighing in around 8 lbs. because the reconstructed Strat with the natural alder body is about 7.5 lbs. and it's noticeably lighter than just the old black body on it's own, stripped of all hardware!
@@KarlHourigan Well, about 2-3 hours after I posted the comment, I found an article that had pictures of Alder wood bodies. So it is made out of Alder, in fact it was a sanded natural finish, whereas mine was a Fender red. So I'll be going with it's probably an early 70's Strat. But one of the other Strat Bodies I purchased was supposed to be a 73-75, so I decided to start researching that one as well. After visiting Eddie Vegas's website, I was able to match my Black Strat to the 1970 Black Strat he has. What got my attention & caught my eye was on this one I have, 1: it was also a Black re-spray, plus the original 4-Bolt Neck Holes being plugged & turned into a 71-73 Strat, I noticed something that Fender was only doing in the 1960's to 1970. Starting in the ''Wire Channel'' between the Middle & Bridge Pickup cavity, which goes to the area where the 3-Way Switch & Controls are located, there's a section where a router was used to make a channel about 3/8''-1/2'' deep, for I can only assume that the wires could lay in. How they could just do that, I have no clue but it's just something Fender started doing but stopped with the 70's Strat's. So tomorrow, Thursday, the day that the Luthier I use, goes to Motor City Guitar & drops off what he's repaired & picks up what needs to be repaired, so I'll make sure to meet up with him there & get his opinion. I'm almost positive I ended up buying a 68-70 that was changed to the 3-bolt on neck from 71, by plugging the 4-holes, drilling the 3-holes & adding the Disc in the Neck pocket & last, respraying the body Black. But it's always better to have someone like him check it out & sign the work order receipt as proof, since he has just over 25 years experience as a Luthier, plus his learning years as a teen. Man, he's been able to date guitars I've taken to him, told me if the Fender neck I just bought was original or a re-pop & whether the body I bought was either a MIA or MIM Strat. Plus he's a Gibson Les Paul authority. He's pretty good & trust him 100%. whether it's with something I thought was original, or something that I thought was original but turned out to be wrong with. Plus when he signs a receipt stating it, I'd take that to the bank. He just did that for me with a Les Paul that has a part of the wood grain that turned out to be the grain & not a narrow split in the grain, starting at the very top of the rear of the Headstock, then runs all the way down the Neck to the Body. I'd never be able to sell it without him saying it's just the wood grain but just not very common, since Gibson has been burning all the 2nd's &/or guitar's with any type of crack in the neck or body for over 20 years, which was news to me, plus it's still part of Gibson's quality control since they already have enough problems with the Chinese Gibson Copies, flooding the U.S. ...
I find the ash a bit more "piano-like", whereas the alder is a bit more like a trumpet. Less bite and attack in the ash, but it sounds sweeter and somehow 'deeper'. Both tones are nice.
It's a bit like comparing two types of chocolate, wine or beer, both of which are good, but you might prefer one or the other for certain occasions.
I prefer the sound of ash or mahogany to alder, but I'd say comfort and playability is more important than tone you can adjust with EQ. All this stuff goes out the window if you tune to a lower pitch like 432 or 430 because the wood will resonate differently to different frequencies. I play a basswood Dean Edge 6, which sounded scooped and tinny when I tuned to 440, but tuned to 430 it has a more flat, midrangey tone, particularly in the upper mids. Timbre isn't a fixed thing; it's the inherent tonal qualities of an instrument when tuned and played in a particular way.
Alder is workable tone-wise; A/B comparing it to ash it doesn't sound like what I'd prefer to hear, but the tone is pleasing enough that I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with it if I heard it live and it was EQ'd properly. It's a little warmer and softer than ash, and there's a little less sustain, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It works for the type of music you play. It probably wouldn't work so well for my sound though, so it's a good thing that I'm not stuck having to buy an alder bass. The cheapest brand name 6-string bass right now is made of mahogany, which I can work with. It might actually work better for me than basswood. The shorter scale will definitely work better for me, which is my primary reason to buy a new bass. It also weighs 5 pounds less than my current bass, which is a plus.
I greatly prefer the ash body. Just a personal preference
I also have a late 70's Strat. It's heavy as well, it was my my dad's but he doesn't know why it's so Heavy. 11 lb more or less. Cream color, black pick guard. and pick up covers. You think it may be Ash? I thought Ash was a light wood. Not sure. Thanks man
From what I understand, it's probably northern ash. Swamp ash is different, and usually lighter, more like alder. In the late 70's the bean counters ruled at Fender. I don't think northern ash was ever picked for its sound properties, it was probably just cheaper than swamp ash.
Karl Hourigan thank you, I have herd that Ash is inconsistent can be heavy or light. Funny the Bean Counter" never herd that.
You can hear this guitar with the new body in a recording at soundcloud.com/karl-hourigan/hot-sauce-mastered-mix-03
HE IS 67 AND HOLDING HOLDING ON TO EVERYTHING HE CAN
I am quite suprized reading the comments, saying the ash sounded better... Because the alder has a more bluesy voicing, being sophisticated and open sounding, I mean there are a lot more overtones going on. The ash sounded pretty vintage, like bit dark and with mellow spank, a pretty nice, warm, simple , straight forward sound. The alder sounds overall bit brighter , but offers a larger spectrum of frequencies. And that says some beginner guitar player, that loves mellow bluesy sounds....( and is owner of a Slick SL57 with swampash body, none of my 5 guitars have alder...)... Greets from Deutschland
1980 John Hurt?
Gilmore and Clapton both had black Alder body Stratocasters with all maple necks so if they preferred Alder then I am sure glad mine is too made of Alder wood. It’s more consistent and I’m certain some Ash bodies would sound better but you would least likely be able to do as much consistent promises with Ash because it’s not as possible to get the same Ash wood in the same swamp or wherever. Probably why some of your favorite Stratocaster players in their prime are custom made and like David Gilmore and Eric Clapton they knew that Alder is more predictable by nature.
I think all you can really say here is that any audible differences are due to a change in body weight and possibly stiffness. The species of 'tone' wood has very little to do with it.
Are you stupid..the different species of woods are causing the differences in weight..
I liked the sound with the ash body better.
Excellent versus.For a crystal clear sound like surf music, i would go for an alder body, for blues of country, would goes for an ash body, more cloncky, more hot.
ash sounded way better than alder
Loopty.
WOW He looks like LEON LEON
Alder has more character. I would definitelly prefer it for a single coil guitar
For me. Ash. Only because I think ash looks really nice.
Sorry to say, the ash body has a more defined sound, more sparkle and twang,- the alder sounds overall warmer and midfocussed. For the tune you played, I like ash! Could be the other way around, for different style...Let the new body age and break in, in 6-8 years the tone will change to better😊 But why the swap? its just about max. 1kg difference in weight, how could that be too much...? If 2 kg, I can understand...😊(I'm 51yo)
Actually, the old ash body by itself weighs more than the entire guitar with the alder body.
Alder has more warmth in lower mids and more of a spike in the upper mids. Cuts more. Sounds spankier. The Northern Ash sounds a little dull/mellow in the attack, thinner in the mids (less resonance), yet warmer in the highs (or technically, less highs) with the frequencies being more balanced (no upper mid spike), as well as the picking dynamics (meaning it has less dynamics). It may appear to be spankier but in reality, it's not... just has a thin sound... deceitful.
In my experience, Swamp Ash is like a mix of the two. Its balanced sounding like the Northern Ash w/ its less mids but it has a tad more bass and a bit more treble... a wider sound than either Northern Ash or Alder. However, depending on the amp and what not, may not sound brighter because sometimes Alder has those really spikey upper-mids that is just louder than Swamp Ash's treble. Sometimes not... another factor is what type of guitar (no trem block and brass round saddles tame the highs on the Tele, be it Swamp Ash or Alder, and provides a bit more muscular girth than either Strat - sure the Tele bridge will add some spank & twang but that mostly lives in the mids). Also, Swamp Ash seems to have more lower punch than Alder though which always seem to have more sense of "depth" rather than being percussive.
But turn up the gain, these nuances appear less and less noticeable.
Excellent description Keith, I agree.
Pretty much what I thought too. Alder sounds better to me because of that roundness. Ash has that harsher flatness in it I don't really like in any guitar.
SM57
Ash sound is like a V eq
Ash hands down, if you like that plinky sound then alder, but to me ash every time.(alder much brighter, ash warmer as others said)
If both bodies were the same age, it MIGHT be a fair comparison.
You have an aged, played body vs a chunk of wood that might have been a tree a matter of months ago.
If wood matters; acoustic players have understood for a long time that age changes their guitars over time. They call it "playing in" or "opening up".
I can tell you that I have a rosewood Larrivée that the original owner sold because it was a chimy, ringing, monster. I tolerated it, and now 4 years later it is the nicest sounding guitar I have. It still has the highs, but the almost feedback like chiming resonance has gone.
There might be a difference between ash and alder, but I would say there is a bigger difference between a 20 year old body and one just months old.
Hey Kyle, I know what you mean about your Larrivee. I have a Gibson J45 acoustic guitar and I had similar experience to yours. It took about five years or maybe even a little longer until that guitar came into its own and really opened up. When I first got it, just strumming it unplugged it sounded a bit like the sound was being compressed, but now it sings. I had an interesting discussion with Jean Larrivee Jr. who grew up around guitar building, and he told me that he'd taken a 20+ year old Larrivee out of a closet, a guitar that hadn't been played much at all, and that compared to a brand new guitar of the same spec the old guitar sounded much better. He credited that strictly to changes in the wood from aging. This difference that aging makes is well noted, and that's why makers like Taylor guitars talk about torrefied tops and other techniques in the building process to sort of pre-age the solid wood tops to make a new guitar sound more mature. So, yes, I have also heard for myself the difference age makes to the acoustic guitar.
On an electric solid-body guitar, I have to say I have never noticed the same kind of evolution. I have a Robert Cray Strat I played for ten years in stock condition (except for the saddles which I changed when I bought it), and after ten years that Strat sounded the same as ever to me. I haven't seen much discussion, or experienced myself any definitive examples of aging of a solid body electric guitar's sound being noticably (and I say noticably because I am ready to concede there can be molecular changes to the wood over time) affected by age. But having said that, it would be interesting if anyone could share a video of a before-and-after scenario where they bought a new solid-body electric guitar, and then came back five years later and played the guitar again through the same setup. My expectation would be that it would be hard to tell any difference, but on a good acoustic guitar (and by good I mean at least with a solid top) I would definitely expect a difference.
for me ash body is more volume and consisten sounds
I prefer the mid range better with alder body.
In that demo I like ash sound better😀
the black Guitar is alder or ash?
the black guitar is ash, but not swamp ash, probably northern ash, very very heavy
Lighter wood bodies always sounds better regardless of the species to my ears!
For this 80's strat Alder way to go..must be Alder man..Unless its was an original 50's strat with ash body..its very lightweight..Cheers
I'm curious, Karl, if you were to sell the guitar now, you would not be able to sell it for a real Fender would you? I mean that's like building a car with a bunch of aftermarket parts and selling it as a Caddilac. It's just not the real deal no more.
Rick Preston True, as a collectable guitar it fails. But I knew when it was given to me in 1981 that I would never part with it. I changed the tuners early on because the stock Fender ones were so inconsistent and I replaced them with Gotohs. Other parts like the saddles wore out from use. But at this time even a completely stock 1980 Strat is not particularly valuable as Fender were not making their best guitars in those late CBS days. But it's a great guitar now! And every mod and scar on it has a story to tell, and I like that.
Thanks Karl, Like I said I was just curious. I definitely wasn't trying to offend you. The guitar sounds great. I can't hear hardly any difference in the two bodies. If it makes it more playable for you, mission accomplished. Play on friend and keep making videos. I give you a thumbs up and a sub.
ash killed it
I prefer how Ash sound. I've your same issue about weight. I love how my one piece northern ash body sounds, but it weights a lot. Expecially when you have to do many gigs. So I've bought a one piece swamp ash body and installed in my strat. I didn't expect much difference, but I was wrong. There are noticeable tonal difference. Northern ash is focused on high and mid-high frequency, while swamp ash is more balanced.
I've done a quick comparison test using same gear with same settings. Here is the link:
ruclips.net/video/d0ZuS8DwrXo/видео.html
To my ears, the Alder body in your video sounds much more "Strat" like. More quack, and not as dark as the Ash body. For my taste, I think you made the right choice. When I want thick, dark tones, I don't go for my Strat, instead I pick up a Les Paul, or a PRS. Let a Strat be spanky, quacky, and glassy. Enjoy!
I agree, thanks for watching. Since I posted this I've changed the pickups and now it's very different. Maybe I'll post a new video showing off the pickups, too.
You should check out the Lollar Blond set with the Lollar Special in the bridge position. Very nice classic 50's and 60's strat tone.
To truly assess both guitars it would be much more beneficial to know about your recording set-up, where you positioned the mic(s), what settings on the amps you used and if you changed them since the initial recording. The second recording, right off the bat, sounds way more loud than the first one, thus changing the perception and making the judging the distinction a bit harder.
Overall, nice demo and I think ash is always better, as I own a vintage '79 Strat with ash body and maple neck. Mine is too, SUUUPER heavy. :) Read up on Fender's website, that the northern ash is much heavier and less porous than the southern "swamp ash", which is lighter. Ultimately, it's down to the personal preference, but heavier woods always sounded more "solid" & pleasing to my ears.
WOW JFK IS BACK
Ash sounded more balanced. Alder a little too lively/harsh..
Ash sings more to me =)
Ash sounds beter for clean. But i think alder will be beter for distortion.
You know that you could've gotten a body with just as good, or better quality than ratmoth at a much lower price!! I've seen their shitty guitar parts and the only ones worth having are the custom order bodies now that they've decided to start putting the neck adjust for angle in the SIDE of the neck where your hand rubs against it and leaves dirt and dead skin and allows acummulation of rust! After hearing both bodies and both amps - I now understand why aftermarket pickup companies starting cropping up in the late seventies and are now more popular than ever!
I'm sure getting a chair would have been cheaper.
I like both. Ash is fat sounding. Alder is thinner and more bright.It's the tone coming from the wood.
That is a guitar made in the guitar bad era, 1970 to 1983, ergo results will be suspect.
Ash if you want nitro and to see the woodgrain, alder for poly.
Show
I prefer alder. More life in the sound
Alder sounds livelier to me
Alder has more clarity and bite.
Ash.. 1:21 Alder.. 3:32
I hear more mids from your ash guitar body...
Ash all the way.
Ash seems brighter, punchier...
1:25
3:33
Ash sounded better. With out a doubt ,
Ash or Alder, makes no difference really. Both ash & alder come in a variety of different densities depending on where they came from & the age of the wood itself. It also depends on both the neck & body wood combinations & thickness as well.
Ash is LIGHTER 9/10 over alder..not sure why he's saying it's too heavy..Alder has little character, plain jane..Certain ash bodies on tele's sound amazing, with their own qualities and character..Alder is safe sounding, plentiful and cheap..that's why Fender pushes it.
Michael, swamp ash is often lighter than alder, but back in 1980 they didn't use swamp ash for my Strat, but a northern ash that can be very heavy. My Strat was like a Les Paul for weight. The entire guitar now weighs in at about 7.5 pounds. The old ash body was heavier than that, even without the neck or pickups or hardware. Interesting note, Fender have just announced that they are taking swamp ash out of their line up permanently, except for some exceptional limited run models, because swamp ash is now so hard to get due a beetle infestation that's been heading south, and climate change which is keeping the swamps flooded for more than half the year, making it very difficult to secure reliable supplies of swamp ash.
Karl Hourigan Thanks for that..so do you think there’s going to be a rush for “rare” swamp ash anytime soon? There’s quite a few brands with a lot of tele ash body’s at the moment..
@@michaelsteven1090 I don't know about a "rush", but I think it might be a consideration for some people buying a new Fender if they're thinking of it as an investment for the future...
Wood makes no difference what so ever. Just look at the comments here. People can't even agree on which sounded brighter etc. That's because the wood makes no difference. Electronics do, set up does, amp settings do. Wood ..no
If ther is any actual difference in sound, its due to diferences in setups etc. It is impossible to exactly have the same distances between everything when swapping parts.
Frank, I used to think so too. But I've played so many guitars over the years, that I now agree with people who say everything makes a difference: the neck, the fingerboard, etc. I agree the fastest most noticeable way to make a difference is the pickups, the electronics. But I really believe 75% of all tone starts with the person playing the guitar. I know people who can pick up any guitar and make it sound good, and a few who get tones I just don't like from anything they pick up. Everything else we spend money on is chasing that other 25%.
Have you seen this video? ruclips.net/video/i6XXcDiPcKc/видео.html
ash better END
Stick with ash and save the money for chiropractic instead
Whatever... It won't make any difference
ash was richer
sorry man but it sounded better before
GROW UP GO BACK TO CROSSWORD PUZZELS