What type of wood is that in the neck pocket.. any ideas would be greatly appreciated

_________________
In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

I am guess Alder

What model tele is it? is it a fender or a copy

Looks more in the Mahogany family.


"Why do you ask?"

_________________
Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

What is that a made in Japan Tele? I would say it's Basswood!

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I think its basswood... but I have seen this model labeled as being alder.. it really doesn't matter...

the reason I ask is because the tone from this guitar is awesome...

it's an 85 Japanese tele... I am very impressed with it... no regrets..

The only thing I cannot understand is how heavy it is.. there must be such a thing as dense basswood...

_________________
In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

ya that looks like basswood to me, def not alder or mahogany

_________________
blues - its a religion...

+1. Basswood. And I'm highly jealous.

There are different densities and weight in all wood species. A good example with Basswood would be to go to your local GC and pick up a few of the new Squier Bullet HH guitars. You will notice different weights as you pick them up randomly.

_________________

HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
http://www.reverbnation.com/haleamano
http://www.haleamano.com

I still think it is in the Mahogany family.

Here is a basswood body...


As you can see, no grain, very light is color and it is a soft wood.

This an alder body, nice grain, and the color is closer.



Now, here we have a mahogany body, see the grain, if you wet the body on the OP
s body, this will look far closer.

_________________
Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

cajan, can u lick the neck pocket so we can see the grain

_________________
blues - its a religion...

have no idea, cool pic's though

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Poplar or basswood, too light coloured for mahogany. Not enough red in it. The spotting is very similar to some mahogany species, but occurs on poplar and basswood and other types of wood too.

Though I agree it is very heavily grained for poplar or basswood.

_________________
No no and no

I had the guitar weighed today ... 8.1 lbs... That is more than I thought it weighed... I must be getting used to that 10.5 lb LP custom I play almost every day...

_________________
In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

Well, I have a 87 MIJ strat and it's poplar, not sure how the neck pocket compares, but it's real heavy, heaviest strat I have.

BTW Cajun, have you been to Guitar Electronics lately? I went right before Xmas and they were changing things, looks like it'll mostly be for amp repair now, and they're just selling guitar parts online.

The wood grain in that pocket would suggest more of a side grain of Basswood.

Here's a good thread in this Telecaster.com forum that will kind of show you a little about it:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/234948-basswood-veneer-build.html

This is what I've typically seen Basswood look like from the face grain when working with it in the past:



If you look at this picture, in the bottom left corner, you'll see the specs in the side grain of the board underneath the template:


Depending on the way your particular plank was cut, when you start to rout underneath the face surface, the grain is twisted in a different way, and that's most likely how you're seeing the specs in your neck pocket. If my sight is serving me correctly, if you look closely, it even looks as though the neck pocket in the Warmoth Basswood guitar Jeffytune posted has similar looking specs in the grain. It's a bit pixelated, but it does appear that way to me.

It does happen ever now and then to run across heavier pieces of Basswood. Being that it's a Tele body, it wouldn't surprise me that it weighs as much as it does. I've run across Ibanez guitars that weigh the same (7-8 lbs.).

The only other thought that came to my mind concerning your guitar is Maple. It's also very common to see the same type of thing in it's grain, and can look completely identical in color. However, it would be more expensive for the manufacturer. But I can't rule it out as a possibility. I have a cheaper starter guitar body that is listed as being made of "Asian Maple". Looks the same and has a typical maple sound to it. Not very good, and very bright. If you were to strum my Basswood guitars unplugged in comparison to my "Asian Maple" guitar, you do hear a distinct difference.

As far as I'm concerned, Basswood is king, and my favorite guitar body type. My personal taste and opinion. I think you have a real gem there if it is a Basswood Tele, I'm totally jealous, and drooling at the thought of it.

_________________

HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
http://www.reverbnation.com/haleamano
http://www.haleamano.com

Shred... thanks for that photo.. THe photo convinces me that it is basswood... Now, why its so heavy.. I am not sure... Must be just an unusual cut...

Jason:

So Rob has left Guitar electronics... His top guitar tech is still there and they did some good work for me last month..

Gary the new owner and amp tech really over charged me for an amp repair last year.. I wasn't very happy about it.. And it took 4 months for him to get it done... He is a great tech, but I think he is really taking advantage of the lack of good amp repair in Arizona..

I have since swore never to own a hot rod series amp.. I know own two deluxe reverb amps... The great thing about these amps is their reliability and you don't need an expensive guitar to get awesome tone.. I think we talk too much about guitar tone and not enough about amp tone..

_________________
In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.