Ash with maple sounds like a lot of Strats from the mid 50's! A VERY good thing to listen to, not to mention light and easy on the shoulders.

+1 Pete

-Harley

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I only have two brain cells left, and I'm saving them....for this weekend!

Basswood is lightweight and doesn't have a lot of tonal character, making it desireable for guitarist that use Digital Modeling or get most of their sound out of a pedal board.

_________________
"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

Ibanez guitars are all expensive when they are new, see how much they are worth after they've been purchased from any vendor.

_________________
I only have two brain cells left, and I'm saving them....for this weekend!

The early Ibanez Jem's were made of American basswood.
They were expensive too.

Peter

I have not bought one but I have looked at bodies made of Lacewood and they are very nice looking and are supposed to have the same sound qualities as Alder but real great looking grain.

_________________
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

So far, the only kind of exotic wood other than Maple that I have on any guitar is one with a Bubinga body. It's an interesting tone, but I'm not sure that I'd like another like that.


-Harley

_________________
I only have two brain cells left, and I'm saving them....for this weekend!

Absolutely, that's why I went with an Aluminum body for live shows.

-Harley

_________________
I only have two brain cells left, and I'm saving them....for this weekend!

Poplar has a hardness rating of 540 were as Alder is 590 they are very close but the difference is that the greyish green of Poplar is hard to finnish compard to Alder which is also considerd to have better sound quality. Ash depends on what type of Ash but most is double Alder and Poplar. Maple also varies Red Maple 950 and Sugar Maple 1450 and there are others.

_________________
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've also heard that denser wood lends more sustain to the Guitar while softer, more pourace woods have thicker, almost chambered sound.

I also have this funny picture in my head of two guys on stage, each with a supply of Warmoth bodies, hurling them into the audience one at a time.

_________________
"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

ash is a gorgeous timber but for me its got to be alder i think it breathes
easier and will mature better than ash through the years just got my first maple necked strat so the jurys out on that one but does sound brighter
than my rosewood board strat

bright burst finish + a little brighter more classic strat sound = ash
solid color or 3 tone sunburst + darker sound = alder
crummier tone + no sustain and boring grain = poplar

Ash and Alder are both very fine woods.

The advantage of Alder over Ash is that it is more consistent for Tone, Weight and Finishing.

Ash is much more of a hit & miss on each of these things since there is so much variation between blanks. Ash is also lighter in general (not always a good thing).

It's easier to buy an Alder guitar as they are so consistent. This makes them more ideal for online purchases - try one locally and then search for the same model online. It will sound mostly the same as the one you actually played locally.

But Ash guitars vary so much, personally, I would never buy one new without playing and comparing at least 3 of them side-by-side, which discourages purchasing online.

Claims of one being 'better' than the other for Tone are usually anecdotal as many factors go into deciding what's better for you such as style of Music, degree of Clean vs Effects used, etc. But, in general, Alder resonates better in the Mid-High range while Ash resonates better with Low tones.

Ash is more expensive to buy and more expensive to produce (more manufacturing time), so it's mostly found on Fender's more expensive models.

Fender has a fairly definitive video at their Custom Shop. Click the link and then select the video for Body Wood: http://www.fendercustomshop.com/index.php/master-built/

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele