Hi Guys,

I really like the Sienna Sunburst Strat, but im wondering what the difference/benefits are with ash over alder? Any thoughts would be great.

Despite a huge amount of mythology surrounding this, there's no predictable difference. The key word is "predictable."

Body wood does make a difference in the sound(and an even bigger difference in the feel or response) of a solid body guitar. But wood varies so much from piece to piece, it is impossible to determine how a guitar will sound based on species of wood.

A good, resonant, lively guitar is just a good, resonant, lively guitar. It might be made of ash or alder or basswood or pine or poplar, but you can't guess based on materials. You could easily have five guitars, each made from a different species of wood, that all sound pretty much the same.

I am well aware of the "tonewood" mythology. But in over 40 years of playing the guitar, having owned dozens of instruments and played hundreds more, in a wide variety of performance and studio settings, I can safely say that these myths are born of a basic human need to understand and predict our world.... a need we all attempt to fill even in the absence of any evidence.

I'd agree with all of the above. With one exception. You pretty much can predict that ash will have a more highly marked looking grain to it than alder, which is why it is sometimes (not always) used beneath a transparent finish, like that sienna sunburst.

The fact that alder is used on all the American Standard models except the sienna sunburst suggests that Fender agree with SlapChop that the tonal difference is small if any, and that the woods are effectively interchangeable.

And you can get pretty pieces of alder, too, for that matter...

Cheers - C

I agree, i played one when i was looking for a strat.Couldnt really tell a tone difference at all, but they are beautiful to look at though.Just couldnt justify the extra 100 dollars.Went with a charcoal frost instead.

Ceri, you are correct, sir... ash shows nicer grain patterns than alder, that's for sure.

But you can't hear grain.

As has been posted elsewhere, the pores in a piece of ash need to be filled before it will accept any coatings -- and even then you have to put a number of coats on before they stop being absorbed immediately. So, ash tends to be used where the grain can be showcased in a sunburst, natural or blonde finish rather than covering it up with multiple coats of (relatively) expensive paint. It's all about appearance, but hey, if you're looking cool you'll probably feel like playing longer!

Here's my two cents. I own a 08 Sienna Sunburst Am std strat with a rosewood fretboard and a '99 3 tone sunburst Am std strat with a maple fretboard.

IMO the sienna sunburst is a much prettier guitar, considering wood grain, but I've found that, when played unplugged, the Sienna actually resonates better than my '99 alder bodied guitar. If this is due to the Ash body, I don't know, but I do notice the difference in sound. Plugged in to a loud Marshall amp though, there's not much difference.

_________________
http://www.myspace.com/808stratdemon

Dont forget the 08 has a bigger trem block upgrade .I had a 01 American and i have an 08 Ameican and the 08 has more resonance even unplugged.

I'm sure what you are hearing is real. But I'd be with SlapChop in thinking it is the difference between two individual guitars, more than than the different timbers. In as much as you can have two identical spec guitars, same timbers, same finish, yadda yadda - and they will still resonate slightly differently from each other.

There's a whole semi-science to this. If you've a mind to, look up books on luthier timbers, such as:

http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Guitar-Tec ... 578&sr=8-1

Guys go tapping away at stacks of maple, mahogany and ash to find the pieces that resonate best, and those go into the top end guitars. Of course, vastly more important for quality acoustic guitars, but supposedly Hamer and PRS (with their "Private Stock" timbers) get into this stuff with electric guitars too...

Or we can just play a bunch of guitars and find the one that sounds nice. A good way to go.

Cheers - C

Also everything you read about Ash says that it varies so much from Tree to Tree and were the timber is cut from in the Tree. Ash is just a very much less consistant timber then Alder be it Black, Blue, White, Swamp, Griffith's, European, Korean, Ash ect. ect. My hope is that some day they will find a way to Hybrid the Amercan Species before the Emerald Ash Borer destroys most of the American ash Trees. They removed and destroyed 50 trees that were planted two years ago where I worked because it was found they some how may have come from Ohio I believe it was.

_________________
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

Mine is a 2006 Am del ash (maple) cherry sb, equipped with 10s. A friend's 1996 MIM with 9s is more resonant unplugged- it feels like the body breathes more easily...My mahogany Brian Moore i9f also sounds more resonant. The deluxe ash sounds classier but kind of muffled, any ideas on this?

Poly finish: Bullet proof lacquer, it wont let anything in or out. It is made of "a mimetic polyalloy", essentially liquid metal...

Poly finish: Bullet proof lacquer, it wont let anything in or out. It is made of "a mimetic polyalloy", essentially liquid metal...

Solid body guitars don't "breathe." They vibrate and resonate.

Nothing needs to get in or out of the wood for this to happen. A solid body that doesn't resonate is simply made of non-resonant wood. It didn't get made from the wrong species, it didn't get muffled by a poly finish (and I guarantee removing the finish will not change the way it resonates). It's simply not a highly resonant piece of wood.

Bragging rights?

I have an Ash one and I love it. Even though mine is nice and grainy and the sound jumps right off of it, I would not nor could not ever unilaterally say that Ash blows away Alder or vice-versa. You've read right here on this forum, so many of the reasons why. As a matter of fact, this entire guitar weighs 7 pounds, 8 ounces and so, even the weight of mine is somewhat, ambiguous.

_________________
You dig?