I have a really sweet maple neck that came on a Korean Squier II from the late 1990's. Its as pretty and sweet as my 08 MIA.

The body however is one of the infamous plywood constructions.

I would like to put the neck on a nice body.

All things being equal, what does Ash give you "tone wise" vs. Alder.

Where do you get nice genuine Fender bodies?

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I remember when we were free!

Ebay!

Ash *can* be a slightly brighter tone wood, but not necessarily.

It does make for a prettier sunburst or transparent finish though, due to the more dramatic grain.

Check out "The Stratosphere" on Ebay......they're the largest of the chop-shop vendors on-line.

Best of luck, HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Depending on the type of ash the tonal response could be quite different-black ash(the bark not the wood is blackish)tends to be quite heavy and imparts more bottom end response and greater sustain whereas swamp ash although a great sustaining wood weighs about the same as alder and gives you more pronounced mids and highs than black ash.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

i just dont understand the big deal about which woods questions people ask.
yeah theres characteristics different woods have over the next, but it all doesnt mean very much when your pickups are mounted to a piece of plastic in the first place, and not the wood.
pick a body and worry more about pickup and hardware choices if your mounting pups to plastic.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Yes......

And a 1970 AAR Cuda 340 Six-Pack in "Moulin Rouge" is JUST A CAR.

Someday you'll figure it out.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

well take the time to eplain it if your one in the know.

oh actually a 340 6pk is garbage. 3 duces? come on man.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Like I said......"someday you'll figure it out".

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

lol figures as much.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Everyone who is a Strat fanatic, is on a quest for the holy grail..perfect Strat tone...ala SRV, Frusciante, Clapton, EJ, Hendrix etc etc etc.

Bottom line is this. It is a combination of everything that gives a great tone. It starts at the fingers of the player...then to the pick ups...which do what you may ask??? convert the vibrations of the strings (which include the characteristics of the body and neck wood, bridge, saddles, tuners etc) to the amp..where the sound (which includes tone, harmonics etc) to the amplifier..which is...made louder.

Here is a description of the characteristics of different woods by the masters...FENDER themselves...

What are the tonal differences on solid body guitars, between Alder, Ash, Poplar, Basswood, Mahogany and Maple?

1. Alder: full and rich, with fat low-end, nice cutting mids, and good overall warmth and sustain. Alder is generally considered to be one of the "traditional" Stratocaster body woods.
2. Ash: exhibits a "snappier" tone with a bright edge, but with a warm bass and long sustain. It is often considered as the other "traditional" Stratocaster body wood.
3. Poplar: one of the softer hardwoods, nicely resonant with a meaty tone. Many guitar manufacturers as a substitute for alder are using this wood, as it is quite similar in tone.
4. Basswood: the principal wood used on many Japanese made instruments. This is due both to its tonal response, (once again, very similar to Alder) as well as the fact that Basswood is much more readily available to the manufacturers in Asia.
5. Mahogany: deep warm mids, good sustain and nice "bite"
6. Maple: punchy, bright, and has a nice bite on the high end. Often used only as a laminated top instead of an entire body, as it tends to be a particularly heavy wood.


My personal opinion? Learn to play. Try different guitars until you find one you like...and then you know which is the best. you can't expect to sound like SRV if you do not know how to play like him...but..could we expect SRV to have that tone on a Squier??? Perhaps that is the real question.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

The reason I asked is not because I am in search of "the" ultimate sound. Its really because Pickers parts has an Ash Deluxe Players body in Sunburst that might go well with the neck.

I was trying to decide on it as a possible purchase, I not too familiar with ash soundwise.

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I remember when we were free!

Well generally one would chose a body based on what they believe will give the best tone. Sometimes someone needs a specific body for a project to match the neck and build. Sometimes, one buys just because they like the look.

If you want good sound, ash is a good choice, probably my personal favorite for tone and looks..

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

If the neck has a maple fingerboard, then ash is the more appropriate tonewood for this type of fingerboard material. You can't go wrong with an alder body and a rosewood fingerboard. Mahogany and basswood suit well both maple and ebony fretboards, though you can make your very own personal combinations you consider much convenient for your tastes.

Let your musical inspiration and creativity decide!

Mine Alder/Maple sounds fantastic. Sometimes i think i should have paid a lot more for this Highway1. Aldo I choosed 'her' instead of a Am St. The Am St was preetier, tinted neck, gloss paint, but the sound and the catch feel of the HWY1 owned me.

Man,you just took me back to a great memeory of a beautiful blonde I dated in '71 who was several years older and owned a '70/71 Cuda,a Gold color,I can't say what was under the Cuda's hood for sure,a 383 I think,but man the girl was a 440!!!

Oh yeah...I prefer alder for Strats...