It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:27 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 131 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 9  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 9  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:40 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:29 pm
Posts: 1162
Location: Lee, MA
Wood type on the body doesnt have much to do with the tone; seeing that strings and pickups never come into contact with the wood. I find the fretboard has much more affect on the tone than the body wood does. Ive played some ash that have a brighter sound, but I believe this had more to do with the necks being one piece maple instead of maple/rosewood fretboard.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:44 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:01 pm
Posts: 3261
Location: Halls of ikea
Bump.............no reason I'm bored, and somewhere someone out there knows
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:28 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
:lol: Hope you're enjoying this BJ!!!! :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:52 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
Posts: 8461
Location: Mars, the angry red planet.
I prefer imported, unfinished plywood myself as it presents an exotic, raw multi-layered tonality. :lol: :lol: :lol:

_________________
You dig?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:07 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:51 pm
Posts: 25353
Location: Witness Protection Program
all of the above.

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:13 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:38 am
Posts: 4333
Location: Tennessee
Naughtius Maximus wrote:
It's a bunch of horse $@!& dude. Really... A really awesome guitar is one you play a lot. Don't drink the Kool Aid.

I ate the purple berries.....was that okay?
"been eating them for two or three weeks now...haven't got sick once"

sorry CSN&Y :lol:


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:16 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:37 am
Posts: 334
Location: Dundee, N.Y.
all i can tell you is i have 2 PRS Swamp Ash Specials and the have amazing tone

_________________
2011 PRS 25th SAS
2008 Eric Clapton Custom Antigua Strat
2012 PRS Artist Package Studio Special Order


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:26 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
windwalker9649 wrote:
Wood type on the body doesnt have much to do with the tone; seeing that strings and pickups never come into contact with the wood. I find the fretboard has much more affect on the tone than the body wood does. Ive played some ash that have a brighter sound, but I believe this had more to do with the necks being one piece maple instead of maple/rosewood fretboard.


If that were true then there would never be a such thing as a tone wood discussion and an entire industry would switch from tone woods to polymers and phenolic resins or recycled pop cans. Also, the strings do come in contact with the bridge and the bridge is mounted to the wood, as is the pickguard. I'll agree that the pickups play a much greater role but the body wood is a factor. It cannot be simply dismissed just because there's a pickguard. The wood affects how the strings vibrate because it's the wood that the strings are anchored to. It's impossible for the wood to not be a factor.

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:11 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:31 pm
Posts: 2638
Location: Pacific North West, USA
BigJay wrote:
Hey guys!

Quick question.

Does ash or alder give better tone?

Thanks.

So let me see if I am getting the picture yet...BigJay used to be on the Forum under another name. He makes a new name and then starts this thread, knowing that this topic has been beat to death on this and other forums. Then he sits back and watches for entertainment? That is EVIL, EVIL, EVIL!!! :lol: :twisted: :lol: Are you enjoying this yet BJ?

Now for adding to the controversy... the best tone wood is a vinyl covered body and acrylatic front. It rings and sustains forever. Deep low tones and really bright highs. My buddy had an old Hagstrom III wanttobe Strat that was like that. Sounds GREAT! As good as my Alder/Ash/Basswood/Sen/Maple/ bodied guitars!!! :evil: How is that for EVIL???? :roll:

Image

_________________
Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com
Image


Last edited by Xhefri on Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:19 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
You're on the right trail Mr, X !!! :wink:

update: seems to be working BJ. Wonder how many posts will appear here? Getting popcorn. :|


Last edited by fhopkins on Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:30 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:29 pm
Posts: 1162
Location: Lee, MA
If that were true then there would never be a such thing as a tone wood discussion and an entire industry would switch from tone woods to polymers and phenolic resins or recycled pop cans. Also, the strings do come in contact with the bridge and the bridge is mounted to the wood, as is the pickguard. I'll agree that the pickups play a much greater role but the body wood is a factor. It cannot be simply dismissed just because there's a pickguard. The wood affects how the strings vibrate because it's the wood that the strings are anchored to. It's impossible for the wood to not be a factor.[/quote]

If you read my quote, i said it had some factor, but not as much as other guitars, i used a tele as an example. The pickups mounted to the pickguard on a strat has virtually NO impact at all. Other guitars use pickguards, but the pickups are mouned to the actual body, they are not on a strat, they sit screwed to a plastic pickguard. The finish on the wood will have more of an impact than the wood itself, especially on MIM's because they're covered in polyester finsh, which is pretty much a plastic blanket. Thewood doesnt really affect the pickup response because they sit on a plastic pickguard that's attached at the very edges to the body, and they float in spot, anchored to the pickguard. which;yes, rests on the body, but that wont have much affect. Tone woods do make a HUGE difference in some electrics, actually most electrics; Tele's and other string throughs being the most affected. The fretboard has more of an impact because the tone bounces off the surface and comes back into contact with the strings. I can say what I stated with complete confidence, because Ive done every type of switch you can think of. Using the same body but changing the neck, keeping the neck changing the body, switching the whole pickup assembly and putting them in differnt guitars. The wood will have more of an impact on a strat if you have your trem flush, with heavy spring tension, because it makes a coupling of sorts to the body. Other than that, with a floating trem; Ive a/b's every combination there is, and wood of the body had the least impact on the overall tone. Pick/ string selection has 10 times more of an impact than body wood selection. While wood on strat does have a small impact on the primary tone, being the guitar unplugged, you will notice it more on a mahogony vs alder than you will alder vs ash. I went through this all when i was in the beginning stages of building my strat. We had unfinished bodies at the shop, and i put them together with my loaded pickguard, and neck. I couldnt really hear any difference. I build effects pedals and amps along with work on and repair guitars, so my ears have become tuned to small changes in tone. If you're sitting in a GC and you're A/B'ing an alder and ash body strat and you hear a difference, odds are that its something else making the change. As for the tremolo being attached to the body, if you go into a guitar shop and play wiht an alder and ash American Dlx, you will see what I mean. White six screw vintage trems are attached to the body, the 2 screw modern floating trems are anchored by only a knife edge on the base plate to the 2 bolts. To imply what i wrote means that I think tonewoods make no difference in guitars is to totally miss the point of what i said.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:05 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:31 pm
Posts: 2638
Location: Pacific North West, USA
I remember a song by Billy Preston, "Going to go round in circles....." I did a search on "tone woods" and saw so many guitar forums where people became almost violent over this subject. I am not going to entertain BJ! Sorry.....moving on to other threads! :wink:

_________________
Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:41 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:48 am
Posts: 65
Well, heres the thing....and dont bother answering this unless you know what your talking about. OK?

Everybody knows that Les Pauls sound better than Strats. I mean, its common knowledge.

But is it because the Les Paul has that maple-capped mahogany body or because of the set-neck?

And another thing, if you have to settle for one of those crappy MIM Strats, wouldnt you be better off putting some Custom Shop pickups in there, to compensate for the lousy multi-piece glued body??

Thanks for all your help.

_________________
BigJay's Custom '69 Kickassocaster
'90 Les Paul Standard "Vintage"
'00 MIJ '62 Tele RI
'76 Fender BandMaster Reverb
'71 Acoustic Control 2x12 w/Celestion V30s
'71 Martin D18
Mesa Mark IV
'65 Deluxe Reverb RI


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:03 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
:lol: :lol: I have no opinion!! :wink:

I see you got your avatar straight now BigJay!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Ash or Alder?
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:15 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am
Posts: 7282
Location: Washington
Xhefri wrote:
So let me see if I am getting the picture yet ... BigJay used to be on the Forum under another name. He makes a new name and then starts this thread, knowing that this topic has been beat to death on this and other forums. Then he sits back and watches for entertainment?


That is the Definition of what a Forum TROLL does ... so is that "really" BigJay back on the forum?

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Image


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 131 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 9  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 9  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: