Hi guys new to the forums,


I have a couple of questions about the strat from the fretboard to the body itself.

Currently I am looking at the American Custom Ash - Maple [Tobacco Sunburst]
http://www.fender.com/products/american ... dNo=011930

I have a number of questions I will organise in numbers for quick reference for users;

1) Ash/Alder
I have heard that there is a difference in tone and weight between the ash and alder models. I am in love with the ash look and am prepared to pay the little extra [heck how often do you get to buy a fender strat]. But I love the weight especially compared to the epiphone les paul. So is there a difference in tone and weight

2) Fretboard wood

I have read forums about the 2 differences between maple and rosewood, and people generally say it is an aesthetic choice [looks]. I personally prefer the maple to the rosewood, surely if it is more bright, to make it warmer it is about plugging it into the amp and changing the EQ's? Whats the feel difference?

3) Genre Specific?

My main speciality is reggae, but obviously for lead the solo's are orientated around blues scales. Am I in the right ballpark with this guitar

4) HSS and custom shop?
What exactly is the HSS range of fender strats? Also the custom shop with fender have first choice with woods etc. For a guitar with the high end price tag such as this, [american custom deluxe] is there really a difference?

Thanks guys for your time reading this, I look forward to your responses.

Alex

Hi aceridgey welcome to the forum. First of all the link you provided is not a Custom Shop produced guitar. It is a top tier production model. An American Deluxe. I have an 2008 Amer. Dlx. but it has an alder body and the SCN pickups instead of the ash body and the new N3 pups. As for the ash vs. alder body; many can hear differences but I believe that all depends on the differences in which piece of ash was picked out for your guitar. Some ash bodies are more dense than others which would lead to different weights and tone. When it comes to the fretboard there is also some people that claim to hear differences. With most guitars I do not. However I don't have the best ear. Of course maple is supposedly brighter than a rosewood board but for me it is a completely asthetic choice. As for feel I can tell little difference. Your last question concerning the range of HSS Strats produced by the custom shop can be anything you want. The custom shop will put anything together you want. But as I mentioned the link you provided is not a custom shop model. Strats are very versatile and can be modified to your hearts content very easily. So the HSS setup can be anything you want as long as you have some simple soldering and electronics skills. As mentioned the Strat is very versatile and many fine reggae artists use and have used Strats. A Strat can be used for basically any style of music so no worries there. I love the ash bodied American Dlx. with the Tobacco burst so I envy the fact that you may soon be aquiring one. Anyway let us know if you have anymore questions and definitely post some pics once aquired. Good luck and happy hunting.

Russ

_________________
'08 Amer. Dlx. Strat, '98 Amer. Std. Strat, '10 Squire CV Tele Custom, '96 Seagull S+6 Cedar
Deluxe Reverb RI, Tweed Blues Jr., Champion 110, Champion 600, Mustang I, Line 6 Vetta

My first guitar was a Stratocaster. It wasn't the best player, looker, or sounder, but it got the job done. Just get a stock one with your choice of color.

(It wasn't the best player because the fretboard was rosewood, maple is so much smoother)

_________________
1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Alex - hello and welcome to the forum. I'll take a crack at answering your questions; I'm sure others will chime in as well.

EDIT: Well it took me too long to type this up, even though it repeats some info I'm going to post it anyway.

Quick point - the guitar you're looking at is called the American Deluxe Ash Strat; there used to be some models that used "Custom" in their name, but they were made by the Fender Custom Shop. The American Deluxe series is one of the "top of the line" guitar series built by Fender's main production factory (I say "one of the top of the line" because I consider the American Vintage and some of the Artist Signatures to also be "top of the production line" models).

Now on to your questions:



Alder versus Ash is one of the two questions always asked about Strats. My take - the ash body will tend to have a more "scooped" sound than alder. Alder will be pretty balanced, ash will have a bit more "brightness"; of course these are Strats and by nature they won't have bass and midrange you'll find in a Les Paul. The difference is slight but noticable; this is a rule of thumb as there will also be variances between specific guitars - you can occasionally find an alder body Strat that is brighter than an ash body Strat. They both will vary in weight; you can find an ash Strat that weighs less than an alder one and vice-versa. Either try them in person or buy from an on-line reatiler that lists the weights if you're concerned.



The differences in sound are slight; rosewood will sound a bit warmer but don't expect to hear a huge difference (unless you're Eric Johnson or somewhat else with hypersonic hearing ). Personally I find the differences in feel to be larger than the differences in sound - and that has a lot to do with the finish; if the maple board is lacquered then there is a difference in feel, if it has a satin finish then there isn't that much feel difference. As you say if you do actually notice a difference it's nothing that a minor tweak to your amp settings won't handle.



I believe you can play anything on any guitar; I have seen reggae players with Fender-type single coil guitars, Gibson-type humbucker guitars, and anything in-between. I maybe wouldn't go out of my way to play reggae using say a Jackson with active pickups, but it can be done. A Strat - seems like quite a few reggae players have used them.



Okay - HSS is the pickup set on the guitar. In this naming system Fender is referring to the pickup type starting at the bridge position, then the middle position, and finally the neck position. So "HSS" means the guitar has a bridge humbucker pickup, a middle single coil pickup, and a neck single coil pickup. It is up to you to decide if you like the sound with a bridge humbucker better than the sound of a Strat with 3 single coils. I'm not the person to answer this - I've never gotten my sound out of an HSS Strat; I prefer to have all the same type of pickups on a guitar (either all singles or all humbuckers) - but that is just me. A lot of players love having that bridge humbucker to solo on, then switch to the single coils for their rythym playing. An American Deluxe also has some very flexible switching so you can split the coils on the bridge humbucker and get an approximation of that single coil sound.

Custom Shop is another story all together - as I mentioned earlier the American Deluxe line is from the main production factory, not the Custom Shop. These days the CS guitars are going to cost quite a bit more new than an American Deluxe. Of course used a CS Fender is going to be closer in price to a new American Deluxe. There are a lot of different CS models; most of them are based on a vintage Strat of some specific year but some of them are based on the modern models. Are they worth it? Yes they get the best woods, but you still have to find the one that works best for you. If you find a "just right for me" CS Strat then yes. But you have to find that "just right for me" Strat.

Thanks for your reply gentlemen, to clarify it was my mistake to put the custom in the name, I ment deluxe.

I will double check the weights with the retailer, do the ash bodies differ a little then between each wood? Are the alder bodies more constant?

Again I was just asking about the hss and custom shop options, I am pretty sure I don't want either .


I am between the white alder, and the sunburst ash.

I wander if the maple is laminated

Cheers again guys

Laminated? If you mean the necks then no, current Fender necks with maple fingerboards are 1-piece maple; they do not have a separate maple fingerboard installed. Only the rosewood fingerboard models have separate fingerboards.

Fender did use separate laminated maple fingerboards in the past - when they first brought the maple fingerboards back in the mid-1960s. I believe that by say 1969 you would find both necks with separate maple fingerboards and 1-piece necks; I'm pretty sure that the bullet truss rod necks that started in late 1970 were all one-piece as well.

Welcome to the forums!
I love Strats and have 5 currently,only 1 with a maple fretboard and mine are alder.
As far as tonal differences,I believe it's more in the pickups and amps rather than the wood...there have been several debates over these types of things.
My experience comes from having played and owned many different Strats over a 40+ years of playing classic blues/rock and blues.....when I gig with any of them it's usually so loud that the amp is the workhorse and any tone wood differences is lost in the mix...and maybe it's my ears,but that's what I hear in other players as well...so...my suggestion to any musician is to buy the guitar that looks and feels good and sounds like you want through the type of amp you use....but that's me.
I just think that if anybody has high hopes in the material of the guitar making a major difference more than the pickups and amps in a gigging situation,then they might be dissapointed.
If you're playing in the bedroom/living room all the time by yourself,then YMMV..as always.
But buy what you want and enjoy it!

Cheers guys, I appreciate the welcome also,

Excuse my ignorance but are the pickups exactly the same in the ash and alder versions?

Hi guys,


An update, here is what the retailer has just taken a picture of, so he will reserve this for me,

as a sub note, he said the pictures make it look a little darker than in real life.


sorry about the size..

Beautiful guitar!

Beautiful guitar; that's a great choice!

yes they're the same. They should be N3 pickups if the guitar is relatively new.

BTW, while there are differences in the wood, I tend to agree that the major ingredients in your sound are your amp, your pickups, and your fingers. There are a thousand other variables but I'm not sure if any of them make as much of a difference as what I mentioned.