Which wood is better for a stratocaster guitar body: Alder or Ash?

Question

Is there any different in the sound? I am buying a new guitar but I do not know that difference, thanks

Answer 1

hey rico.......... if memory serves swamp ash is the man........ the species is all too important in creating an overall tone specific to the instrument....... for instance.. les paul.. mahogany capped with flamed maple...... its not all about the pickups..... alder bodies are fine........ but having a swamp ash strat just sounds good..........

Answer 2

An Electric guitar could be made from Re-cycled Milk Bottle Tops.

Its the quality of the Pick-up components and what you are trying to put it through that counts.  

Answer 3

Good question.

I've played a LOT of strats (& owned 3), and here's what I think:

I think the actual chunk of wood you pick, is more important than which type. It has a HUGE difference in the sound. Strangely, I've liked the lighter Strat's the best  (not to mention they feel better after a long gig!).

They theoretically have 'slightly' less sustain, but I've never noticed it, and it seemed like they had more character, for some reason.

One thing I did notice, was that the ebony necks sounded better than the maple necks, which bummed me out, because I LOVE the look of the maple necks. (this is really subjective though... don't make this decision because of me...).

In orchestral stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass) the better instruments have finer grained wood for the top (face). More consistent harmonics, apparently (plus, less likely to warp).

So if I were building one, I'd go that direction. But again, I had a nice 1974 strat with fairly wide grain, and it sounded good.  Then again, it was heavy, so...

OK, that's probably more info than you wanted! ha ha!

Answer 4

If you're buying the guitar, then plug them both into the same amp, and compare them.   If you don't play well, then have a friend who does play come along and try them out for you.

If you're building the guitar... I'll let you in on a little secret that Stradivarious used on his famous violins (renowned for their quality of sound)... he soaked the wood in water, to open up the grain, before using it to construct his instruments.  You'll notice the comments above about 'swamp' wood.... guess what?  It's loaded with water, and has a more open grain.

I'll qualify this answer with this... I'm a woodworker, who enjoys playing the piano, organ, accordian, and saxaphone... but I don't play guitar.  I CAN however, tell the difference between a good sounding guitar, and a cheap one.

Have Fun

Answer 5

Ash gives a bit more of a brigher tone, if it is Swamp Ash then your in luck, its light and a very nice wood

but Swamp ash is used less in favor of hard ash since its much cheaper and a tad heavier but still gives a great sound non the less

to the ear though it would be hard to tell the difference