Alder Strat vs Swamp Ash Strat? which do you prefer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter veji
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I’ve owned several of both. At the end of the day, I think you have to really hunt to find a ‘bad’ sounding piece of alder. Pay the modest up charge for a center seam 2-piece alder body (or a 1-piece...) and it is almost guaranteed to sound in the ‘extremely good’ to ‘outstanding’ range. Swamp ash is more of a spin of the wheel: some swamp ash guitars sound really good while others can sound ‘dull’ for lack of a better term (a bit too light? almost ‘hollow’ sounding?)
My next build will be 1-piece roasted alder with a very simple oil finish.
 
When I say ash I generally mean northern hard (baseball bat) ash, like EVH used back in the day. I have a swamp ash Chubtone that sounds great, as well as some alder guitars and they all sound great, but they generally need different pickups and/or EQ settings.
 
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I favor ash these days, but the right pickup is essential to being back some of the scooped mids.
 
Findthetone1 said:
It took awhile to find the sweet spot height wise for the neck SC1. I think I'm finally there and am really liking it. The HF2 is a very versatile pickup but I am leaning towards trying a little hotter one as long as it still splits well.
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Do you think you would prefer sc2 over sc1 ? i recommend h2+ for bridge
 
veji said:
Do you think you would prefer sc2 over sc1 ? i recommend h2+ for bridge
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I’m not sure. I don’t have much experience with Anderson pickups. There are times I think I could go for a little hotter neck pickup.
 
jski59 said:
I favor ash these days, but the right pickup is essential to being back some of the scooped mids.
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I never found ash to be scooped but then again I use a pickup with heavy mids and a EQ with mids boosted so in the end I guess it balances itself out, overall I found Alder to be a little more consistent sounding whereas ash bodies are hit and miss
 
Findthetone1 said:
Interesting. I've wondered if an ash body/floyd combo would be too bright.
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Not a Stratocaster but I had a Kramer Custom with the slanted hum and 2 single coils and it was Northern Ash with the German Floyd..It was louder than any ohter guitar I had by twice..it had such great resonance that balanced out the highs and brightness..it sounded amazing ! Sorry not a Strat.
 
I had a maple neck/fretboard swamp ash Hamer Daytona Strat back in the day, with Duncan STK-2 hot stacks in the bridge and neck, and a Dimarzio HS-3 in the middle.

Never could get over the 14" radius, but man that thing was a real 90's funk/blues/rock machine.

Swamp ash gave the heft, scoop, and power! It was a Hamer that was a HAMMER!

Nailing chili peppers and SRV was no thang with that axe. LOVE the Swamp Ash!
 
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