Basswood vs Alder vs Swamp ash Strat?

  • Thread starter Thread starter veji
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Bit of Trivia.

First Fender solid-bodies sold were pine cause it sounded so good, but very quickly
their dealers started reporting in that the guitar bodies were denting too easily.

They quickly switched to ash and then mostly alder.
 
PDC said:
God, this is SO ‘lumber dependent’ - an unusually good sounding piece of basswood can outshine a dud chunk of alder or swamp ash. Having owned and played all of your current options, basswood is my least favorite. I’ve lucked out a couple of times - but I find it to be ‘too’ warm / soft to the point of lacking clarity and attack. A hard, gloss paint finish on a basswood body can help with this. My first choice would be Alder. Very even, very balanced across the tonal spectrum of lows, mids and highs. I’ve got a roasted swamp ash strat and it’s got its own thing going on. I don’t ‘dislike’ it, but I’ve got an identically built strat in alder (Warmoth necks and bodies) and the alder build is just a touch firmer sounding with more clarity using identical Jalen Franky pickups and 2-post Hipshot non locking trems.
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This..end thread. Honestly, you can get killer tones from most of the wood types mentioned IF it is a good slab to begin with. If I were going for traditional strat tones I'd bet on Alder first.
But, my Maple Charvel has amazing tone, and the best of all the vintage Charvels after spending some more time with it. As stated though, it IS heavy as hell...9.5 lbs. If I were still gigging it would be a one set guitar lest my shoulder give out.
 
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Hi
Which is different between

alder vs bassewood with maple top.

basewood vs bassewood with maple

Have someone maybe some video
 
the4thlast1 said:
Another vote against Basswood. Ive had several Basswood guitars and they all have that soft blah tone to them . No character , zero aggression. I would go Alder or Alder with a maple top. Ash is nice but it has a lot of attack, its laid back in the mids and is a bit thin on the high strings. It can sound awesome for rhythm but dont like it much for leads. Thats not to say there aren't exceptions to this and any wood for that matter. I actually had one basswood guitar that sound very good but I wouldn't suggest it because that was one out of 10 , lol. The other 9 were all blah
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The attack on every basswood guitar I've played sounds like mush compared to hardwoods.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
The attack on every basswood guitar I've played sounds like mush compared to hardwoods.
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It depends on the wiring, neck, bridge and pickups combination. The Ibanez TOD10 is American Basswood with ebony and it's probably the clearest/cleanest sounding guitar I've ever heard and played. And I've played hundreds but that's also a humbucking guitar with single coiled options so maybe those are different applications. Either way, still valid entry.

Anyway, my go to is usually Alder, because it's reasonably cheaper (in most cases) compared to Swamp Ash and just as good. People really can't tell the difference. Swamp Ash is "usually" lighter than Alder. I have 3 Swamp Ash guitars and 7 Alder Fender..

These days I really like Poplar because it's cheap, lighter and brighter (less bass response) with single coils. I definitely find it an interesting newer tonewood and can see why it's starting to get more recognized and now being used in higher end stuff.

I'm surprised OP didn't include Poplar and chambered Mahogany strats!
 
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rsm said:
tonewood in solid body electric guitars.

what's next, directional cryogenic instrument cables?

:D
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That would be interesting. I used Monster Plexi topped Plad gold tip cables for years, now I bought a few of the new plastic topped Ernie Ball Flex Plat tipped cables so using those. Both are great 👍

You?
 
SteveGlitch said:
That would be interesting. I used Monster Plexi topped Plad gold tip cables for years, now I bought a few of the new plastic topped Ernie Ball Flex Plat tipped cables so using those. Both are great 👍

You?
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whatever's on sale when I need cables. I have Roland, Boss, Mogami, Kirlin, StageMaster,...many others; or cheap rechargeable wireless from Amazon...
 
Titanium works great IMO; no wood required.

Of the near 30 guitars I currently own, my Gittler Titanium is the only one I will never sell

Gittler Titanium 3.png
 
SteveGlitch said:
It depends on the wiring, neck, bridge and pickups combination. The Ibanez TOD10 is American Basswood with ebony and it's probably the clearest/cleanest sounding guitar I've ever heard and played. And I've played hundreds but that's also a humbucking guitar with single coiled options so maybe those are different applications. Either way, still valid entry.

Anyway, my go to is usually Alder, because it's reasonably cheaper (in most cases) compared to Swamp Ash and just as good. People really can't tell the difference. Swamp Ash is "usually" lighter than Alder. I have 3 Swamp Ash guitars and 7 Alder Fender..

These days I really like Poplar because it's cheap, lighter and brighter (less bass response) with single coils. I definitely find it an interesting newer tonewood and can see why it's starting to get more recognized and now being used in higher end stuff.

I'm surprised OP didn't include Poplar and chambered Mahogany strats!
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Poplar! The Steve Morse EBMM Music Man guitars have bodies made of Poplar. (The Morse Y2D's are Poplar bodies with a maple tops) A bunch of EVH's Kramers had Poplar bodies, too. I can't argue with the tones I've heard from those guys.
 
My vote goes for Alder and a JB in it. Beautiful combo !
 
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