= = = = Wood You Believe it = = = =

[OLDEREK]

Taken from a USA Site, see what they say about sound from different wood...


SWAMP ASH - Has a tight bottom end (which we all like), scooped mids and a bright top end. It has a very quick attack when striking the strings - which is great for some players and bad for others. It has very open grain, which makes it a pain in the backside to finish. It is a very resonant wood, so it sounds phenomenal played clean. Great for Funk, Surf Music, Blues with a bite, Country twang, vintage Rock, and clean smooth Jazz.

ALDER - The "tastes like chicken" of wood. It has a nice even response all the way around the tone spectrum! Mostly known for its great Blues and Rock tones. It's the one body wood you can go play a Death Metal Gig one night, country the next night, Blues the next night and it's sounds fine for all of them. It is normally lightweight and has a closed grain which is a finishers dream. We carry hand selected Alder that is suitable for clear finishes as well as bursts and solid colors.

MAHOGANY - Our favorite wood for different varieties of Rock and Jazz! Normally pretty non-back friendly in a solid body, especially after years of gigging! Mahogany tends to filter out some of the shrill highs, has nice mids, and a fat bottom end (reminds us of a old Queen song). Can't be beaten for chunky rock in a solid body, and can't be beaten for chunky Jazz in a hollow body. Sometimes we recommend using 1/4" Maple tops on them to get back some articulation if used with a Mahogany neck. Not the easiest to finish, but not the hardest either. We now offer only African and other types of equatorial mahogany - we are using 2 different types right now that are truly killer tonewoods. Up until recently we used only Honduran Mahogany, but iIt has gotten awfully scarce and very expensive. Honduran is available at an upcharge, when we have it. Please be sure to ask about availablilty and pricing.

POPLAR - Doesn't sound too bad, but we refer to it as "the poor mans Alder" and normally use it for prototypes.

BASSWOOD - A nice resonant wood. Normally associated with Metal and Hard Rock guitars. Has a fat bottom and can sometimes (depending on pickups) have a mushy bottom end. But overall sounds pretty darn good. But if you look at it to hard it may dent because it is quite soft!

REDWOOD - We have this only in 1/4" tops! A phenomenal sounding wood for a real warm Jazzy sounding hollow body. It is red in color and always has nice grain patterns for a clear finish. It is soft, but any hollow body will break if you drop it on it's face! We won't have it forever - we have a very limited supply.

EASTERN HARD ROCK MAPLE - Durable, bright, and articulate. We can build entire bodies out of it for that 80's shrill screaming Metal tone. Rock maple can be used as a top wood if that's what you want.

WESTERN MAPLE - Softer than rock maple, we of course carry all of the varieties for top woods (quilt, flame, and wild). Tommy really loves the look of wild "angel step" maple tops

[John M]

I can identify with the bass wood comments re. softness of the wood.
I have a CIJ strat in basswood which, although only around 18 months old, has quite a few small "dings" on the body.
I also have a California strat which doesnt show too much wear considering ive had it around 8 years.

[Bojan]

It's very strange that there is no mention of one of the two most popular body woods -- ash!

[Amanda]

How about Balsa

[David Martin]

You're just flying a kite, Amanda...

[dave robinson]

Balsa ! Don't be ridiculous - you'll be suggesting that they should make aeroplanes from balsa next . . . .

[AlanMcKillop]

They don't? who do you fly with then?

[Amanda]

Neck bracing would be essential with a balsa guitar!

(and before anyone says "whose neck?" the guitar of course!)

Amanda

[Gatwick1946]

Noodling through the websites of the major gear shifters, there now seems to be well over 150+ types of strat or tele available. But they don't always specify which type of wood is used for the body.

Of those that do, the most popular choice is either alder or ash, with mahogany sometimes specified.

Which wood is recommeded for "that sound"? Has anyone ever rejected a guitar because they were not satisfied with its sound ot sustain?

I can see that weight could be a factor. Otherwise, I am just curious.

KIndest regards
Christopher

[JimN]

Derek: do they say anything about different brands of PP3 in effects units?