Good swamp ash is both light and resonant, and generally carries a broad grain that looks great under a translucent finish. Manufacturers vary based on their approach. This configuration is very light weight, light blonde in color and highlighted by a darker brown elongated grain pattern. Anybody have any particular favorites? So, you could say Pine falls somewhere between basswood and alder with a beautifully dimensional, musical voice all its own. It also tends to stain easily in the natural growing habitat, so the color of the wood can become unsightly. In general, mahogany should absorb a bit of the string vibration as you play – much more than maple or some other neck wood types. The wood offers strong grain markings, making the appearance stunning. ... Basswood. However, maple is an easier wood to finish because it has tight and highly durable grains. With this format, the tone is a thick, powerful mid range sound with plenty of clarity, but with no stabbing high or low lows. Weight of Ash Types Compared: Swamp Ash (guitar) Average Dried Weight: less than 30-33.6 lbs/ft 3 (481-538 kg/m 3) Board-foot weight: less than 2.5-2.8 pounds. Alder Basswood or Swamp Ash Discussion in 'Telecaster Discussion Forum' started by jackdc100, Sep 18, 2006. This Swamp Ash combination has very similar sound characteristics to that of the solid Swamp Ash body. It is a fairly light weight wood which makes it easily distinguishable from Hard Ash. It offers chocolate brown stripes and a very hard, coarse texture with open grains. The process works much the same way as if you played the guitar in a small room, then in a large room. You may occasionally find a piece of poplar with a stunning grain pattern if you try. The material is non-toxic and the guitar neck will never warp. Mahogany's a bit too round for me as said before, and swamp ash is too scooped. The reason I did this was I liked the neck on the basswood model better which was set up with humbuckers which … Colored fillers or lacquer is set inside the grain to create a smooth clearing surface. Solid wood is another popular approach. I was going to go for black, but then I noticed that black models are made with basswood rather than swamp ash, like most of the other finishes. Compared to rosewood, ebony fingerboard woods are bright, durable, and sustainable. The material in the neck can amplify the body wood and highlight special features in the grain to pair well aesthetically as well. Walnut is a dense wood with sparkly brightness, like koa. Unlike some other types, maple wood has a uniform grain. The result is time-consuming and labor-intensive. With a less dense wood, the sound offers more sustain and a darker resonance. Well i'm getting ready to make a guitar and I was wondering what wood I should use. Of course the weight is very light but the color selection is a bit more limited, than the ash/ash combination, only because the backing wood can look darker than the top wood with lighter transparent shades. For this reason, an opaque paint color is usually chosen for a solid basswood body. This is the only body wood combination offered on all of our Cobra guitar models. In fact, strat bodies made of rosewood can easily weigh over six pounds. Ash is a tonewood that comes in two main types: The most popular option is hard ash due to the bright tone and high sustainability. The sound is bass-friendly and warm, ideal for sweet and responsive mid-range tones. What are the tonal differences between alder swamp ash and basswood? There are also two synthetic materials to choose from. One is swamp ash and the other is basswood and both had rosewood fingerboard. Ebony frets cost around 10 times that of rosewood. This combination produces a bit less middle in its frequency response than does Maple Top with Basswood Back. Soft ash is also commonly called ‘swamp ash’. Sep 18, 2006 #2. woodman Grand Wazoo @ The … Another rare and expensive option, like rosewood, the sale and circulation of Bubinga was recently restricted to protect the wood from a drastic reduction in numbers. Mahogany is a wood that became popular primarily being used on 24 3/4" scale length guitars since the 1950's. It has a rather scooped out midrange tone with a robust low, low end and beautifully musical sparkling highs. The result is a bright and clear sound. However, the open grain wood does require more work during production to fill the open pores and finish the guitar. It has a harder, more focused upper-mid crispness. This combination is rather light in weight and looks beautiful with almost all transparent colors. Medium brown in color with a red or orange hue, this mid to mid-heavy weight wood has a mild grain pattern that looks great with many transparent finishes. However, soft ash offers a warmer feel. Some manufacturers simply can’t afford to import korina. This is by far the most popular body wood combination for all of our Drop Top models. Body wood, or the types of wood used to create the back and sides of a guitar, does more than look pretty. However, maple offers better sustainability. With a thicker, more expensive piece of wood, you gain superior results. The hollow body does produce richer and more abundant overtones which give this combination a whole new character - perhaps moving closer to the traditional wood tones without losing its own personality. Luthiers also tend to despise working with korina tonewoods. The manufacturing process can take longer, as it requires closer attention to detail and careful handling of the materials. However, acoustic models gain most of their sound from the wood choice. It’s so similar to rosewood, in fact, that companies like Fender even started using it as a replacement for rosewood fretboards in their Mexican-made models. Similar to alder, basswood is nearly mid-range. Many of the 50's Fenders were made of Swamp Ash.