Swamp ash is often used for guitar bodies for its sonic characteristics and for its light weight. In contrast to alder’s even and consistent tonal properties due to its tight, consistent grain, the open grain and varied grain structure of swamp ash means that two swamp ash bodies may differ from one another tonally. Swamp ash sound is articulate, with a great balance between brightness and warmth. Swamp ash wood has large open pores, making it resonant and sweet sounding, with great highs, solid well-defined midrange, and a strong low end. This wood looks awesome with natural finishes and transparent colors. The wood is light in color, highlighted by brown grain patterns. The wood has beautiful grain that is perfect for transparent or lightly colored finishes that let the wood grain show through. Typically, the wood is taken from the lower portions of wetland trees that have root systems below water level. In some cases it makes for bodies that are quite heavy! These bodies have a brighter sound that might be more useful when sharper tones are desired. As a guitar body, it produces more treble and sustain, with less warmth than other guitar woods. In addition to guitar bodies, ash is used for flooring, furniture, baseball bats, and many other items.įor guitar bodies, two sub species are used: northern ash and southern or “swamp” ash. The wood is strong, dense, straight-grained and light in color. American Ash is a native North American hardwood found on the eastern half of the continent. For use in electric guitar bodies, the American ash species – Fraxinus Americana – is the one in prominent use. Like alder, swamp ash is a classic solid body guitar wood. It is now the body wood for many of Fender guitars and bases. This wood was readily available and less expensive than ash (particularly the swamp ash that produces the best instruments). Alder bodies offer a fair amount of sustain.Īs with ash, it’s impossible to discuss the use of alder in guitars without talking about Fender.
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These bodies are very full in the low midrange yet produce clear and articulate higher frequencies. Alder bodies are resonant, and have a strong, clear, full-bodied sound, with beefy mid-range sounds and excellent lows. Weight does vary, however, and some alder used for guitar bodies may weigh less than denser cuts of ash.ĭue to its widespread popularity it produces a familiar tone. Alder is a medium weight, closed pore wood. It is typically used under opaque finishes, but some examples can look good under darker translucent finishes. Alder’s grain might not be particularly interesting, but it is generally straight and clean looking. It has a light brown color and a tight grain that is not terribly prominent, making it ideal for solid colors rather than the transparent finishes that look so good on some ash bodies. Alder is easy to work with and it glues well.Īlder takes finishes well. Guitar bodies made from alder typically consist of two to four pieces glued together (though there are single piece alder bodies – at Alloy Guitars we offer them!). Like ash, alder is often used on its own as a body wood (that is, it is not usually topped/capped with another wood as often happens with mahogany). Red alder grows on the US west coast and is the dominant species used for electric guitar bodies. For our purposes, Alnus rubra, or red alder, is the variety of interest. It grows throughout the northern hemisphere in the temperate zone. ALDERĪlder wood is used in more guitar bodies than any other species.Īlder is a common name for genus Alnus, which is part of the birch family Betulaceae family. With some very notable exceptions, just a few mainstay woods have been used for fashioning electric instruments: for bodies, primarily alder and ash in the Fender world, and mahogany and maple in the Gibson world for necks, primarily maple necks with maple or rosewood fingerboards (in the Fender world), and mahogany necks with rosewood fingerboards in the Gibson world. When you’re studying the specs of an electric guitar or bass, you will almost certainly see the kind of body wood, neck wood, and fingerboard wood used. Many different woods are used in building electric guitars. Design Your Own Custom Guitar Bodies and Necks.
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