Alder strats vs swamp ash strats

[MrWolf]

Doesn't matter. Toanwood is a myth.

What's Toanwood ?
Maybe it is a myth but TONEWOOD definitely is not.

 

[jellodog]

I prefer alder over swamp butt that's just me.

 

[Eagle]

You have to have both.

And a Tele to really hear ash/ maple.

 

[Eagle]

There are many misconceptions about a 7.25 and who plays them etc etc....

Firstly, most people complained about a 7.25 but it was really the complaint of such low frets on an original which caused many players to smear a bent note because of finger slippage and not the radius.

Add to that, many guitars have been refretted and MANY have planed fingerboards to get rid of the dreaded 12-14 fret hump, on the treble side, caused OVER TIME due to how the neck is bolted to the guitar. Pressure, pressure and MORE pressure as time goes by and aided by humidity too. So, we then have a compound radius by default and these players continue to play their 7.25 without issue or complaint.

Blackmore's solution, back in the day, about small low frets was the famous scalloping but the radius was kept intact and look how he turned out playing a 7.25 on record. Malmsteen then follows Blackmore but yes, Fender for tooling purpose and NO public whinging/complaints makes them a 9.5 as you said. Malmsteen's are most likely 7.25 I'd wager.

I could go on and on but suffice to say.........KEEP the 7.25 and put 6150 fretwire on it and have a SERIOUS luthier set it up properly and you'll never want to play anything other than a 7.25. Leo made 7.25s for a reason and that reason is still valid today along with the rest of the guitar. Fretwire was an afterthought back in the day for the most part hence only 3 common varieties existed. Gibson wire, Fender wire and Banjo/Acoustic wire. Now we have a gazillion versions/sizes available.

Play a good set up 7.25 and see what you think thereafter.

Malmsteem’s own new fenders are all 9.5 . I have had two on my bench.
If you set up a strat with 7.25” with a close to dead straight neck it works ok. But the flatter the fingerboard the more next fret clearance with all the rest exactly the same. It gets worse from the centre line. Also a loose truss rod will damp more than a tight one.
Your right about how crap vintage fret size is though

 

[Jarick]

Honestly I’m starting to think the fenders really are better with higher action. Even if that means lighter strings. For whatever reason my single coil guitars sound much better with what I would call medium high versus medium or lower action.

 

[Eagle]

Honestly I’m starting to think the fenders really are better with higher action. Even if that means lighter strings. For whatever reason my single coil guitars sound much better with what I would call medium high versus medium or lower action.

Higher than what ? You need to give us context. Radius , fret size, relief string size and action???

 

[Eagle]

What's Toanwood ?
Maybe it is a myth but TONEWOOD definitely is not.

I think wood matters hugely but I hate the term "Tonewood". Practically every wood that fits in to that category was originally picked for OTHER reasons, availability, cost, strength , even ease of painting.

 

[andergtr]

doesn't matter that much to me.

body wood makes a difference, but it isn't that much. i know because i had jim tyler build me three identical classics with different body woods but same components otherwise. one was alder, one was swamp ash, and one was jelutong. the alder was slightly fuller in the lower mids, the swamp ash was slightly brighter and the jelutong was probably the most balanced of the three, somewhere in the middle.

but we are talking slight differences here...not les paul vs. tele difference. not even strat vs. tele difference.

 

[Eagle]

Ash is more gooder.

View attachment 1756


Wood trivia- Swamp ash is no different from other types of ash, it’s just the location it’s been cut in and swamp ash generally denotes the wood was taken from the lower portion of the tree that’s generally been submerged longer. The grain patterns vary depending on the health of the tree and weather variations throughout it’s life. My Strat above was most likely from the top portion of an older tree that grew in a climate that didn’t change seasons and lived a long, healthy life. In general, a straighter grain is generally thought to be a stronger piece of wood, offering a little more snap as a “tone wood” but that’s getting into the subjective stuff.

That’s definitely pine.

 

[DrewJD82]

That’s definitely pine.

I thought so too, but asked the seller about it and he swears it’s ash. The confusing part is how lightweight it is, from all my experience growing up in the Pine Tree State, a piece of pine this size would weigh a lot more, but I can’t say I’ve ever held a piece this size that’s been purposefully dried out for a guitar body. The seller was knowledgeable enough about everything else, which would leave me to think he wasn’t just guessing, but the grain absolutely looks like pine.