Ash vs. Alder is the battle of Fender’s two most classic tonewoods. Is Ash more resonant? Is Alder “warmer?” Though much has been written about the differences in tone between these two body woods, we think there’s a perspective that is often missed. We’ll discuss Fender-style guitars—the Telecaster and Stratocaster—to compare the differences between these woods. Since Strats and Teles are quite similar sounding, the tonal differences between an ash vs. alder Telecaster, for example, extend to a Strat as well.
It Starts with the Wood
When discussing this age-old question, there are two key questions that need to be considered:
- Does body wood make a difference in tone for Fender-style solid-body instruments?
- If so, can one consistently hear the differences between Alder and Ash?
Your personal answers to these questions will frame your opinion as to the differences between alder and ash body woods, and how much those differences mean to you.
How were Ash And Alder Chosen In The First Place?
First, a quick history: Alder and Ash wood are the original and still standard guitars of the bolt-on world, particularly Telecasters and Stratocasters (many other styles of guitars use these woods today). According to Fender.com™, the genesis of the debate dates to mid-1956, when Fender made the switch from Ash to Alder for production Stratocasters and Telecasters that weren’t butterscotch (“blonde”) colored. Basically, from 1956 on, the majority of Fender production Strats and Teles have been made of Alder, unless they were blonde, in which case Fender continued to use Ash. According to Fender, this was because Ash looks particularly good with this finish.
As to why Leo Fender chose these two woods for Fender bodies, it is widely reported that Fender had easy access to Ash early on, since there was a furniture business nearby in Fullerton that used a lot of Ash, and therefore it was readily available in the area. As for Alder, it was plentiful in the western part of the U.S. then, as it is now.
When referring to Alder, we are typically talking about Red Alder from the Northwest United States. Alder is a plentiful and inexpensive wood. With Swamp Ash, there is a little more to it, as there is no species named swamp ash. Swamp Ash refers to Ash trees that grow in an environment with a particular set of circumstances, typically in the Southern United States.
The Wood Database.com describes Swamp Ash as:
“…lightweight wood yielded from ash trees which are usually found in wet or swampy areas.”
Source: The Wood Database
This is different from Northern Hard Ash, which is what has been traditionally used for items such as baseball bats and tool handles. Fender has, throughout its history, used hard ash for teles and strats, in addition to swamp ash. Many 1970s era Fenders were made from Northern Ash, which is typically harder, heavier, and brighter sounding than Swamp Ash. In our opinion, this is why many people still assume that Ash is always “brighter” than Alder.
Alder vs. Ash Weight
In terms of body weight, the alder vs. swamp ash question matters less about species and more about the specific tree. Since wood density can vary so much, we cannot generalize about which is heavier. Many guitarists today favor lighter bodies, and both alder and ash can be made into sub-7lb finished guitars.
Quick note: Due to the Emerald Ash Borer infestation, in 2020 Fender announced that it is discontinuing the use of Ash for most production guitar bodies (Custom Shop models excluded).
Alder vs. Ash Grain
Alder is known for its even, relatively plain grain structure, while Ash is known for dramatic “cathedral” style grain lines. Dramatic graining is especially prevalent on good Swamp Ash. Because of this, Swamp Ash is often used with transparent finishes. Alder’s more uniform and less remarkable grain is often better suited to solid color finishes.
Tone Camps – Where do you reside?
There are generally three camps when it comes to opinions on differentiating the tone of body woods for solidbody guitars such as Strats and Teles:
- Camp 1: These people don’t think they can hear any difference, i.e, the differences are imagined, and confirmation bias rules (they think the people in Camp 3 are crazy).
- Camp 2: These people grant that there may be differences, but feel that there are too many other factors at play (pickups, hardware, neck and fingerboard wood) to be able to attribute differences in tone to body wood alone.
- Camp 3: This is the “wood matters” crowd. These people swear they can hear clear and distinct differences. And, they think the people in Camp 1 are crazy—or at least have untrained ears.
Swamp Ash vs Alder Tone
Now let’s offer some generalizations on alder vs ash, gleaned from the consensus of luthiers and players alike:
- Swamp Ash: Sweet sounding, open chimey top-end , slightly scooped but defined midrange, and strong, focused low end.
- Alder: More “neutral” sounding, strong defined upper mids, warmer but perhaps less defined low-end.
Again, these are generalized impressions and due to the uniqueness of wood, are not without many exceptions. Although each piece of wood is different, the idea is if you took 100 alder and 100 ash Strat or Tele bodies and used the same hardware, differences would emerge.
If you fall into Camp 2 or Camp 3, careful wood selection for tone, density, and age is an important factor as well, and a good luthier will have methods of determining what they think will sound good in their instruments. Whether “factory” guitars such as Fender and Gibson benefit from careful wood selection in production (non-custom shop) models is up for debate, but it could explain the “happy accidents” that people report of production guitars sounding particularly good.
Context is Everything
Here is where I think the alder vs. swamp ash discussion typically goes off the rails: People often don’t consider the conditions in which they are judging tone. Small differences—and let’s face it, that’s what we are talking about here—that may be apparent with a clean channel of boutique tube amp at living room volume may disappear at stage volume when played through a chain of pedals and distortion. To the extent that some people say that it doesn’t matter because they cannot hear a difference, they might be exactly right—in their context.
Unfortunately, most standard guitar reviews don’t help the situation. Often, we only hear the guitar through a gain channel or with effects, which makes subtle variations in tone very hard to determine. While we understand that not everyone is “cork sniffing” for differences, we have long wished that more demos would include clean tones with no effects (save for light reverb).
Warmoth made a nice video a few years ago comparing ash, alder and mahogany telecaster tone. Keep in mind that watching a video of a recording introduces many variables, and whatever differences that exist are going to be more difficult to perceive than playing the guitar yourself.
Final Thoughts on Alder vs Ash
At GK we live in Camp 2, because we think it’s the most reasonable place to be. It’s not a binary thing… Yes, wood species and selection matters—but so does everything.
In our experience, to our ears, we feel that carefully selected, top quality Swamp Ash is the superior wood for Fender-style instruments, especially for clean tones. However, also consider that Ash is in shorter supply due to the Ash-borer infestation. Therefore, a top-quality swamp ash body is harder to come by today than in the past. We recommend considering this factor when deciding between and alder vs ash body a your Strat or Tele.
We feel that a quality Alder body will most likely sound better than a mediocre Ash body, and due to the Ash shortage many Alder bodies are potentially of higher quality.
Our recommendation is to keep an open mind and be cognizant of how and where you are evaluating a wood’s tone. The differences in bolt on style guitar body woods is subtle, and we don’t blame folks who contend that any differences in an alder vs. ash Strat or Tele tone are substantial enough to warrant caring about. That hard to describe “it” factor that guitarists report with certain instruments might be because of a particularly nice piece of wood… Or a body and neck that resonate particularly well together. If you asked an experienced luthier how they would choose to make their Strat and Tele bodies, all else being equal, they would probably go with seasoned, old growth, 2-piece, center-joined. Are there 5 piece top-veneered bodies that sound ok too? Sure, but we have to think that well seasoned, well chosen wood with traditional construction techniques will consistently yield superior results, regardless of wood species. In other words, the construction and quality of the workmanship plays a bigger factor in determining the guitar’s tone than the tonewood species used (assuming that good quality tonewood is used).
If “cork sniffing” tonewood is fun for you, don’t feel bad about it. Above all, and as always, go with your gut. Tone is definitely “in the fingers”, as they say, but most of us could use some extra help too. Happy Playing!