Ash question

[mustaine-who?]

I just picked up a 1996 Jackson Professional Reverse in "flat" blue...the body would is ash...you can see the grain of the wood very clearly.

My question is...is this northern hard ash? I would assume that its not swamp ash.

[dg]

The grain will look the same whether it's swamp or northern. The big difference will be in weight. A swamp ash body will be quite a bit lighter. Usually, it will be noticeably lighter than an alder body as well. Northern ash is very dense & heavy. Swamp ash has a more balanced tone than hard ash, which is usually pretty bright. In my experience, the vast majority of the time when a guitar is just called "ash", it is swamp ash. Jackson also calls it "punky ash" in their descriptions and on some work orders.