Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

[ActionJackson]

I've noticed that the majority of guitars with tremolos are made of alder, but very few use mahogany. Does a tremolo take away from mahogany's warmth or is there some other explanation?

[nonamemx]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

Well, Alder is just a balanced sounding wood, good for all-around playing.

When you say tremolo, are you referring to a Floyd or something like a vintage tremolo, AM tremolo or Wilkinson?


I think I remember reading that EVH actually got a strat made of mahogany, because he thought the steel Original Floyd Rose was too bright an an alder body.

[Tune_Up]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

As far as Mahogany goes, I've seen some with floyd Rose tremolos. I've owned one or two actually and they sounded great, never had any problems.

I've heard though that since Mahogany is a softer wood that excessively hard tremolo use may/can possibly loosen the tremolos post holes.

[Thoraby]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

The Kramer Nightswan is mahogany guitar with a Floyd Rose trem

[1trussell]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

My Hamer Californian is mahogany with a Floyd (as was my old Chaparral). But I think that these guys are right. Alder is well balanced and would lend itself well to having a trem.

[rocksoldier]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

Maybe it´s because it´s always been that way, with strats having trems and gibsons not.
I don´t see a reason trems would not work as good in a mahogany guitar.
With that said i actually prefer alder, but i just can´t see a reason to not use a trem in mahogany.

Question for tune_up: Is alder any harder than mahogany? I mean a lot of basswood guitars have trems, and that´s a soft wood.

[kmanick]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

I've wondered this myself, why not Maple for the body? too bright?

[sully]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

alder is probably most prevalent because it's relatively lightweight, tight grained (easier/cheaper to paint solid colors) and has a middle of the road tonality. it's not dark sounding, like mahogany can be, nor too bright, like maple can be. good point about mahogany's softness/ability to keep the posts in place after heavy trem use; i'm not sure how true it is, but i'd say it's plausable.

i'd say that basswood is as popular as it is b/c of it's price, which is really low. some enjoy basswood, and that's cool. i'm just not one of them. another wood that i was really pleased with was ash; the "charvelle" i sold to pete was ash with a maple cap, and whle it was les paul heavy ( a plus in my book), it sounded wonderful.

sully

[kmanick]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

is ash more expensive? I 've seen a lot a strats with "Swamp Ash" bodies that have clear coat finishes on them that I've always thought looked pretty cool. What s the tone difference? (Need some ideas for a custom job from GMW when Lee can handle it! (and I can afford it)
Thanks

[sully]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

i don't think that it is more expensive, but i can't say for sure. swamp ash, i believe is lighter than northern ash, but i believe both kinds of ash are best with a trans finish, as ash soaks up paint like a sponge.

sully

[Chuckracer]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

Ash is my favorite body wood. I love how it sounds. Warm and ballsy.
The green GMW is ash.

[shreddermon]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

I'm a big fan of ash bodied guitars. Preferably swamp ash. It's a great tonewood, period. My last two custom shop orders were done with ash.

That said, my mahogany bodied PC1 is cool, too. No problems with the trem posts. Just try out a bunch of different guitars, and see what you prefer.

[sully]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

do you guys notice a difference tonally between northern and swamp ash? i've only checked out the northern variety so far, and am curious.

sully

[kickinsomeaxe]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

[ QUOTE ]
do you guys notice a difference tonally between northern and swamp ash? i've only checked out the northern variety so far, and am curious.

sully

[/ QUOTE ]
yeah sully the northern is brighter and tighter toned than the swamp ash and is close to maple. the swap ash is less dense and weighs less as well.
I prefer NORTHERN ASH [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[shreddermon]

Re: Why alder for guitars with tremolos?

Sully, I can't definitively say that I've ever played a northern ash-bodied guitar. I suspect the current ash bodied Fender Strats are the northern ash variety, but don't know for sure. The couple that I've tried out are definitely heavier and, toneally, may have a bit less high end than swamp ash. Didn't do a side-by-side comparison, but I suspect it's not a huge difference. That's how they felt and sounded to me at the time vs. my J/Cs.