Ash as soundboard wood
Gerry Scott-Moore
Anybody got anything to say about ash?
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///--- Nazodesu no more.
Adam Gottschalk
Gerry Scott-Moore <222...@adelphia.net.invalid> wrote:
> This Ibanez I'm looking at, the SX72tcb acoustic, has an ash top.
> Anybody got anything to say about ash?
Don't know about as a top, but the following article from HC has some
interesting things to say about tone woods and their uses:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Articles/Guitars_Wood_And_Tone/
This is all he said about Ash:
> Ash - Twangy, porous, and heavy are words that describe ash, the classic
> ingredient of the Telecaster sound. It also has good bottom end.
>
> "It's an ash kicker," Fritz said.
I found this article particularly interesting because it directly
contradicts some of the questionable assertions I read sometimes about
woods, like a maple top will add "warmth".
Gerry Scott-Moore
Gottschalk <ad...@adamgottschalk.nospam.net> wrote:
> > This Ibanez I'm looking at, the SX72tcb acoustic, has an ash top.
> > Anybody got anything to say about ash?
>
> Don't know about as a top, but the following article from HC has some
> interesting things to say about tone woods and their uses:
>
> http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Articles/Guitars_Wood_And_Tone/
>
> This is all he said about Ash:
>
> > Ash - Twangy, porous, and heavy are words that describe ash, the classic
> > ingredient of the Telecaster sound. It also has good bottom end.
> >
> > "It's an ash kicker," Fritz said.
>
> I found this article particularly interesting because it directly
> contradicts some of the questionable assertions I read sometimes about
> woods, like a maple top will add "warmth".
Interesting. I've always thought that a block-o-wood didn't contribut
much to the sound. I've always though it was all in the pickup, though
there are solid-body folk here with mighty passionate viewpoint in
opposition.
Outside this Ibanez, which they are marketing as an acoustic/electric
with a magnetic pickup (in itself quite an oddity), the only ash
guitars I've found are solid body electrics. And one low-end Washburn.
biff henderson
could be made out of cement and it wouldn't make a big difference in sound.
This "tone wood" BS is just a new marketing gimmick. As for an acoustic
guitars I can't say. Is ash cheaper than cedar or spruce the traditional
woods used?
And now for my rant:
And those cheap Mexican Stratocasters (or Strats or whatever they call them)
sound great, just like the expensive ones, but there are always Fender
connoisseurs who think they sound inferior. I -guarantee- they couldn't
tell the difference in some type of blindfold test.
Gerry Scott-Moore <222...@adelphia.net.invalid> wrote in message
<011220021035544628%222...@adelphia.net.invalid>...
Gerry Scott-Moore
<guir...@lowstream.net> wrote:
> I believe that is true, in fact as far as solid bodies go, I think they
> could be made out of cement and it wouldn't make a big difference in sound.
> This "tone wood" BS is just a new marketing gimmick. As for an acoustic
> guitars I can't say. Is ash cheaper than cedar or spruce the traditional
> woods used?
The price on this guitar is $420. So I don't figure ash is expensive.
I just talked to a guy at a local shop, one that doesn't stock Ibanez
of course, who points out that Ash is too dense for a soundboard. It
wouldn't be as responsive as you'd want in an accoustic. On the other
hand, it seems it would provide greater sustain than acoustics usually
do...
thom_j.
"biff henderson" <guir...@lowstream.net> wrote in message
news:3cuG9.21386$EY.14664@fe01...
> I believe that is true, in fact as far as solid bodies go, I think they
> could be made out of cement and it wouldn't make a big difference in
sound.
> This "tone wood" BS is just a new marketing gimmick. As for an acoustic
> guitars I can't say. Is ash cheaper than cedar or spruce the traditional
> woods used?
>
> And now for my rant:
> And those cheap Mexican Stratocasters (or Strats or whatever they call
them)
> sound great, just like the expensive ones, but there are always Fender
> connoisseurs who think they sound inferior. I -guarantee- they couldn't
> tell the difference in some type of blindfold test.
Try keeping those Mexi-s intune tho.. phew they just have a mind
of their own! jmho.. t.j.
biff henderson
Cedar and spruce are favored for reasons. If this ash top is much firmer,
you may think it will act as more of a momentum stopper and increase sustain
much like a heavy chrome bridge would on an electric guitar but even if that
were true, it would come at the expense of tone. The soundboard on an
acoustic needs to move to give a good sonorous tone. On the other hand, you
must play it to be really sure. You may like the sound it gives.
I like to test guitars out for tone by plucking an e-7 chord (open position
strings 6x543xx [same as 0x000xx). By plucking out this chord fingerstyle
one does not even have to take the guitar of the wall to compare it to
others, of course old strings may make a guitar sound bad during these
comparisions.
Good luck
Gerry Scott-Moore <222...@adelphia.net.invalid> wrote in message
<011220021247485700%222...@adelphia.net.invalid>...
Gerry Scott-Moore
<guir...@lowstream.net> wrote:
> Originally I didn't say this, but I doubt Ash would make a good soundboard.
> Cedar and spruce are favored for reasons. If this ash top is much firmer,
> you may think it will act as more of a momentum stopper and increase sustain
> much like a heavy chrome bridge would on an electric guitar but even if that
> were true, it would come at the expense of tone. The soundboard on an
> acoustic needs to move to give a good sonorous tone. On the other hand, you
> must play it to be really sure. You may like the sound it gives.
I went back and played it at length, electrically as well. The sound
was a little leaden and didn't have a shine on it, and the strings were
in excellent shape. My conclusion is that it's the ash that makes it a
little lifeless.
I compared it with all kinds of other guitars and it didn't impress.
I'm going back to buying a parlour guitar for living room use,
methinks.
Stan Gosnell
> This Ibanez I'm looking at, the SX72tcb acoustic, has an
> ash top. Anybody got anything to say about ash?
>
Heavy. Very heavy.
--
Regards,
Stan