Curtis P Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 My friend had a peice of ash as scrap, its a pretty big scrap, he just wasnt using it, asked if i wanted it, well, I aint going to turn down a hunk of good wood, and it was big, i get home tonight from work and show my parents, first think my dad says: whered you get the nice peice of oak?? i said it was ash, he said no, look at our stairs, i compared them, by god its oak!! i am deffinetly using it for my SG project, it is not big enough for an entire body, about 2 inchs square too short so i am going to put it on my neighbours table saw and cut out the middle (nicest grain in the middle) and it will be the centre for my SG and the other parts will be for something else, not too sure yet Yea, i love freebie wood!! especially oak!! Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 I have a hard time telling Oak from Ash myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted May 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 i am going to compare my ash neck (yes, it is for sure ash) to this peice, just to make sure it is oak, i hope it is oak, with a mahogany body, it would sound really good. Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 ash would be better...oak is way too heavy and i don't really think anyone claims it as a good tonewood.... it might sound okay...i just think ash is more of an accepted tonewood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 depending on what type of oak it is too it has a tendency to change drasiticaly with humidity. much worse than say maple or mahogany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainDownMyBlues Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 ash would be better...oak is way too heavy and i don't really think anyone claims it as a good tonewood.... it might sound okay...i just think ash is more of an accepted tonewood I swamp ash a good tone wood? Is there a better type of ash for guitars? I kind of want to know for my guitar . Oh, and how's the weight of ash compared to mahogany?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 swamp ash is the kind of ash usually used for guitar bodies, rather than the northern baseball-bat ash (i think it's northern) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 actually the baseball bat ash is used in teles and such...southern ash is a relatively new guitarwood i don't know what the difference is...i think it is supposed to have something to do with the "swamp" ash being lighter and more porous... if ash is what you want,just look for a good piece,don't worry about southern or northern... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavnerGuitarWorks Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Why would anyone prefer oak over ash for a guitar? Ash is one of the best sounding woods on the planet and you don't see any of the name brand companies making oak bodies. Swamp Ash is called swamp ash cause it grows in the wet low lands of the southern U.S. The only difference between it and normal ash is the weight. Swamp ash is considerably lighter, but you could acheive the same affect with northern ash by chambering the body. I am building a guitar for the carrieburst contest from northern ash with a figured maple cap. I will be chambering the body and putting f-holes on the top to reduce the weight. I will also be using a mahogany block that will be inside the body (not seen from the outside of the body) from the bridge to the neck to give a little warmth to the tone. It will be a bolt on neck, just because I prefer em'. After working for Gibson for several years and seeing the crappy neck joints and all the problems related to them, and after all the neck resets I've done, I would much rather use bolt ons. Afterall, I've seen many fenders smashed by countless musicians and not once have I seen one snap at the neck joint. Back to the point: There is nothing finer than a nice piece of ash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted May 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 doenst oak have a dark rich tone?? Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainDownMyBlues Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 I suggest you go build a cabinet with that piece of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 doenst oak have a dark rich tone?? Curtis heck i don't know....i can't recall anyone using it except for brian mayof Queen,now that i think of it....his is the only oak guitar i know of...it seems to work well but i don't know how it compares to other woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Taylor "pallet guitar" uses oak for the sides, back and neck : http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/models/pallet.html To me, Oak is the "wild card" of woods, because I have really old oak thats real dense and heavy, then I have newer oak that's very light and porous(sp?). I imagine the heavy stuff would give a tone somewhat like hard maple, and the light stuff would be similar to mahogany or light ash. I recently found some desk drawers with nice "figured" German oak for sides, but the pieces are about 1 inch too narrow to make a nice 2-piece guitar top (unless I made a 7/8 size guitar top). More pickguard wood, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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