Alder or sen ash? Can't figure out which one is which

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Russian Vadim

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Hey folks! Can you tell me which ones of these ST-80s have alder and which ones have sen ash bodies:

1st One
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2nd One
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3rd One
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4th One
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^ yeah

Obviously I'm no expert or anything like that, and this is a very-slightly-educated (at best :lol: ) guess, but i'd say the first one is alder, and the second and third are probably alder- but may be ash, especially no 2. But i'd still guess alder for all of them.

EDIT: scratch that. :lol: I'd say 1 and 3 are probably alder. 2 could be either- it has quite subtle graining (mostly), but it does have those more defined grain lines which ash tends to have.

1 + 3 = probably alder (but could be ash).

2 = could be either but i might be veering slightly more towards ash.

Those are my guesses, anyway. They're probably wrong. :lol:
 
Thank you folks! I knew that ash has very distinct grain compared to alder. But my Guild S-300AD has got even more distinct ash grain than these Springys.

S-300.jpg


But maybe it's because it's American swamp ash i.e. a different kind of ash. Springys were made of sen ash and alder if I'm not mistaken.

I see that 1 and 3 have much more subtle grain than 2 and 4.
 
Yes, there are several ash varieties..... also, older and bigger trees will have wider ring patterns (creating the big stripy grain), smaller trees have tighter rings.
 
i completely missed the fourth one :oops: :lol:

again, could be either but i'd maybe slightly edge towards ash

and yeah the grain can vary... not sure how and why but obviously those massive grains like on your guitar are ash, but ash doesn't have to have massively obvious grain, I don't think.
 
all the sen I have and have seen over here has a silvery look to it, the weight has varied as well, some was heavier while some was lighter.
 
sneakyjapan said:
all the sen I have and have seen over here has a silvery look to it, the weight has varied as well, some was heavier while some was lighter.

What do you mean by "silvery"? Can you illustrate the point?
 
I think 2 and 4 are Sen, 1 and 3 look like Alder. My opinion based purely on grain pattern, would also seem to agree with Dave Mc's opinion.
 
^ :)

yeah 1 and 3 look very like alder to me (based on the alder guitars i have and have seen)- both the strength of the grain and how defined it is are almost characteristic of alder, i think. Now, it could still very well be sen :lol: but it does look to me like alder.

I'm less sure on the other two- I'd plump for sen, but I'm far from sure.

EDIT: actually I'm least sure on the fourth one. It really could be either.
 
Just to confuse matters further, Sen ash is not related to the genus ash at all! :roll:
I think 1, 3 and 4 are alder and 2 is Sen. Gabe. :)
 
bluejeannot said:
Just to confuse matters further, Sen ash is not related to the genus ash at all! :roll:
I think 1, 3 and 4 are alder and 2 is Sen. Gabe. :)

yeah i think that's the way i'm going, too. eventually :lol:
 
Well I'm not afraid to stick my head above the parapet on this one. I stare at the pictures until the intuition kicks in, and this is followed by a brief whirring of the old gears in my brain. I think that's where the expression o-pinion came from. 8)
 

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