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

Russian Vadim · Guitar God Joined: 23 Jan 2013 Posts: 90

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

1st One

2nd One

3rd One

4th One

marcusnieman · Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 8:54 am Post subject:

Alder = subtle graining
Ash Species = much more distinct grain. Usually lighter than Alder too

Dave_Mc · Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 11:24 am Post subject:

^ yeah

Obviously I'm no expert or anything like that, and this is a very-slightly-educated (at best

) 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.

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.

Russian Vadim · Guitar God Joined: 23 Jan 2013 Posts: 90

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.

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.

marcusnieman · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 7:42 am Post subject:

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.

Dave_Mc · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 11:40 am Post subject:

i completely missed the fourth one

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.

sneakyjapan · Guitar God Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1871

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.

Russian Vadim · Guitar God Joined: 23 Jan 2013 Posts: 90

mirrorboy · Guitar God Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Posts: 491 Location: U.K.

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.

Dave_Mc · Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:11 pm Post subject:

^

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

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.

bluejeannot · Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 6:00 pm Post subject:

Just to confuse matters further, Sen ash is not related to the genus ash at all!

I think 1, 3 and 4 are alder and 2 is Sen. Gabe.

_________________
bluejeannot

sneakyjapan · Guitar God Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1871

Silvery...like, similar to, the Guild photographed above.

Dave_Mc · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 12:13 pm Post subject:

mirrorboy · Guitar God Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Posts: 491 Location: U.K.

I'll stick by my previous post

marcusnieman · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 1:43 pm Post subject:

This topic pops up from time to time - always with the same results.