Ash

[Crossfire22]

I read recently fender used to use northern ash instead of swamp ash. What's the major difference in tone?

 

[Cagey]

They're the same tree - it's just that one is grown in a swamp. There the lower section of the main trunk spends most of its life somewhere between wet and submerged, so it eventually gets to be sorta like driftwood. Much lighter per cubic foot than the rest of the tree, or one that didn't come up in a swamp. In general, lighter woods tend to absorb vibrations more than heavier ones, so there are some losses involved. Sometimes that's desirable, other times not so much. In any event, it's subtle. Even light electric guitar bodies are pretty massive relative to acoustics, so they don't have as much effect on the instrument's character as you might expect.

Swamp Ash can be approximated from Northern Ash by "roasting" it, which tends to leach out the saps/sugars/water and lighten it up so it behaves like premium Swamp Ash. It seems to change it some other way as well, judging by the effect it has on finish color, but I don't know how.