Maple vs Alder on a strat body: Advice needed :)

[Ollie88]

Very soon I'am ordering a Stratocaster from Warmoth. However I can't choose between a solid maple or alder body. It is worth noting that the guitar will have a Fatback (U profile) neck and a 45mm(1-3/4") nutwidth on a CBS headstock. The neck/fretboard will be both of flame maple. Also worth noting is that it will have a black Original Floyd Rose(Non routed with angled neck pocket) and I will install it with EMG81/SA/SA pickups. I use fairly heavy strings (11 - 48). It is the first time i'm trying EMG on a guitar so if I'm not happy with those I will replace them with PAF style Trembucker.

The problem with maple body is that I do not know will the guitar be way too bright sounding, as the guitar will be made entirely out of maple. Also will it be way too heavy, even much much more so than Les Pauls are? However weight is not major issue for me... I'm very tempted to the sound description a maple body has. Big sustain and lots of bite, an aggressive sound, but will it be too shrill and trebly sounding? I have a tried a maple body ESP Kamikaze once on Sunset Boulevard, but memories of that are vague...

Now to alder... The way alder is described, that it has an overall balanced and equal sound of lows, mids, highs. Also it is light to medium weight. Not a bad choice! But I'm not at all sure will it compare against maple in the end!

The sound I got is oldschool Gary Moore/Accept type of thing. Just big tubes and a TS pedal and stuff. Will maple be not suited at all for this?

So could englightened people please tell me what maple bodies are like? Does it have a big resonant sound? Or is it just a fluid sustainy sound without any growl in it? Any information leading to a descision will be much appreciated

 

[Tipperman]

I have a Warmoth strat that I built with a one-piece Maple neck and an Alder body. It is extremely bright and ice-pick on the bridge pickup, almost too bright to use by itself. I think maple would end up being too bright. I can't say for sure, of course, but to even out the neck I would choose Alder as the body wood. Or, if you like brightness, Walnut is a good choice although it may end up too bright. Worth noting, however: I do not play with humbuckers, it's a 3 Single Coil strat, so there are of course some differences. I also use a vintage style 6 hole trem with a solid steel block. The floyd and a brass block will sound different. Overall, go with what you think you will enjoy the most, but my personal vote is for Alder.

 

[pabloman]

Basswood with a maple top.  arty07:

 

[Ollie88]

I have decided to go with maple. If I'll be terribly disappointed I will get an alder body later. Does anyone know will EMG 81/SA/SA work well with a maple body??

 

[swarfrat]

My experience with maple bodies is not so much "bright" as in really harsh. Not quite icepick - it's a bit broader bandwidth than that, but still really really harsh.