Leaderboard

original Tele Body? - ash or alder?

FabiGuitars

Newbie
Messages
1
Hello,

after building a lot of Strats, I'd like to build a Telecaster.

What is the original tele body made of? Ash or Alder?
I've read a lot of strats but never about Telecaster guitars.


What is the sound differences between a Tele made of ash and a Tele made of alder?

What makes the typical tele Twang?

Thanks.

Bye
Fabian
 
Original teles usually came in either ash or alder, whichever was cheapest that shipment.

I don't think there's much difference between ash & alder (aside from colour) but I'm not really a tonechaser
tele twang comes from your fingers, the bridge, the pickups, the neck, and your amp.

If you'd like a tele-specific forum, tdpri.com is all tele, all the time.
 
Ash has always seemed to have a brighter, sharper sound to me, though I have one ash guitar that seems to be an exception (it's a little on the heavy side).

Try a bunch of both out if possible, but all things equal I'd say alder is a safer bet the first time around if you're not sure. It's a good mix of meaty and pretty balanced-sounding for just about anything.
 
# October 1950 to mid 1956: All models used Ash as the body wood. Most ash bodies are two or even three pieces, but sometimes a one-piece body was used.
# Mid 1956 to current: All models used Alder as the body wood. The ONLY exception to this is if the model had a "blond" finish. In that case, the body would was ALWAYS Ash.
 
There were some basswood MIM teles in the 90s that were really nice, I had one of those and wish I still did. Even with stock electronics it was pretty sweet. Teles just have a knack for sounding good and playing well.  
 
A couple of years ago there was a limited edition Tele made of Palo Escrito - a wood I had never heard of before. I don't know if it was the whole body or just the top, but they looked amazing.
 
Doughboy said:
How so? Is basswood not a good tonewood?

This has probably been beaten to death at this point, but....it's just too soft for my liking.  Whether or not it's a tonewood is subjective.  I have no complaints with the tone, then again it's got a Maple baseball bat for a neck and there's pickups involved.  IDK how much of the sound could be the body.  It was never a sound/tone issue, it's just too soft and dents too easily.  Others swear by it though.  Vai's famous EVO is basswood and it's a balancing act how it's still in one piece, then again, the bodywood may have nothing to do with that.
 
It's definitely softer and chips easier, but no reason you can't make a great sounding guitar with it. Raise the price of it and it will start sounding much better to a lot of people instantly
 
Back
Top