Suggestions for a blues strat

[tcliff7]

Hi I'm new to Warmoth (my friend turned me onto it and now im obsessed haha) and I'm looking to build a strat instead of buying a fender or G&L legacy and I predominately play blues music. I'm wondering which wood for the body would sound the best. I'm pretty much set between the classic alder or swamp ash and was wondering what the pros and cons of each were. I'm looking to build an SRV/Eric Clapton/Buddy Guy kinda strat so basically a vintage esuqe type like from 1950's-60's. All suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks Guys

 

[callaway]

Well, that's a tough one. I don't think you can go wrong with ash or alder for a Strat. Looks like SRV and Clapton signature guitars are alder, while Buddy Guy's is ash. I definitely wouldn't go with a hard ash as I think it's probably a bit too bright and crisp of an attack for what you're looking for. The notes are very clear and you can get great sustain with hard ash, but I am not a fan because of the attack. If you go ash, be sure to get swamp ash, which should be more balanced. I'd probably go for alder though.

How about necks? I'd be tempted to think about either a goncalo alves/pau ferro  or canary/pau ferro combination.

If you wanted to try something a little different, you could get the body chambered for a bit more openness and fatness to the sound.

 

[blue313]

Hard to go wrong with either choice for the bluz. 

The bigger difference is how you plan to finish it.  Swamp ash has a much more defined grain, and IMHO looks better if you were planning a translucent finish.

 

[rockskate4x]

Canary sounds very similar to maple but feels very similar to maple and mates well with pau ferro which was SRV's fretboard wood of choice but rosewood would also be good if you wanted a little more warmth. I would choose alder because it is an easy DIY finishing wood and it has a more balanced tone, while swamp ash isn't bad either but finishing takes some more steps (grain filler). What will effect the sound the most is the pickups but I haven't tried out nearly enough blues type pickups to recommend any to you. But other guys on this forum are very knowledgeable and can make suggestions for that.

 

[tfarny]

As for your main question - yeah they're both fine, can't go wrong with either, the biggest difference is finishing - Alder is much easier to finish. I would recommend spending a bit extra for extra-light, or chambered - more comfy and you can get a bit more resonant sound from a lighter body. At least that's the common wisdom, I have a heavy guitar that's very resonant too.
Callaham makes the hardware that you want, at least the bridge for sure.
Locking tuners are probably worth it even on a vintage-look strat, for most people, esp. if you're a trem user. Check Stew-Mac's tuners for the locking vintage-style gotohs, they are a brilliant mix of modern function and vintage looks.
For pups, spend some time on Acme's site listening to their sound clip comparos. Lollar also has a nice collection of sound clips on his site. Forum faves for strat pickups are: Fralin / Callaham SRV 'cryo' set, Fralins in general, Dimarzio area series for noiseless. For a hotter sound, Rio Grande has fans. To save bucks, I would really, highly recommend checking out Bill Lawrence's "keystone" pickups - not BL USA! - almost impossible to find good info on them, and their service is hit and miss, but the product is outstanding and $85 shipped for a full set of USA-made and very well designed pups.

 

[Rouse]

For pups, spend some time on Acme's site listening to their sound clip comparos. Lollar also has a nice collection of sound clips on his site.

Not any more, lollar decided move everything to in-house because of the economy. so they pulled them from acme's site. I wish i could get those sound clips again, does anyone have those downloaded? maybe they could upload them to some torrent.

 

[tcliff7]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I've done some research on pickups and I really like the Fralin blues specials, they just sounded damn good. I also took a look at Dave Stephens pickups at www.sdpickups.com and they seemed pretty good as well. I used to have a strat with custom shop texas specials but I wasn't that big of a fan. As for getting a chambered Alder, would that increase sustain a bit? It seems like it would but I wonder how close the sustain would be to the swamp ash. And as for the fretboard I was definitely looking at rosewood or rosewood types such as the pao ferro or even ebony (but ebony might be a bit to intense). As for the neck itself, I've never played a guitar with a canary neck so I'm kinda iffy about ordering it without knowing exactly how it feels/sounds haha

 

[DocNrock]

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3859.0

:icon_biggrin:

 

[callaway]

Regarding sustain and resonance, there's really no telling just how much of this any particular body will have until it's actually made. If you play a bunch of Gibson Les Pauls, for example, you will find most of them pretty lifeless. Every once in a while, one will actually sing (and as in the case of a friend of mine last weekend, it happened to be a model that was $1,500 less than the one he wanted, but he bought the cheaper once since it was actually much nicer). So what I'm saying is that there is no guarantee that---for example---a chambered alder body will be more/less resonant than a swamp ash body. The same species of woods has huge variation. I will say that in my experience (and I think others here will agree) that Warmoth (unlike some other manufacturers) uses top-notch wood. I can't claim they have any screening process or anything, but it just seems that everyone is always really happy with their Warmoth pieces. While most online forums seem to be a haven for complaints about products, I can't recall seeing a single complaint about a Warmoth body being "dead".

As far as not being familiar with canary, don't let that turn you away. The chief reason for getting a canary neck is that you can play it unfinished. Believe me, you want an unfinished neck. Just trust me on that one. Seriously. (Hmmmm... you could go with a solid pau ferro neck if you really want screaming Texas-blues tone!)

I would think you should stay away from an Ebony fretboard for blues. Ebony tends to be pretty clear and bright, much to the opposite of what you typically want for blues. Perhaps for a strictly jazz guitar, but probably not for blues.

 

[tcliff7]

ok so I like the idea of a chambered strat but a friend of mine just told me it would sound thinner than a regular strat which I dunno if im down for. I want a growling, thick, warm, texas blues sound with good sustain, if possible haha

 

[callaway]

To me, chambered bodies sound fuller. Can anyone else comment?

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I'll throw my two cents in, chambered mahogany with a maple or mahogany neck and rosewood board. For blues that would be a nice full sounding guitar.

 

[tfarny]

I would say, don't spin yourself in circles worrying about the wood choice - spend time getting the right bridge and the right pickups, and learn how to setup yourself or spend time finding a great tech that you can really trust. Make sure you know what fret wire is best for you, what back contour, what nut width, etc.
Those things are probably a lot more determinant in getting a guitar that you love than Alder v. Swamp Ash. I will also shout out for exotic, no-finish woods. They feel great and the ones I've got, at least, sound great. Really makes it a custom guitar, too. And I've never heard anybody on here regretting their choice of Canary, Pao Ferro, Wenge, etc.

 

[nathan a]

I'll throw my two cents in, chambered mahogany with a maple or mahogany neck and rosewood board. For blues that would be a nice full sounding guitar.

I would personally go for chambered swamp ash, plus a maple/rosewood neck. OR all canary neck!

Regardless of neck choice, the conventional wisdom is that chambering creates a fuller sound.

 

[mayfly]

Regarding Alder vs swamp ash,

I've got several W Teles, two swamp ash and one alder.  The all have the same pickups and similar bridge (compensated brass barrel tele bridges), although the two swamp ash have maple/rosewood necks and the alder one has a canary neck.

They all sound about the same.  Actually, the swamp ash ones are brighter because I'm running 500k pots in them - but still they are all about the same.

 

[ocguy106]

I'll throw my two cents in, chambered mahogany with a maple or mahogany neck and rosewood board. For blues that would be a nice full sounding guitar.

I made this guitar but with zircote board with humbuckers and it is an absolute blues beast. Very warm and full and lots of sustain...also it is a hardtail string thru so that prob helps the sustain

 

[tcliff7]

Ughhhh crap....This site is too damn addicting. I keep changing my mind every day haha. Now im thinking a black chambered tele (mahagony perhaps?) with an F hole, white binding, 2 humbuckers (or neck humbucker and a tele bridge) (or a neck humbucker, a single coil middle, and a tele bridge). I want the neck humbucker cause I've been listening to a bit more heavy blues, honkin on bobo, and derek trucks and it seems slide would go well with a neck hummer. This site makes me want to rob a bank so I can build every guitar that pops into my head haha

 

[rockskate4x]

That would be a great guitar for blues! Definitely the strat single coil and make the humbucker able to split coils so that it can get a good quacky strat's 4th position type sound when combined with the middle pickup.

 

[blue313]

Ughhhh crap....This site is too damn addicting. I keep changing my mind every day haha. Now im thinking a black chambered tele (mahagony perhaps?) with an F hole, white binding, 2 humbuckers (or neck humbucker and a tele bridge) (or a neck humbucker, a single coil middle, and a tele bridge). I want the neck humbucker cause I've been listening to a bit more heavy blues, honkin on bobo, and derek trucks and it seems slide would go well with a neck hummer. This site makes me want to rob a bank so I can build every guitar that pops into my head haha

Welcome to Warmoth-Anonymous.  Here they only serve high octane G.A.S.  :laughing7:

 

[edward2b]

tcliff7,just my view,but the neck seems to influence the overall tone moreso than the body! I`ve just put together a strat with the same aim as you using a CBS style neck and natural swamp ash body(>4lbs} It sounds great!Nice and middly,very resonant and powerful. I`ve tried the neck on two other Fenders that I have (alder bodies)and guess what they both sound much the same with it fitted and totally different than normal!! It`s all a quest though aint it? Hope this is useful!