I love the look of swamp ash. There is some really interesting stuff that can go on with the grain patterns. However, it appears that I often like the back of the Showcase guitar better than to face. Is the stuff that I like actually the lesser grade wood?
I found this example:
http://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/ShowcaseItem.aspx?Body=2&Shape=2&Path=Body,Telecaster&sort=price&i=t1379
If you look at the front, it is pretty nice and clean. But on the back, the wood has some real character. I like the area near the cutaway where there are dark little flecks, almost like worming or scratches. There is similar stuff at the bottom right of the picture. Is that stuff actually less desirable to most people? If I wanted to order a custom body to my specs, I would want it to turn out with a lot of this character. Would that require that I pay extra for the "premium" stuff, or is that more the "budget" grade wood? The swamp ash that I have seen in the Unique Choice gallery is not really my style. It's too clean and uniform. If that is really the top grade stuff, then I would guess that the stuff I like is not. I would love to hear some comments.
I am trying to formulate my plans, but most of them involve one or more builds with a swamp ash body and I want to figure out how to get something that I like. To my eyes, a Tele or Strat built with a body that has a lot of those dark fleck with just a simple clear coat and a birdseye neck is pretty much the cat's meow. Is it just me?
I found this example:
http://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/ShowcaseItem.aspx?Body=2&Shape=2&Path=Body,Telecaster&sort=price&i=t1379
If you look at the front, it is pretty nice and clean. But on the back, the wood has some real character. I like the area near the cutaway where there are dark little flecks, almost like worming or scratches. There is similar stuff at the bottom right of the picture. Is that stuff actually less desirable to most people? If I wanted to order a custom body to my specs, I would want it to turn out with a lot of this character. Would that require that I pay extra for the "premium" stuff, or is that more the "budget" grade wood? The swamp ash that I have seen in the Unique Choice gallery is not really my style. It's too clean and uniform. If that is really the top grade stuff, then I would guess that the stuff I like is not. I would love to hear some comments.
I am trying to formulate my plans, but most of them involve one or more builds with a swamp ash body and I want to figure out how to get something that I like. To my eyes, a Tele or Strat built with a body that has a lot of those dark fleck with just a simple clear coat and a birdseye neck is pretty much the cat's meow. Is it just me?
