Hey all you wood experts !

[sjtalon]

What is this....Pine ??




and anybody know the mfc of this body ??

[boris bubbanov]

Is it light in weight?

Can you zoom in a little tighter?

[Groovey Records]

I dunno but first impression is the grain is a little wid for pine unless it's very old

but like I said I dunno

[edgemarc]

Pull a screw out and smell it, Pine will reveal its self this way.

[chezdeluxe]

This looks like Oregon Pine AKA Douglas Fir.
I think it stinks but there are others around here who disagree.
BTW Oregon isn't a Pine it is a conifer of the genus Pseudotsuga

[sjtalon]

Thanks for the replies folks.

I doesn't really feel too light but that's a little deceiving I guess because it does have a big block type Fender trem in it yet. I have stripped it down to everything but that.

I have done the "smell" test too but can't really say there is a noticeable pine smell. One thing is the knot lead me to think pine. The neck pocket is stamped:
AUG 17 1994

There's a thread here too to get the hole story:

http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/stra...atocaster.html

[ASC67]

Looks like ash to me

[tonewoods]

Doesn't look like conifer to me....

Can you zoom in a little bit on those grain lines??
That will tell the story....

[sjtalon]

I'll have to get some other pics here too:

here's some more pics:

be sure to scrol down as I have them in two posts

http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/stra...tml#post113071

Thanks a million !

[Roli]

Looks kinda pine-ish, but it can be alder.

[sjtalon]

[Mark Davis]

Id say its ash.

[Groovey Records]

I'd remove all the finish and start fresh it seems like a encased in poly body.

You might have a nice piece of wood under there

[LuvN Guitars]

I think ash, possibly an asian body, what's known as Sen Ash, a lot of "lawsuit" era Japanese Strat copies were made from. Whether it's American ash or Sen ash it looks nice and should sound good.

[sjtalon]

Thanks !
Well I did snoop around looking at bodies and found one with the same routing. The four deeper oval routes ( like mentioned......possibly for humbuckers) are exactly like this one below. It's the only one I've found with that distinct trait. Now, I'm not saying this is a genuine FENDER body, just that it is interesting how these are similar, and that it apears to be a rare thing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[Wally]

Alder??? Check the neck pocket out. I don't see any open pores, which ash would have.

Looks Fendery to me.

[sjtalon]

Good point. Something else I noticed in the neck pocket is no real prominent grain.

As far as the body, could Alder have such a nice (lots of) grain ? I now there is some grain to alder and some Strats with "select Alder" bodies are pretty nice but man this is loaded !

I have two posts here with pics if you scroll around. There is a closer pocket shot as well.

http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/stra...atocaster.html

RE: neck pocket:

http://www.mijguitar.com/Templates/G...dy%20Woods.htm

If it is truly Alder, then as was posted by LuvN, it could be a Japanese body??

[Wally]

sjtalon, those pics on the strattalk pages tell the story, and I think one response there has pegged it. The body is probably alder with an ash veneer top. It is definitely a veneer top. The top doesn't look anything like main body wood that your shots there reveal....and the grain doesn't match between the top and the other 1 3/4" of body wood.

[sjtalon]

Thanks Wally.

I took the pg off.................AGAIN and I'm believing the veneer deal. That would naturally explain why the back is black as if this body was solid (ash) who would cover up that nice grain with a paint job !

I tell you though I have to look REALLY close to see a seam. I didn't really notice the difference in the grains you mention as I was snookered into it being solid as I didn't see any seem...........that was tunnel vision. They did a real good job of tapering the edges into the cavities. I do notice a seam now that I look (REAL closely at an angle) in the pickguard screw holes. Just a guess but thinking back I would say this top is only
about .020 " .

So it's good to know for selling it what I have here.

Thanks again to everybody !

Happy pickin' !

[Wally]

sj, it can easily be seen when looking at the pickup routings. The grain doesn't match the grain of the top....whether you look straight down in the cavity to compare that grain with the top grain or if you look at the wall of the cavity to view the grain there.

[rjhalsey]

Got any pics of the back? Does the black halo cover the complete belly contour?

[dalandan]

veneer?

[tazzboy]

I guess my question is what model of Fender Stratocaster do you have Mexican? American?

[Wally]

Veneers can be bent over preshaped contours. The top on this guitar is formed to the contour on the front. It is plain to see the difference in the main body wood versus the top wood when you look in the cavities in the pics that the OP posted in post #11.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by dalandan

veneer?

Of course!

How could I be so blind!

The way that the grain pattern is all weirdly stretched is big evidence this is ash veneer peeled off a log. I had this very sort of thing on my kitchen cabinets. Which I grew bored with, actually, even though I love ash.

[Armo]

Almost certainly veneer as its book matched. I suspect it may be maple.

[sjtalon]

Originally Posted by rjhalsey

Got any pics of the back? Does the black halo cover the complete belly contour?

Oh ya, where it turns black (Sunburst pattern) on the body edge, it is black all the way around. The back is compleatly black.

Hey, I just thought of something, I could write a song to that.......something real rock star like.

"Back is Black"

[sjtalon]

Originally Posted by tazzboy

I guess my question is what model of Fender Stratocaster do you have Mexican? American?

I don't know.


It's a Partsocaster. Well the body is an unknown anyway. Everything else is Fender.

If you go to my 2nd post up here ↑ the link splains the whole story (this time I spelt whole right)....yada, yada, yada