Pine vs alder or ash?

[fenderaddict]

I'm familiar with ash and alder, but i've never had anything made of pine. But i'm considering getting a CV50's to keep my CVT company. To help me decide whether i wanna go there i'd like to get an idea of the tonal difference i'm probably going to hear between pine and the traditional tele body woods.

 

[KevinB]

Pine is usually lighter and somewhat more susceptible to dings. Although, in the CV50's case, a good coating of indestructible poly helps keep the dings at bay.

Tonal difference???

 

[Mark Davis]

There are a bunch of clips on youtube of CV50's.

Its got alot hotter pickups in it than your CVT and isnt as twangy so it will definatly sound different no matter what the body wood is.

The CVC and CVT are both real twangy and use the same pickups low output with the Bakersfield sound the CV50's isnt as twangy its got a more gritty less clean sound.

 

[fenderaddict]

Let me clarify a bit. How does pine sound compared to ash and alder *all else being equal*. In other words, pickups or anything else aside. I just want to know how pine differs tonally so i can decide whether to get another CV or look at something ash or alder. Oh, and clips don't work for me. Take 2 guitars that when I play them seem nite and day different, and in someone else's hands i couldn't tell you which was which if my life depended on it.

 

[Doth]

How would you compare, "all else being equal"? Two pieces of Ash will sound different, same as two pieces of Alder or two pieces of pine.

 

[Mark Davis]

You have asked a question thats impossible to answer with facts all you will get are opinions.

Body woods do not have such an easy to identify sound on their own its impossible to listen to a recording and accuratly pick out the pine ash or alder body Teles.

The biggest difference is the weight a CV50's will be 8-9 lbs thats what most of them are your CVT is in the 6lb range. Out of the 400+ owners of CV50's here only 2 are in the under 7lb range.

 

[Mark Davis]

:?:

 

[Dan German]

I'm familiar with ash and alder, but i've never had anything made of pine. But i'm considering getting a CV50's to keep my CVT company. To help me decide whether i wanna go there i'd like to get an idea of the tonal difference i'm probably going to hear between pine and the traditional tele body woods.

Pine is a "traditional tele body wood".

 

[Mark Davis]

Pine is a "traditional tele body wood".

Ya 50 Esquires were made from Pine. Several owners returned them with big chunks chipped out of the wood so Leo went to Ash which was more durable.

Leo only used Pine for 1 reason it was cheaper than Ash. And when he switched to Alder it required less grain filler less paint and less time to paint which makes more guitars in less time.

Leo never used any wood because of the way it sounded his only concern was its price.

 

[Dan German]

Ya 50 Esquires were made from Pine. Several owners returned them with big chunks chipped out of the wood so Leo went to Ash which was more durable.

Leo only used Pine for 1 reason it was cheaper than Ash. And when he switched to Alder it required less grain filler less paint and less time to paint which makes more guitars in less time.

Leo never used any wood because of the way it sounded his only concern was its price.

Yeah, I was just being smart-alecky. Personally, since I'm not a gigging musician and can afford to take the time to handle my guitar a little more carefully, I would build (or have built for me) with pine next time partly because I like the look of pine, and partly because the first Esquires were pine.

Oh, and just to twist your last statement a little, it's good to remember also that Leo never stopped using any wood because of the way it sounded.

 

[fenderaddict]

I'm just asking for a generalization here ! I mean, if you can't give generalizations about what a given body wood sounds like then you pretty much are calling people like tom anderson fools for having a guide describing the tonal properties of various woods on thier sites. I'm not an idiot...i know there is variation even within a given species. But having owned fenders and built them and swapped bodies and necks since the early 70's, i happen to know that you CAN describe a given woods sonic properties. If you don't want to, thats fine, but according to pretty much any know and respected builder you can, and second guessing tom anderson of the like seems sorta foolish to me.'ve seen variations withing a species, but with the exception of maybe one piece out of maybe 8 or 10, the majority of bodies of a given species will sound close enough to easily pick out certain tonal properties that they uniquely exhibit. Maybe my hearing is just more sensitive that yours? Seriously, i see descriptions of tonal properties of given species all the time on other foums yet i never see people almost to a man telling the OP it's not possible ! this is a first.

 

[cowardm]

I'm not sure the difference. My impression was that pine was twangier and a little brighter.

When it comes to tonewood, it's often hard to get a straight answer out of anyone on here. Most of the guys here are of the opinion that you can say what you want about the differences between alder and ash, but sometimes ash sounds more like you'd think alder would sound and vice-versa. No two pieces of wood, even from the same tree, are alike.

Still, I think there are certain properties that can be reasonably expected from various tonewoods. Just never played a pine guitar myself, so I can't help you much.

 

[Middleman]

The tone varies but I played an alder body for years and just did not bond with the sound. I swapped the body to ash and love the sound know. One man's experience.

 

[sonserve]

I'm just asking for a generalization here ! I mean, if you can't give generalizations about what a given body wood sounds like then you pretty much are calling people like tom anderson fools for having a guide describing the tonal properties of various woods on thier sites. I'm not an idiot...i know there is variation even within a given species. But having owned fenders and built them and swapped bodies and necks since the early 70's, i happen to know that you CAN describe a given woods sonic properties. If you don't want to, thats fine, but according to pretty much any know and respected builder you can, and second guessing tom anderson of the like seems sorta foolish to me.'ve seen variations withing a species, but with the exception of maybe one piece out of maybe 8 or 10, the majority of bodies of a given species will sound close enough to easily pick out certain tonal properties that they uniquely exhibit. Maybe my hearing is just more sensitive that yours? Seriously, i see descriptions of tonal properties of given species all the time on other foums yet i never see people almost to a man telling the OP it's not possible ! this is a first.

If you read the forum rules you will see that we are requested to be polite to each other no matter how difficult. This sets the TDPRI apart from most other forums on the net. Your post is borderline rude.

Just sayin...

 

[KevinB]

Generally speaking, it will sound like alder.

Only piney-er.

 

[Tim Armstrong]

It doesn't sound all that different, but TASTES entirely different, with a hint of turpentine in the finish (maple is sweeter, with a woodier mouthfeel).

Hope that helped!

Cheers, Tim

 

[jkingma]

Yeah, I was just being smart-alecky.

Who... you? Smart-alecky?

 

[ES347]

I have a gaggle of teles, and to me my piney has more upper mids than my ash teles. It still has a ton of shimmer, snap and twang, but a cooler growl when I dig in. I'm actually curious if that's a standard thought, or if it's unique to my particular piney.

 

[ITSGOTQUACK]

I have a gaggle of teles, and to me my piney has more upper mids than my ash teles. It still has a ton of shimmer, snap and twang, but a cooler growl when I dig in. I'm actually curious if that's a standard thought, or if it's unique to my particular piney.

Does your pine Tele have the same pickups and the same electronics (exactly) as all of your other Tele's? Bottom line, the sound comes from the pickups and the signal path in the electronics, the body could be made from twinkies and still sound the same, it truely doesn't matter what the guitar is made from.

 

[ITSGOTQUACK]

I'm just asking for a generalization here ! I mean, if you can't give generalizations about what a given body wood sounds like then you pretty much are calling people like tom anderson fools for having a guide describing the tonal properties of various woods on thier sites. I'm not an idiot...i know there is variation even within a given species. But having owned fenders and built them and swapped bodies and necks since the early 70's, i happen to know that you CAN describe a given woods sonic properties. If you don't want to, thats fine, but according to pretty much any know and respected builder you can, and second guessing tom anderson of the like seems sorta foolish to me.'ve seen variations withing a species, but with the exception of maybe one piece out of maybe 8 or 10, the majority of bodies of a given species will sound close enough to easily pick out certain tonal properties that they uniquely exhibit. Maybe my hearing is just more sensitive that yours? Seriously, i see descriptions of tonal properties of given species all the time on other foums yet i never see people almost to a man telling the OP it's not possible ! this is a first.

You will hear the difference in different woods in acoustic guitars, you will also hear the differenc in different woods in electric guitars.......but only until you plug them in. Once they are amplified, the wood type goes out the window. Now it is only about the pickups, pots, wiring, electronics and NOTHING to do with the wood. Some folks like their electrics to sound a certain way when it's not plugged in, so they order it made out of different woods to give them "That" sound when it isn't plugged in. Pickups pickup the string vibration, your pickups don't care what your body or neck or fingerboard is made out of and they won't change your sound one bit if your body is made of ash or basswood, unplugged, it's a different story. So, there you go, that is the answer and it's the correct answer. If you choose to agree or not is up to you, but those are the simple facts. Pickups pick up vibrations via magnets and wood is not magnetic.....simply science.