Music + Technology = Pete Lacis

A while back I wrote this post concerning the differences between alder and swamp ash when used in a strat-style guitar and what tones/genres of music those combinations suited best. I originally wrote that post to satisfy my own curiosity, but also to share with others and participate in discussion. Three years later it is still the most searched topic on this site and continues to bring in a steady stream of traffic. Apparently I’m not the only one curious about these things….

Since I wrote the original post, I realized that I was missing a big chunk of the puzzle: how the wood the neck and fingerboard were made from influence the tone of the instrument. I realized the only way to truly see this was by comparing the two most popular neck wood combinations for a strat-style guitar (maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and one piece maple neck & fingerboard) on the same guitar.

To conduct this comparison I used two Suhr Classic guitars with identical electronics (V60LP pickups and the Silent Single Coil system). One was alder with a one piece maple neck and the other, swamp ash with a maple neck and Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. I recorded both clean and dirty passages utilizing every pickup combination on each guitar, then swapped the necks and repeated the process.

note: swapping necks on a Suhr guitar will void your warranty if the factory doesn’t perform the work.

What follows below are the audio clips organized by pickup position so that you can  compare the sounds of the different wood combinations within the same context.

NECK POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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NECK POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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NECK + MIDDLE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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NECK + MIDDLE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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MIDDLE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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MIDDLE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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MIDDLE + BRIDGE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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MIDDLE + BRIDGE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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BRIDGE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

BRIDGE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

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Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

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audio clips, guitar, musical instruments alder, comparison, maple, neck swap, rosewood, strat, stratocaster, suhr, swamp ash, v60lp

Through a relationship I’ve built over at the Huge Racks Inc Forum, I was asked to participate in a pilot program to help test out and launch the new Cool Cat! pedals from Danelectro.

Pedals tested: Vibe, Fuzz and Metal II Danelectro Cool Cat!

In attempt to keeps things equal, I played each pedal via a Suhr Classic (alder body, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, Suhr V60LP single coil pickups and Suhr SSC system) through a Custom Audio Amplifiers (CAA) OD100 Classic Plus. Cabs are CAA 1×12′s with Eminence Governors and I mic’d one of the cabs with a SM57. There are two clips for each pedal: one through the clean channel of the amp and one through the overdrive channel. Each clips begins with an un-effected riff for two bars and then alternates between effected and un-effected each two bars after that. Some clips have a little extra “stuff” going on at the end to demo the pedals a little further.

Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe – Clean

Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe – Dirty

Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz – Clean

Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz – Dirty

Danelectro Cool Cat Metal II – Clean

Danelectro Cool Cat Metal II – Dirty

Out of the three pedals, I dug the vibe pedal the most. That said, it had a rather pronounced (or perceived) volume boost when the pedal was engaged. It was the only pedal I tested that does not have a volume control (only mix).

Being that these pedals were true-bypass and of solid construction, I’d say that they would make a solid addition to any pedalboard. I’m certainly interested in checking out more of their product line. So far, so good.

amplifiers, audio clips, musical instruments alder, audio clips, Cool Cat!, Danelectro, fuzz, Metal II, pedal, SSC, stopbox, suhr, v60lp, vibe