Alder wood

[Michael P. Lemieux]

Hello,

Just need a couple of opinions about Alder wood. Do you think there's much of a difference between the Alder purchased from Stewmac, Luthiers Mercanctile's or Exotic Woods, etc. Thanks,

Mike

[Russell Vance]

Hi Mike,

I don't have any opinions about the relative merits of the wood supplied by major luthier suppliers, providing its handled and prepared well (cutting, machining and kilning/drying) it's Alder fit for the purpose. 

However, different weights do different things to the tone so buying the weight range relative to the tonal qualities desired is a good idea.  It's a little more complicated than this when looking at the whole guitar package but this is one of the basics.

For information and without spruiking, I have used USA Custom Guitars (Tommy Rosemund and his crew) as a prime source for electric bodies (I think they do raw blanks as well) at a particular weight and appearance.  I recommend them and rate them highly as a specialist supplier.

Regards, Rusty.

[Michael P. Lemieux]

Thanks for the input Rusty

Mike