What kind of wood is this?

Ash is ash...When you see describers like 'swamp' or 'northern' its not necessarily a scientific definition as much as a marketing describer. Swamp ash is usually used to describe ash that is lighter...

 

From that picture and the fact that it is a "Fender" shape
I would say that it is Alder.

 

+1, and yeah, that's ash.

 

What I have been told, and my understanding is that "swamp" ash is in fact the same species as "regular" hard ash, fraxinus americana. What makes it "swamp" ash, is when that tree is growing in....well, swampy areas. Or more to the point; a portion of the tree is under water. This causes the sap in the part of the tree that is submerged to either leech out entirely or be diluted. The result being that when the wood is dried, it is structurally the same as hard ash but lighter.

You can get some pretty friggin' light swamp ash bodies if you want. I bought a 5 string J body from Warmoth in swamp ash that came in at 3lbs, 6oz.

 

Common misconception.... different woods just sound different. There is no direct correlation that heavier woods sound better or vice versa.

 

Misconception???? Sounds to me like you're both saying exactly the same thing!

BTW, I happen to agree diff woods sound diff. PART of what makes one piece diff may be its density/weight, but not necessarily all. IMHO.

 

Despite it being a fender shape, the grain looks more like ash to me.

 

Well I suck at english. Uhh... let's see... if i could rephrase

"Common misconception.... In case you're categorizing heavy woods sound this way and lighter woods sound this way... don't. Different woods just sound different. There is no direct correlation that heavier woods sound like A and light woods sound like B."

and if that doesn't make sense don't correct it so i can feel better about myself.

 

I'm not saying you're incorrect, because you ARE correct! You're simply not disagreeing with anything he actually said. That's all.

He just said heavier woods sound different than lighter woods. That's very general and accurate, and not contrary to what you're saying at all. He didn't say what they sounded like, just that it's different. That's also correct. Density/weight affects tone. It's a simple and true fact of life.

Look again...

You agree. Deal with it.

 

Fenders also come with Ash bodies..

 

Correct, but i find that irrelevant considering i doubt that is a Fender brand body.

 

This is VERY interesting. I always wondered about what that meant. I mean, I think it's commonly understood when they say "swamp ash" it means it's lighter, but I never heard an explanation before. Makes perfect sense to me.

 

100% white ash. I'll put ten dolla on it
the alder color is coming from the patina on the varnish, looks aged, or was mixed with a yellow brown to get that aged effect.
nice aged effect or patina though.
Todd

 

Looks like a big ole slab of Swamp Ash to me. As for differing varieties,,, who knows. I'd bet Tribal is right, just because its his job to know wood.

 

The fun part of things is that you can get different density of wood from the same tree, so you might get a piece from one part of the trunk that gets marketed as 'swamp ash' due to low density, while you might get 'hard ash' or 'northern ash' to describe a plank from the same tree!

 

slab cut ash

 

No, swamp ash trees don't grow underwater. Even parts of them. Ever see a lake with trees growing out of it? You can get "swamp ash" boards 10 feet long and that would require at least that much of the tree to be grown underwater making harvesting a bit of a drag. Lots of water can make a tree grow fast and less dense but the trunk is not underwater.

At 5 pounds 9 ounces this is heavy ash any ways. The warmoth site has some great pictures with weights listed to compare to.