What's heavier, alder or ash?

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Got two ash MIJ basses... one is PB70 and one is a MM jazz bass.
The PB70 is very light but the MM is very heavy and all people talked Ng about this bass state that the bass is heavy.
As the bass reproduces the 77 jazz bass of Marcus Miller, was the heavy weight of the ash used by Fender at that time a true characteristic of the jazz basses they produced?

 

[Jeff Bonny]

As the bass reproduces the 77 jazz bass of Marcus Miller, was the heavy weight of the ash used by Fender at that time a true characteristic of the jazz basses they produced?

Yep.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Yep.

Thanks for the reply ... same weight should therefore be expected from the AVRI version then ... uh ... true?

 

[direwolf333]

Do you have any sense of what the timeline on this is? I haven't followed closely, but I feel like warmoth had more lightweight alder bodies a few years ago

That's from a Mike Lull interview, email him.

 

[Shannon]

I'd rather be hit with the carrots! By the way, what's the best carrot variety for metal??

According to Invalid Link Removed, black carrots are richest in iron and zinc, which are metals. Therefore, black carrots are best for metal.

 

[Margus Alviste]

I have built more than 10 basses from various parts and as many others have noticed the Swamp Ash can be lighter or even much lighter than the regular Alder. But the Northern Ash is usually much heavier. But sound wise I have found Alder to be much more consistent and more tonally balanced.

 

[Doner Designs]

Probably matters if it's swamp ash or regular ash. As I understand it, growing in a swamp means rapid growth which results in a less dense (thus lighter) wood.

It will vary a lot by piece of wood - check out the Warmoth showcase to see how they can vary.

My guess is that lightest to heaviest (on average) would be swamp ash, alder and then regular ash.