Guitar Body Wood Guide: Alder, Ash, Mahogany and More

How much does the wood change the sound?

On an acoustic guitar the wood is the sound. On a solid body electric the pickups, the strings and the setup do most of the work, and the body wood adds a smaller layer: a little more brightness, warmth or sustain. Players argue about how much you can really hear, but everybody agrees on what you can feel and see:

• Weight: from about 3 kg for a light body to over 4.5 kg for a heavy one, once built.
• Grain: open-grain woods like ash show a strong pattern under a clear finish; closed-grain woods like alder are smoother to paint.
• Hardness: soft woods dent more easily and hold screws less well.

So pick the wood for weight and looks first, then let the tone be the bonus.

The best woods for an electric guitar, one by one

Alder

Medium weight, tight grain, balanced tone with clear mids. Alder has been the standard on ST-style guitars since the mid 1950s because it is light enough, stable and takes paint beautifully. The grain is plain, so most alder guitars get a solid color or a sunburst. Our alder Strat body starts from $146.

Ash and swamp ash

Ash has a bold, open grain and a bright, snappy tone with tight lows. It is the classic wood of the early TL-style guitars. Swamp ash comes from the lower trunk of ash trees growing in wet ground: it is noticeably lighter and is the one players look for. Northern or hard ash is heavier and brighter. Ash looks its best under a clear, translucent or ceruse finish. See our ash TL body (from $146) and the ash guitar body.

Mahogany

Medium to heavy, warm, with strong mids and a long sustain. It is the wood of single-cut and double-cut set-neck guitars, often with a maple top. Mahogany has a fine, open pore and a reddish-brown color that darkens beautifully with a stain. Most of our kits use mahogany or ash. Try a mahogany guitar body, from $117.

Basswood

Light, soft and very even, with a smooth, slightly compressed tone that suits high-gain playing. It is easy to machine and paint, which is why it is common on budget and shred guitars. The downside: it dents easily.

Poplar

Light and cheap, with a plain grain and sometimes green or grey streaks. Tone close to alder. Almost always painted in a solid color.

Maple

Hard, heavy and bright. A full maple body is rare; maple is used as a top glued on mahogany to add bite and a figured look, and of course for necks.

Paulownia and okoume

Very light woods used on some entry-level and travel guitars. Comfortable, but soft and plain.

Walnut, korina and other exotic woods

Walnut is heavy and dark, korina (limba) light and warm, and woods like zebrawood or padauk are chosen mostly for their looks. Often used as a top or a veneer rather than a full body.

Body wood comparison table

Ash vs alder: which one for your build?

The classic question for TL-style and ST-style guitars. In short:

• Choose ash if you want to see the grain under a clear or translucent finish, and you like a bright, cutting tone.
• Choose alder if you plan a solid paint job, want a smoother, rounder tone and a lighter, more predictable weight than hard ash.

In a band mix, most people cannot hear the difference between the two once the pickups and amp are the same. The finish you want is usually the deciding factor.

How to choose the best body wood for your build

• Clear or natural finish: ash, swamp ash or mahogany, or any body with a figured top.
• Solid paint: alder, basswood or poplar. You will not see the grain, so do not pay for it.
• Light guitar: swamp ash, basswood or a chambered body.
• Warm, thick sound with humbuckers: mahogany, with or without a maple top.
• Bright, clear single-coil sound: ash or alder.
• Ready-made: every unfinished guitar body we make comes routed and ready to finish.
• Making your own shape: start from a glued blank, such as our ash body blank (from $117), the mahogany body blank or the ST-style body blank. All our tonewood blanks are in one place.

Wood and finish: plan them together

Open-grain woods (ash, mahogany) need a grain filler before a smooth gloss finish, or the pores show through as tiny pits. Our guide shows how to apply grain filler, and our natural grain filler works on both. On ash you can also do the opposite and fill the grain with a contrasting color: that is a ceruse finish.

Not sure how a color will look on a wood? Try it on an ash test piece first, from $18.

Figured tops and veneers

Flame, quilt and spalted figure come from maple and ash. A full figured body is expensive, so most guitars glue a thin top or a veneer onto a plainer body. A fleece-backed veneer such as our quilted maple veneer or flamed ash veneer gives you the look on any flat-top body at a fraction of the price.

FAQ