Carlton Guitars: Ash vs Alder & Maple vs Rosewood

www.carltonguit...
www.brierleygui...
My friend and luthier, Ray Carlton, dropped over to visit this morning. He wanted to show me a new build, a T-Style Custom Classic that features Mick Brierley's Broadcaster Pickups, an alder body and a maple/rosewood neck. Since I had another Custom Classic here with exactly the same pickups and electronics, we thought it might be fun to do a little comparison to see if the woods (body and neck) made any difference. This was not a precisely measured comparison, i.e., there may have been slight differences in the pickup heights and the ash guitar's strings were a little older, etc. But it was fun so we thought we'd share it with you anyway.
Guitars: 2 x Carlton Guitars Custom Classic T-Style, both with Brierley Broadcaster Pickup sets and identical electronics. Please consult Ray Carlton for details.
Amp: Laney Amplification VH100R and Laney 2x12 Cab with G12M's
Extra effects: N/A
Cables: Goodwood Audio and Providence
Power Supply: N/A
Mic: sE V3 Dynamic and VR1 (www.seelectron...) (Vibrolux); Samson Airline77 (me)
Camera: Canon 60D (me) and Nikon D5100 (pedal)
Soundcard: AVID Mbox Pro 3 (for recording) & Fractal Audio Systems Axe-FX II XL+ (mixing and bouncing).
Computer: Apple iMac 27" i7 3.4 GHz 16 GB RAM
Software: Logic Pro X, Waves L3-16 Limiter (to keep levels in check at output), Apple Final Cut Pro X (video editing and KZbin compression).

[@drewsleyy3836]

1:32 - Alder, bridge clean 1:53 - Alder, neck clean 2:06 - Alder, middle clean 2:38 - Ash, bridge clean 2:50 - Ash, neck clean 3:03 - Ash, middle clean 3:38 - Ash, bridge crunch 3:48 - Ash, neck crunch 4:03 - Alder, bridge crunch 4:18 - Alder, neck crunch 4:35 - Alder, bridge lead 4:43 - Alder, neck lead 4:56 - Ash, bridge lead 5:05 - Ash, neck lead (until 5:14) 5:23 - quick clean comparison! Nice.

[@TheDwarfInvasion]

Extremely helpful. So much more instructive to be able to compare quickly.

[@patrolduty8715]

I wish the youtubers know the critical role of fast switching short length audio for audio comparison. It is extremely basic... Thank you for save our time.

[@Stratamania]

It would also have been interesting to have swapped the necks on the two bodies to compare those also.

[@hyperben1985]

I love both. It’s like germanium vs silicon fuzz faces. But sound like fuzz faces but there’s a very noticeable difference. Ash/maple is like germanium which more bottom end and less upper mid spike. Alder/RW is like silicon, stronger upper mids and less bottom end.

[@bjornchristiansson2827]

This is classic! Alder fit best with rosewood necks. Ash body whit maple neck. My favorite is heavy body in Ash and the most chunky neck there is. The waight makes the tone. Great demo /Bjorn

[@pcwebbjr]

Ash + Maple all the way.

[@montydaniels1054]

I liked both. I bought 3-1970's strat bodies last month. The 1970 is an Ash, the 73-74 is an Alder & the ''1979 Hardtail'' is a ''Northern Ash'' which is the heaviest of the 2 Ash, so I'm wondering if that 1970 is a ''Swamp Ash''. Strange because it's been sprayed Black at least twice, so I figured it would have been heavier than the Hardtail which is just sealed in a Natural finish....... I just got the 1st neck [for the 79] in last week & one more coming in early next week [for the Alder Body]..... Hey, I liked the one you played at 4:32 or there abouts, great video by the way.... Great playing too...

[@ArielsSmartyPants]

Clearly the RW neck was brighter, too bright almost on the cleans but once you turn up the dirt the definition was a plus. Liked both of them. I'd probably go for the maple neck because I thought it had a bit more complex tones and I really liked the clean sound.

[@robritoboy]

I have an Ash/Maple strat and I can 'rough as guts' get a ballpark tone of the Alder/Rosewood guitar by using an EQ with a flat curve starting mids into the upper mids. So I'll guess that.

[@rsaathoff]

I have an ash/maple and an alder/rosewood fb tele. Both make me play differently because of what i'm hearing. I tend to keep going back to alder/rosewood but with a low wind pickup. Sounds good to my ears.

[@bumblefritz]

Seemed to me that the mids were a little fuller with the Ash/Maple combo. I think I liked it more here. That being said, the Tele I have is Alder with Rosewood and I think it sounds amazing.

[@victorribeiro2431]

More Country'ish/harsh sound on ash.

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

surprised to hear the alder/rosewood guitar a bit spankier.

[@lone-wolf-1]

Wait a minute-... it's more like this: the alder is more trebly and rich sounding and rosewood is spanky and trebly, ash is warmer sounding and the maple fingerboard is allso. Just the color is brighter on maple, not the tonal characteristics... Peace!

[@arthurias7693]

@@lone-wolf-1 Strange, I've always heard that rosewood is warmer and that the maple tone is brighter / spankier / trebly. Personally, I feel like my rosewood guitars are much warmer, smoother and richer tonally, while my all-maple strat is suuuuuuuper duper bright and spanky like a tele.

[@sugarlife485]

@@lone-wolf-1 depends...mot all

[@lone-wolf-1]

dB Music Group You're right, rosewood is richer sounding and to my ears there are higher frequencies noticeable, the mids are nice but less pronounced, low end is precise and less boomy compared to maple. Maple provides a lot of mids, the hights are nice and soft and the bass is kinda boomy. I have to correct myself in the previous post: maple is in general spanky. I think maple is in general percepted as trebly because of lots of spanky mids, and rosewood apears warmer because of balanced frequencies- but it definitely supports more the high frequencies because its harder then maple. But all that is so subtle, and also varies from build to build, that it should not worry much. And: I'm not surprized that your all maple guitars are very trebly😊

[@lone-wolf-1]

SUGAR LIFE You're right, it depends...- and for me its something that does not influence me to pick one guitar before the other.

[@xh4r744]

I like the ash tone

[@Dodzee.44]

ive always gone for the darker wood but both those guitars sound fantastic prob nice pickups the maple sounds a bit brighter which is nice

[@phatraptor6584]

to my ears the ash/rosewood guitar sounded thicker and deeper. I think the alder had a clearer/brighter tone. Kind of depends on one's needs.

[@eranswisa]

Funny you Check the video agsin First guitar alder & rose Second ash & maple And 2nd guitar has warmer tone more base & high. First one stronger mid less bsse

[@WestKillaGames]

But it's ash/maple and alder/rosewood.

[@topografer]

Ash maple more definition and bass. Great on the bridge pickup. Alder RW more presence and sweetness. Great on the neck pickup. So obviously you need both

[@chrisgates7756]

Dig that Alder/Rosewood combo! Nice nice looker.Though both would be nice.

[@arielista]

Like both but if I have to choose, the maple is it.

[@Alexanderstarreveldo]

Brett, please share your opinion on the difference in audio and feel. Your hearing quality is much better than ours !

[@bengalvin9932]

HEY BRETT i can"t miss the single coils here! i am a rosewood guy BUT the blackguard carlton is BEAUTIFUL!

[@alaincousineau9321]

It’s always a question of taste but for me it’s swamp ash and maple (roasted if possible) neck.

[@helixworld]

The maple neck has full mids, like I expect with a one piece maple neck. However the rosewood / alder guitar is too bright. I think there is something more going on than just a difference in woods.

[@tisbonus]

helixworld ash bodies have a lower resonant tone than alder. Not saying that's what you're hearing just throwing that out there.

[@GazMoz78]

There is a difference but I couldn't say which was better, they're just different flavours. Although I will ask; were the heights of the pickups, action and string gauge exactly the same?

[@AutisticMan78]

Gary Moseley I recon the difference can only come from pickup hight and string hight along with string age, but many think other wise lol

[@overtone85]

The Ash/Maple sounded "a bit darker" or to me. Are the strings brand new on both guitars and the pickups at the same distance from the strings?

[@stevemorse108]

Maple is brighter and more snappy for my ears.....the rosewood has more tonal depth and a darker more soulful sound for me.....thanks for the great video mate!

[@jakestadium]

There's something that happens to the midrange when you combine alder & rosewood that never sits right with my ear. It always sounds congested in the midrange with a slightly rounded and cardboardish attack. Yes it's bright, but in a spikey unpleasant kind of way. Ash & maple just always sounds more 3D, clearer, more balanced, bigger.

[@Tsudkyk]

It’s spanky- but doesn’t have the same “cut” as the maple and ash. I’m a player who loves a fat warm guitar for my rhythm section and a upper mid range focused lead (with a treble boost)- maple/ash all the way.

[@elnyoutube123]

I think if you utilize alder right it has a really rewarding sound. I have different amp settings for my alder jaguar and poplar jaguar and they have the same pickups.

[@supertrooperbc]

Similar. Matter of preference perhaps. What's not a matter of preference is the colors available from Fender for ash and alder. For example. .no Candy Apple Red or Seafoam Green for ash.

[@jeanaimarres]

I prefer Ash vs. Alder, especially in overdrive but I think Maple vs Rosewood is well suited for plays ...anyway bravo for your dexterity on the guitar, I have been with you for a long time and I appreciate your talent very much. Translated with google ;)

[@sexycheeseburgernameisfort8320]

I personally like alder rosewood

[@GPLP335]

Great video and equally great guitars. They sound different, it just comes down to player preference.

[@Laionel76]

Ash + maple for the neck pickup and alder + rosewood for the bridge. If I were a luthier, I would try a thinner ash body to normalize the mass between both guitar.

[@TheRockinmac]

Both sound like a tele. Great! Never coukd tell the difference in a mix.

[@jordansjournal3077]

I prefer the alder body. I have ebony over maple on my Super Strat, but the rosewood is interesting- and sounds good. Fender often still uses ash, but I find ash is kind of sterile/lifeless. That’s just me, though. Ash may resonate a bit deeper, but that does not necessarily make it better for rock music. I prefer the bite you get in the upper midrange, as well as the overall clarity (all other things being equal) of alder. I also really like curly soft maple bodies and necks for an electric guitar. That’s what I’m holding in my profile pic.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Ash rings.

[@TheRezus35]

it seems that maple necks somehow makes guitars sounding darker and muddy

[@bringbackthe1960sppl]

Wait really? I always thought it was the other way around

[@TheRezus35]

Honestly, that is how I hear it.

[@CountCarbsNotCals]

Maple sounds more musical to me. But how does it "feel" to play them, which feels better (i.e., is maple stickier, rosewood softer)?

[@Thomaslig]

I always focus on the cleans as a first priority. I think the ash+maple kills the cleans for the most part. Dirty I could go either way but can confirm there’s something very nice about rosewood. It’s “singing”. I personally play maple ash tele and do find the tone control is very important for dirty tones. I also almost never play on the bridge clean in most applications. Just too spikey.

[@bengosling3838]

Ash for overdrive Alder for cleans Which is great as i play rock and have just bought an alder tele 😕

[@gunjabeans]

Doesn't matter. You'll dial it in to work with your system.

[@3dsman]

Good vid, would like to hear you record the same lick from a song you know well on two different tracks of your multitrack, then play back while panning back/forth between the two for a more immediate result/comparison. Maybe do track one as a rhythm track then play track 2 with one guitar and track 3 with the other. Mute the rhythm track but having the rhythm track would ensure you had your two 'comparison' tracks sync'ed. Since everyon'e opining.. my experience has been that I really like a tele with a maple board while almost any other guitar I've ever played (Les Paul, Strat, etc..) the rosewood is best. Tele's and a maple fingerboard seem to belong together for that Tele spank/quack. Tasty.

[@dbq_custom_pickups]

low frequencies in ash are unique!!!

[@DARKLYLIT]

Astonishing how different they sound. I can't imagine the rosewood fingerboard changes the tone very much but you never know. It sounds like maybe the pickups might have been mixed up as the Alder/Rosewood sounds significantly hotter than the Ash/Maple. The body and neck would not reduce the output, so it must be the pickups. Would you be able to say how much the alder with rosewood sells for?

[@hyperben1985]

The results here are the same as my ash/maple and alder/RW Teles. My Alder has strong upper mids which makes it sound like it has more output, but it hasn’t really. It also has less bottom end and is brighter overall.

[@adamfiedorczuk5969]

What is the marshall stack behind you? Great comparison btw. Debating between ash or alder on a rosewood fretboard strat build. Thanks for the insight.

[@michaelsteven1090]

The best sounding tele's always sound better with an ash body..If you don't like what your hearing, don't blame the wood..

[@pavelguitar1]

nice video!!thanks

[@kevinjohnbetts]

To avoid having my opinions coloured too much by what I was watching I listened whilst finishing off a pedalboard. What I heard was two very nice sounding 'T-type' guitars in the hands of a player who clearly knows what he is doing. What I didn't hear was a great deal of tonal difference! Maybe one was a touch brighter than the other but it was marginal. In the room the differences may have been more marked but once the audio has been compressed (data compression) and the video uploaded to KZbin some of the dynamics and details are inevitably lost. That's true even through my Onkyo speaker system let alone a set of ordinary PC speakers!! A worthy experiment nonetheless as, based on some of the comments, it shows that people tend to hear what their eyes tell them they should hear. I expect to be flame-topped for this. :D

[@hyperben1985]

It’s true some aren’t as tuned into to difference in tone. To some the difference is negligible or subtle, to others it’s blindingly obvious and very starkly different

[@kevinjohnbetts]

@@hyperben1985 It's been a while since I made that comment. My opinion, and that's all it is, is that people hear what they want to hear. If someone can detect a major difference in the tone then I'm cool with that. We might even be referring to the same thing, just describing it differently. 😎

[@smokepeddler]

Alder had more mids. The maple board gives a snappier attack. My favorite combo is maple board with alder

[@tomfoolery2082]

Both sound good but diff, thats why i hav 1 of each ,, oh and a tstyle mahogany/ebony board,, gota try cover it all best i can rt,,lol. Great channel.

[@flyonsoul]

Rosewood neck tele sounds more snappy / has more jangle to my ears. Maple neck tele more mids/warmth. I was actually expecting opposite to be true.... maybe time to get the hearing checked

[@MrDavee1]

Your hearing is fine. I'm thinking the body wood is having more effect on the tone than the fret board wood is.

[@Blech319]

flyonsoul my take as well.

[@BrettKingman]

Agreed. That's how I felt afterwards too.

[@frankenstrat78]

I concur.

[@lone-wolf-1]

@flyonsoul . the sound is as I expected. Don't need to check your hearing, hearing is fine! just have to check (readapt) knowledge about tonal properties of woods... :-) Personally like the rich, spanky tone of alder-rosewood combination. Peace!

[@kenbash893]

Ash sounds a bit darker and somehow more mellow- who knew? Alder definitely more bite and slightly harsh.

[@deadmanwalking1930]

Rosewood is brighter, I feel it's too bright. I'll go for maple. More warmth and mid. Can get more treble through amp anyway.

[@Thirdgen83]

The rosewood has ZERO AFFECT on the tone. The ash body has a scoop in the midrange versus the alder body.

[@Dannybars420]

@@Thirdgen83 bullshit

[@Dannybars420]

@@Thirdgen83 play rosewood vs maple board strat. Totally different tone

[@Thirdgen83]

@@Dannybars420 There is ZERO difference in tone. The fretboard material has NO affect on the tone of an electric guitar. STOP repeating 1980s guitar magazine MYTHOLOGY.

[@Dannybars420]

@@Thirdgen83 no repeating my own personal experience. I've owned many a strat in the 22 years I've been playing and am now considering a tele.

[@cliffb2454]

I am prefer the Tele with a five screw scratchplate.

[@stevendobias2960]

Both sound great. If I could only chose one it would be the Ash/Maple over the Alder/Rosewood. If you were giving them away I would keep either :)

[@leomilani_gtr]

I guess the ash one sounds much more twangy and mid ranged. I personally preferes that sound.

[@Deliquescentinsight]

To me there is not a heck of a difference, the Rosewood neck maybe has a bit more definition, but really there aint much in it, could be the compression of KZbin , I did not hear the expected Maple brightness in comparison.

[@Blech319]

The rosewood one was painfully bright.

[@lukaskuipers7791]

I personally found the brightness really beautiful, that is on all butt he neck pickup; that was a win for the ash/maple hands down

[@AutisticMan78]

Personally I don't beleave there is a difference, what difference u might hear is factoring in the hight of pickups, the hight of strings, the age on strings on the guitar, the list goes on, you may hear it wile playing but the factors mentioned come into play imo. They sounded so close that my point is proven and I've never bought into the wood theory because nothing comes from the wood on electric when your amps 2+ volume, it's impossible and I think to many people get misled into thinking otherwise.

[@darrylcole5575]

Not true sorry..... the wood has a big diffrence as I can hear in this video and in person. If it wasnt true then they would use the same wood all the time which would be boring. Older wood is usually much better and who knows which body has dried out longer etc... I find 50 year old wood lighter for the most part and very resonate which will make a diffrence , nitro lacquer vs poly is also another thing to take into consideration. Pickups, pots and caps will also change the sound of a guitar and for the better.......

[@hyperben1985]

I used to think the same. Then I got some experience and found the wood to make an undeniable and sometimes very significant difference to the tone.

[@jumpboy29]

Rosewood tele has a harsher treble sound.

[@Thirdgen83]

Ash has a scoop in the midrange.

[@savoirfaire8979]

*I'm not a fan of swamp ash. Mid-range too thin.*

[@joskam092]

This isn't a great comparison for maple vs rosewood because the bodies are made of different wood. This is more of a comparison of 2 Carlton guitars you could order.

[@benforsey]

In my time of playing Telecasters, I've always been more attracted to the sound of Alder+Rosewood over Ash+Maple. Which is somewhat infuriating as the 50's blackguards are soooo cool! But they don't sound as punchy to me. I think Alder is a thicker sound and rosewood makes the front of the note a lot more punchy and spanky.

[@sugarlife485]

wood is everything yes alder tends to warm it up and thicken it...great to have both!

[@smokepeddler]

I find the opposite with rosewood, I find maple boards to have a more snappy attack.

[@repoman5581]

Dam... sounds opposite to what I heard on other videos. Ash was usually brighter

[@phanuwatnabangchang6379]

you the best.

[@GRUNGELEOPARD]

No need to choose: I’ll have both please! The yellow is just gorgeous and in comes the woody to steal the show. Just a tip: get someone who can actually play , please... Love it!!!;) Do U do leftys?

[@TheEchelon]

What are you on about? His playing is fine. Let's see you demo a guitar.

[@PatonMacD]

ASH +1

[@thediminish8517]

영상 잘 봤습니다. 톤이 정말정말 좋고 연주도 교재로 공부하고싶을만큼 좋네요. 몇가지 궁금한 것이 있는데 워모스에서 주문해도 영상의 기타처럼 펜더 데칼 해주나요? 아니면 데칼은 셀프인가요? 그리고 픽업은 어떤 브랜드의 제품을 쓰셨나요? 그리고 스테인버그 기타를 사용하신 다른 영상에서 드라이브 페달을 공제 크레셔를 쓰신것 같은데, 이 영상에도 크래셔를 쓰신건가요?

[@guitarandotherthings6090]

Anyone who says wood doesnt matter hasnt watched this video!

[@marcosteixeira7089]

I prefer alder... more quack... more vintage...