Is my comanche ash or alder?

[diddly]

Hi there,i have had a used comanche for about 3 years now.Ive never been 100% sure if its ash or alder though.The g&l site states that any comanches with premier finishes are swamp ash and standard finishes are alder.The finish on my comanche is just a regular sunburst finish.So one would presume its alder then,but the gallery on the site has a comanche with a similar finish to mine(slightly different color,redburst) and its an ash body.How exactly can i found out?Can the serial number be used to get this info?Cheers

[Craig]

Hi there,i have had a used comanche for about 3 years now.Ive never been 100% sure if its ash or alder though.The g&l site states that any comanches with premier finishes are swamp ash and standard finishes are alder.The finish on my comanche is just a regular sunburst finish.So one would presume its alder then,but the gallery on the site has a comanche with a similar finish to mine(slightly different color,redburst) and its an ash body.How exactly can i found out?Can the serial number be used to get this info?Cheers

Post photos of the front and back of the guitar. See: Tutorial: Posting photos.
If your guitar's serial number is located on a metal plate on the back of the headstock, it should also have come
with a Custom Build Specification sheet. See: http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/GALLERY2/ma ... temId=8457.
That sheet will list the actual body wood.

You can optionally order Swamp Ash in place of Alder body wood.
The Redburst finish is a Premier finish so Swamp Ash is the standard body wood.

[tbonesullivan]

Three Color sunburst is usually Alder. You can tell by the grain. Ash has a VERY pronounced grain, while alder does not.

Alder:



Ash:

[MarkJ61]

What T-bone said. You Comanche is almost surely alder.
To geek out further on the differences, yes Ash typically has a more pronounced grain and Alder less so, but that comes from the TYPE of grain each species has:

Ash is commonly called an open-grain wood, because it have large pores. This can be be seen best when looking at the endgrain. What is as important is that ash (and oak) are "ring-porous", meaning the very large pores are distributed more in the earlywood (spring). Think of it as clusters of larger pores near each years growth ring. When sawn laterally, they create distinct and strong grain pattern that gets further pronounced with stains and finishes that soak it to the larger pores.

Alder is a closed-grain wood, because it has small pores, but again, as important is the distribution of the pores. Alder is "diffuse-porous" meaning the pores, while small, are also spread fairly evenly across the earlywood and latewood. So when sawn the grain pattern is less striking.

To complicate things further, some woods can be diffuse-porous (even distribution) and still have somewhat large pores, like Mahogany. That's why you still see large pores but distributed evenly, not causing the pronounced grain patterns of ash.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techn ... ture-types

[Craig]

What T-bone said. You Comanche is almost surely alder.

Not necessarily, see: July 1, 2015-present Body Wood Substitution For Alder.

That's why I have asked OP to post photos and also check the Custom Build Specifications sheet (if it was included).

[MarkJ61]

What T-bone said. You Comanche is almost surely alder.

Not necessarily, see: July 1, 2015-present Body Wood Substitution For Alder.

That's why I have asked OP to post photos and also check the Custom Build Specifications sheet (if it was included).

Yes, I just got too deep into to pores of wood to read all the above

[tbonesullivan]

I remember that EBMM basses/guitars were that way for a while as well. Some years only the translucent finishes were ash, some years all were ash. I had three Stingrays, a 2003, 2007, and a 2012. The 2003 was lava pearl, but I took off the neck, and it was definitely ash. The 2007 is cherry burst, and definitely ash. The 2012 is pearl blue, but i had to shim the neck, and definitely ASH.

So, could be ash.

[SouthpawGuy]

My 2008'ish S500 in three tone burst, a standard finish .... ash body





.

[Craig]

While we wait for photos of diddly' s Comanche, here are two photos of 3-Tone Sunburst. The first on Alder and the second on Swamp Ash (both photos taken this month at the G&L factory:

3-Tone Sunburst on Alder:


3-Tone Sunburst on Swamp Ash:


Also, diddly, please don't forget to add your Comanche to our G&L Registry.

We are looking forward to seeing your Comanche [It does not exist without photos! ].

[john o]

Hi there,i have had a used comanche for about 3 years now.Ive never been 100% sure if its ash or alder though.The g&l site states that any comanches with premier finishes are swamp ash and standard finishes are alder.The finish on my comanche is just a regular sunburst finish.So one would presume its alder then,but the gallery on the site has a comanche with a similar finish to mine(slightly different color,redburst) and its an ash body.How exactly can i found out?Can the serial number be used to get this info?Cheers

mine's a 2013, redburst over swamp ash

[diddly]

Cheers for all the replies.Ill try and upload some pics tomorrow.I didnt get any spec sheets with it as I bought it used in 2013.By the looks of things it seems to be alder.Ill post some pics tomorrow.