I've always been curious as to the difference in tone between ash, alder & mahogany bodies on a Telecaster, but I've never heard a proper test before that keeps everything exactly the same apart from the body wood - until now! Very impressed by the effort taken to make this video and really interesting & educational to hear the tonal differences.
Based on what I hear, I think I preferred the ash and alder - on clean tones I think the ash sounded slightly sweeter but on distortion tones I preferred the slightly tighter alder tone. The mahogany was nice too, fuller but a fair bit darker - I could see this being preferred by folk who want a heavier tone but for me I think for classic rock and blues, country, jazz etc I prefer the alder or ash. Your tastes might differ - see what you think.
My only Telecaster is alder, but once the Vintera prices drop a bit and/or some good second-hand ones come available, I'm after an ash bodied 70's thinline with the two humbuckers.
I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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Differences between them were subtle but noticeable. Chances of actually noticing the difference in a full band live or recorded context is probably zero though.
I agree. Every piece of wood - even of the same species - sounds different. I've found this to be particularly true for the neck wood: different pieces of maple all flat sawn. That's why I believe you always have to try a guitar before buying it. I've never liked any of the guitars I bought without trying (although you can of course get lucky, I just haven't).