Ash and Swamp Ash

Nope. You heard right.


www.guitarworld.com/features/fender-will-no-longer-use-ash-bodies-for-production-line-guitars-we-found-out-why-and-what-woods-will-be-used-instead

Warmoth has a sizable inventory of ash bodies. I'm kinda tempted to snag a Tele body just to have one before they disappear.

No surprise. Western NY around Buffalo and Rochester is littered with dead ash trees after the emerald ash bore beetle tore through in the last 7 years. Incredible damage, millions of trees killed, most of it still visible as the dead trees are still there and obviously foliage free in the summer.

I’ve got a 59 thinskin strat from 2007 and a 70th anny broadcaster both with ash bodies. It’s terrible the devastation the ash borer has done to the trees.

I suspect sassafras is going to be the ash alternative.

I’m still building ash-bodied guitars to sell as my body supplier still has access to some nice ash. I’ll continue as long as I can.

Maybe I'll buy a lightweight swamp ash Tele body. I have a Baja tele in ash, but it's pretty heavy. I suppose it's the non-swamp variety. Otherwise I love it.

We're still getting ash for the Fiore model below, but I've noticed more and more worm holes in the rough cut stuff. I suspect there will be a point that what is available is just too wormy for translucent finishes. 

Perhaps wormy ash will become trendy just like these so-called "barncasters" you see of knotty pine.  Twenty five years ago, #3/utility-grade wood was considered too nasty for guitars, and now it's a thing.  Gretsch tried it in the 1950s with their Roundup models, and they failed miserably at the time.

Hmmm, looking at Warmoth's ash Tele body inventory the majority in stock stuff is listed as "3 piece/multi piece for solid colors", a category I've never seen before at their site.

Sounds marketable to me.

Maybe they should be making guitar bodies with it.

Our street was lined with nice big ash trees a few years back. All are gone now . All we have now are the motley group of sapling replacements. Talk about changing the look of the neighborhood .

I have two G&L Tribs w/sassafras bodies.

Ashes in the UK / Europe are taking a hit from ‘ash die back’ fungal disease. Hopefully there’ll be some ash strains that are resistant to it. Unfortunately it looks like the inevitable will happen and that beetle will find its way over here and finish those off too.

With globalised diseases and climate change, things may be looking a lot different pretty much everywhere in another 10 years.