GUITAR WOODS: ALDER

Alder (Alnus glutinosa) grows in both Europe and North America. The tree grows to a height of 15/27 mt and the diameter may vary from 0.3 to 1.2 mt. Weight normally ranges around 530kg/mt3, a medium rate.

This is the wood most of the pre CBS Fenders were made of and it's still used on their most expensive models and on other premium guitars.

Alder guitar wood tone is well balanced and neutral with a slightly more accentuated upper midrange.

The colour is light brown with very compact and slightly visible grain which makes it more suitable to solid colours rather than transparent.

In fact to achieve the bright yellow of the sunburst finish on the first Fender instruments built in alder, they first sprayed a white coat under the burst. Alder guitar wood is also used as a central core of the wings that compose the body of neck through basses.

Galeazzo Frudua

As a luthier and guitar making and repair teacher, since 1988 he has built making more than 350 boutique guitars and basses priced from 2,900 to 5,600 Euros and repaired and customized thousands of stringed instruments. His instruments and amplifiers are used by flagship artists, such as Chick Corea, Peter Gabriel, Ennio Morricone, Carl Verheyen. He owns two YouTube channels—where he teaches music—that count up to 40 millions views and almost 200.000 subscribers.