Replacement Strat bodies

[seancorker]

I'm thinking about trying a replacement body for my Jap strat. Can somebody recommend;
a) A website detailing the tonal qualities of Ash vs Alder vs Maple vs Mahogony vs Walnut vs Chinese dogweed (lol)
b) I've long been intrigued by the tonal qualities offered by a chambered body. Any comments?
c) Any recommendations of sites that offer good quality lumps of wood?

The neck is maple with BKP Mothers Milk

[sgmypod]

Axesrus.com do a few odd things bodies wise but is a bit hit or miss to what they have in

[SamR]

Warmoth are the best ive heard of so far.

[gingataff]

+1 on info about chambered bodies!

[Philly Q]

Take a look here for info on body woods.

And here for info on chambered bodies.

I haven't tried a chambered Strat body but I do have a Thinline Tele.  Warmoth  say the tone is more "open, full, fat, and chunky".  I'd agree with the first two - the hollow body seems to bring out the bass and treble more - but I'd question whether the guitar actually sounds any fatter.  They also say there's an increase in sustain, which again I'm not so sure about.  More acoustic volume, yes, but sustain?  Hmmm.

The hollow body also affects the guitar's balance quite a lot, making it neck-heavy.  On the whole I like my Thinline but if I only had one Tele or Strat I'd rather have a lightweight solidbody.

[cjpmmd]

+1 for Warmoth.  I got an ash Strat body about 3 years ago with a fantastic shell pink finish; the finish quality beat most Fenders I've ever played.

cjpm

[seancorker]

Thaknks to Philly Q for the links - perfect

Next question;

Does screwing the pickups directly into the wood give a better tone then attaching them to a scratch plate as in the standard strat style - Opinions please?

[Philly Q]

Does screwing the pickups directly into the wood give a better tone then attaching them to a scratch plate as in the standard strat style - Opinions please?

It seems to me they're almost completely opposing principles.  If the pickup's screwed to the body then the body's resonance is transferred into the pickup, if it's attached to a scratchplate it's almost like a suspension system to isolate the pickup from the body's resonance.  

So I suppose the question is - is it a good thing for the pickup to vibrate sympathetically with the guitar, or not?  And the answer is - I really have no idea!  :?

I've had guitars that used both methods, and they all sounded good.  I've never tried both methods in the same guitar though.  I have a hunch you'll find that people who favour the screwed-to-body approach will say it definitely sounds better, but scratchplate people probably won't have a strong opinion either way.

[indysmith]

yeah this is an issue i never understood; surely if a pickup is screwed into the body, resonating with the body, then the strings will pick up far fewer frequencies, because the body and strings will be moving together. It seems stupid to me that direct-mounted pickups sound better... unless anyone can explain how

[LazyNinja]

From Warmoth:

Some players, following a trend set by Van Halen, prefer to mount the humbucker directly to the wood without any spring suspension. Tonally this does not appear to make a significant audible difference. Our opinion is that this is primarily an aesthetic issue.


http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/options_guitar_pickups_routing.cfm

[Philly Q]

I was thinking about this again on the bus this morning (very dull life I have  :(  ).  

With the direct-mount method, if there's any kind of height adustment - springs, rubber tubing or a piece of foam - then you have a "suspension system" again, damping the vibrations between body and pickup.  So you lose the tonal benefits (if any) of screwing the pickup to the body.  

I think Warmoth are probably right.

[38thBeatle]

Apparently there is a new Haynes manual out for Strats-(the company that makes car manuals for cars). I can't remember who told me but I am going to check it out.