It doesn't always have to be alder or ash... :)
Although the palette of wood types being used for building guitars has actually grown wider, it seems like manufacturers of traditional shapes still stick with the 2-3 classic types, which are alder, ash (swamp ash for the most part) and mahogany. There might be an occasional poplar model in there, certainly when it comes to the more budget-friendly series, some of them produced overseas these days.
One of the first guitars I built about 7-8 months ago came together because I found an amazing looking body made of really old pine wood. Two aspects of that body just stuck with me. a) It was really lightweight with just around 1,4 kilos and b) The wood must have been stored for at least 40-45 years, because it was super dry and resonant, even without additional treatment.
In the end the total build came out with just a little over 3 kilos, the guitar was extremely loud acoustically and was singing and sustaining until tomorrow. Until then, I've heard of classical guitars made of pine wood, Fender had released some limited runs with roasted pine bodies, but apart from that, I wasn't familiar with it. Now I am absolutely addicted to it and four of my recent builds are based around bodies made from torrefied (or roasted) pine.
Two of those guitars came out with 3 kilos total weight, another one which hosts a steel block tremolo, brass trem claw and the regular vintage tuners showed 3.13 kilos on the scale. Not only are these guitars amazing to play and comfortable around the shoulder, they also sound and ring amazing, which is something that doesn't always happen with alder. It seems like pine wood is a bit more consistent on the weight and when treated with heat (e.g. roasted or torrefied) resonates more even than other woods I have worked with so far.
And yet, for some reason, pine wood seems to have a weird reputation among guitar players, especially when left with a natural oil or transparent nitro finish. You'll hear stuff like "oh, that looks like the closet my grandma had once" or "oh look, a Barncaster". It's pointless to discuss personal tastes, but I think we should give the old pine wood a little break. How about the next time you make a 1:1 comparison with your shiny, beautiful alder guitar and we'll find out if it can hold a candle against its pine counterpart?
After all, players want their guitar to sound good first and they're happy when it also has the looks they desire. If you take a look at our latest builds, you'll notice that with a thin nitro finish, you will get great looks and the advantages of torrefied pine wood in one package! :)
