Popular Body Wood Being Replaced!

This week I found something interesting. I caught wind that Fender will be heavily restricting the use of ash and swamp ash wood. In an article (click for original source and interview) written by Amit Sharma on Guitar World, Fender has announced that they will mainly use ash (the wood) will only be used for reissues and special custom models for authenticity. The company claims there is a shortage of swamp ash in the south and the ash in the north (Canada and Michigan regions) the ash is dying out due to an infestation of beetles that eat the tree. Over the years, the wood maybe entirely depleted in those regions until the beetles are gone long enough for the trees to grow back. Additionally, the wood in the North, despite the beetle situation, tends to be too heavy for a guitar body unless there is drastic weight relieving.

What can this mean? Well the company addresses the situation well in the article. This surprised me because Fender and Gibson tend to have fans that hate to see anything other than original specs, which ash is the original material for Telecasters and Stratocasters. Fender states that they understand that losing ash is a major loss considering the history with the raw material but substitutes of the material will cause there to be a loss of quality. In fact, alder is already a very popular material Fender has been using for a while and there could be more substitutes that can change the DNA of their guitars from here on out. If they position a radical stance, they could begin to make their popular models with a brand new substitute material and market this move as a historical change and encourage their fans to buy the new guitars. This would be smart for both the company and the consumer, the company gets fast sales for the popularity of a new feature and the consumer gets a guitar that will be considered “the first year that Fender used ____…” and that guitar could be the new ’59 Stratocaster in sixty years and be worth a small fortune. That is just one way this news could be handled. It could be a major positive change to Fender or be a pivotal change that causes unfortunate situations for the major guitar company.

What do you guys think? Would you “invest” in a guitar that is the first new substitute material or invest in swamp ash Fenders for resale later? Do you even like ash body guitars? Let me know in the comment thread below and check out my other blogs by clicking the “BLOG” button.

-ZAC