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kevins

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I read that “honey sunburst” was the only Sabre basses they made out of “ultra light ash” in a manual that was circa 87. So I’m looking at the wood grain and it is pretty tight but more pronounced than alder, is this guy ash or alder? 0FF5EED8-F23E-4F35-8CEC-09FD32A4F42E.jpeg 5972A760-9F09-4B6D-BAE1-3167351E7107.jpeg
 

kevins

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Definitely not Ash. Looks like alder to me. Ash has much more pronounced grain, and a lighter color.
The changing of resolution blended it together a lot, the striping is pretty dark but straight, my ash stingray has a lot of swoops but sometimes ash is lined, I’d prefer Adler actually, but imagine it could be either. Is this a honey sunburst?
 

tbonesullivan

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The changing of resolution blended it together a lot, the striping is pretty dark but straight, my ash stingray has a lot of swoops but sometimes ash is lined, I’d prefer Adler actually, but imagine it could be either. Is this a honey sunburst?
Definitely honey sunburst. Looking back for guitars with "LIGHT ASH" I think it's probably not alder in this case, so I definitely have changed my mind about it. It looks great either way.
 

kevins

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IMO it's Ash. I've seen Ash like that before. I also think the finish is original. Do you have a pic of the neck pocket on the body?

I’m 99% sure it’s original paint job! It’s from a set of 4 that someone was selling
 

Golem

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If the grain is stronger than the photo conveys, it might be northern ash. Most modern ash basses are swamp ash. My old Sabre was norther ash. One indicator of northern ash is its weight ... heavier than it looks. The grain is tight, like a Louisville Slugger. OTOH, as seen in the photo, it really looks like alder.
 

kevins

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I thought it might be alder, but the sides are the giveaway, it’s definitely ash, big thick swoop grains and the photo really undersells the amount of grain
 
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