Alder vs Poplar

[uOpt]

This may very well be entirely true, but who are these "some people"? And where can we verify that this is what they say?

I'm not in the habit of logging every link just to guard myself against smartasses like you.

There's some lengthy piece on the web where somebody advocates poplar saying that most Strat buyers would be very happy with it's weight and "resonance" (his words, not mind) and would rate it as a great Strat if they didn't know it's poplar. I think it was some interview on a guitar magazine website, not a standalone webpage. I'll leave it to your google-fu to bring it up if it's important enough for you.

Another obvious place is here but keep in mind that these people are usually happy Morse signature owners.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=poplar+site%3Aernieball.com&btnG=Search

Whoa whoa, chill out man. No need to guard anything, we're friends here, but just saying "some people" is not very satisfying. Above description is fine for me. I certainly don't remember every site I visit, but Firefox has a very useful history function that can be helpful (I use it constantly).

Sorry, no harm intended. I ran into excessive topic drift in another thread here and got a little short-tempered.

Anyway, the key here is: anyone who wonders about Poplar should go to guitar center and play a Music Man Morse Signature. It's hardtail so it's not really representing what would happen if you do a Strat with it but it will give you a nice "a, that's what it's like".

 

[tfarny]

There are tons of poplar guitars out there - most of the Japanese Fenders were poplar or basswood. Nobody goes around saying 'that record has a POPLAR strat on it! Inferior tone!" The whole thing is just BS.

The fact is you can't judge a wood species by one particular example - each tree is different. I think that because we are so divorced from nature in this modern world, we expect products derived from nature to be as consistent as what our factories produce, and that's just not the case. Sorry to get all heavy on you.  :toothy12: :toothy12:

 

[Soylent]

I hope one day to hear a poplar tree give the "I have a dream" speech.

All woods created equal!

heh  :toothy12:

 

[SkuttleFunk]

not only is each tree different, but the wood even varies within a specific board!

all the specs you will find about a wood species are given as averages for the working properties of that wood. wood isn't a product manufactured to stringent tolerances like plastic or metal - it's a naturally occuring product from a tree that grew and responded to the many climatic and seasonal changes during its life span. lumber cut from close to the ground incurred different streses than that from higher up ...

  do you know exactly where your body lumber came from? are all of the body pieces from the same board and/or general area, or even from within the same tree? did the tree grow in the northern, southern, eastern, or western extent of its range, or did it grow somewhere more central? was your wood harvested in the summer or winter? was it kiln dried? if so, what was the drying cycle? all of these things (and many more) will impact the wood to a greater or lesser degree, and yet you have zero knowledge about any of these things when you look at an unfinished body or planks of lumber at a hardwoods supplier.

there's a TON more to wood than the simple anointed wood mythology that plagues the internet ... and there's a significant amount of woodworking knowledge absent from most guitar forums where the "sonic experts" gather in droves

I now return you to the mythological world of anointed wood fantasies ...

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Well, I can honestly say that I have a guitar that is made of plywood

all "plywood" is not created equal. don't base your position about 'plywood' bodies based on one example - it would be like basing your opinions on sports car performance based upon only having ever driven a Yugo

all the best,

R

 

[Mor Paul]

Well, I can honestly say that I have a guitar that is made of plywood

all "plywood" is not created equal. don't base your position about 'plywood' bodies based on one example - it would be like basing your opinions on sports car performance based upon only having ever driven a Yugo

all the best,

R

You know what... was it Klanch that reminded us that Les Pauls are technically plywood?