My third Warmoth build

[Hanover Fiste]

I just completed this one over the weekend. Wanting to do something a bit different, I chose a 1-piece Poplar body. It's very light, but discovered poplar is very soft. The guitar isn't perfect: without a drill press or very sharp bits, drilling perfectly straight holes without the bit wandering--even with the areas center-punched-- was somewhat of a challenge. I'm very picky on part symmetry, so I was upset when everything didn't match up exactly as I planned. It should be noted I've seen worse on production guitars. However, minor annoyances aside, it plays very well, and sounds really good. When playing unplugged, it's one of the loudest guitars I've played. I named it "Terminüs" because I thought this was the last guitar I was going to build, but I have another body & neck soon to be on its way to me.

Specs: Poplar body w/20 coats of Tru-Oil, MIghty-Mite birdseye maple neck w/jumbo frets, Gotoh tuners & tremolo, generic neck pickup, GFS Vintage "Hot" bridge pickup, G&L switch, output jack, and 500kΩ pots.

 

[bagman67]

That's a handsome axe. Nice work! Poplar is, indeed, highly ding-able. I think you will find it turns into a well-worn and trusted battle-axe more rapidly as a consequence, if you want to look at it from that point of view.

 

[triple jim]

Interesting... I have a 120 foot tall poplar tree in my yard, and I need to cut it down soon. There's a small sawmill nearby too...

 

[bagman67]

Interesting... I have a 120 foot tall poplar tree in my yard, and I need to cut it down soon. There's a small sawmill nearby too...

That's a lotta guitar bodies. I envy you.

 

[triple jim]

That's a lotta guitar bodies. I envy you.

The mill is great, too. You tell them what thicknesses you want and they do it for a very reasonable price. I had them do some red oak a few years ago and it's beautiful.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Looks great. Too many knobs, but I'm a big fan of the Soloist & love the contoured heel and inlays. I'm working on my 2nd Soloist (5th Warmoth) and always love to see others from people here.

 

[Hanover Fiste]

Thanks for the comments. I should emphasize that when I said, "everything didn't match up exactly as I planned," that means some items are off by just a minuscule amount. They won't be noticed by the average person. I work in a place that measures items with micro-inch tolerances, so if something is off by even just a hair, it drives me nuts!

 

[triple jim]

I'm glad this thread got me interested in poplar for a guitar body, @Hanover Fiste. I always assumed that poplar would have a boring grain pattern, and be best suited for painting, but far from it. I cut a couple slabs from the tulip poplar tree (yellow poplar) and am surprised at how interesting the grain is. I chainsawed them from a 25" diameter log that's about 22" long. I'll let it dry and stabilize for a long time before I run it through the planer, in hopes it'll be done warping. Here's the slab that was dead center on the log:

 

[Hanover Fiste]

That's a nice-looking piece of wood! I don't necessarily agree with the whole "tone wood" claims, but my poplar guitar resonates, and it sounds really good--both unplugged and into an amp.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I think I want to eventually build a P-Bass from poplar.

 

[Rick]

Poplar is plentiful in the North Eastern usa. I always called it a tulip tree. I think that has something to with the shape of it's flowers. Pretty and those trees get huge, and the wood is way cheaper compared to Oak or Ash. I've chopped down tulip trees and turned them into firewood. Jim's piece is a primo example, from what I've seen in person it's usually a pale cream with some greenish tinge.

 

[triple jim]

Poplar is plentiful in the North Eastern usa. I always called it a tulip tree.

Right... growing up in MD I knew about tulip trees (tulip poplar). I normally have a fair amount of poplar in my winter firewood. That's how we heat. Interestingly, tulip poplar is not a true poplar. It's related to the magnolia. They grow like weeds here.

 

[Conquistador]

Did you carve that American Ultra style heel and lower horn curve?

 

[Hanover Fiste]

I cut the heel; the lower horn curve is stock.