poplar vs alder
- Thread starter warcripp
- Start date
warcripp said:
Hello
:icon_thumright:Can't really say I've had too much experience with popular but the guitars I've played made out of it have sounded great, can't be certain it was the wood in itself though. In my opinion it's impossible to compare woods as there is no general characteristic that applies to a species. I think I remember it being lighter then Alder but again I can't remember it was many years ago.
Stratman44
Junior Member
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- 51
:rock-on: poplar has a very thin woody sound if you know what i mean. its kind of like a poppy sound. its sustain isnt very great..
crimson guitars
Newbie
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- 16
In my experience there is practically no difference, but then the density, and therefore tone, of wood varies even depending on where it came from in the tree.. I'm building a detachable twin neck guitar in poplar right now and the wood is spalted, therefore lighter than standard poplar, my advice is never to generalise you really need to hold each chunk of wood, tap it and get to know it before deciding.. if you're interested the twin neck is in my workshop diary here http://crimsonguitars.com/workshop-diary/270212
SkuttleFunk
Hero Member
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I use a 22" x 15" x 1.75" sized body blank for one of my 5-string bass models that's available in Poplar or Alder. I consistently find that the Poplar blank is just under 4 ounces heavier than the Alder blank. Both have a very similar tap tone ring
even here in the PacNW where Alder is somewhat of a weed tree, rough 8/4 Poplar lumber is roughly half the cost of Alder - BUT - I can consistently find clear Poplar without cosmetic imperfections (if you ignore the color stains), but the same cannot be said for Alder. in fact, finding Alder in sizes large enough to make a 2-piece body can be challenging at times due to the wood having so many knots. it's significantly more difficult to find what I classify as 'clear finish grade' (Alder that is cosmetic imperfection free and usable for clear and burst finishes) without also have a significantly low yield from each piece of lumber. this leaves me with a clear finish Alder blank costing me about 3x what a similar Poplar blank costs - too bad Poplar isn't usable for clear finishes
all the best,
R
even here in the PacNW where Alder is somewhat of a weed tree, rough 8/4 Poplar lumber is roughly half the cost of Alder - BUT - I can consistently find clear Poplar without cosmetic imperfections (if you ignore the color stains), but the same cannot be said for Alder. in fact, finding Alder in sizes large enough to make a 2-piece body can be challenging at times due to the wood having so many knots. it's significantly more difficult to find what I classify as 'clear finish grade' (Alder that is cosmetic imperfection free and usable for clear and burst finishes) without also have a significantly low yield from each piece of lumber. this leaves me with a clear finish Alder blank costing me about 3x what a similar Poplar blank costs - too bad Poplar isn't usable for clear finishes
all the best,
R
SkuttleFunk said:
This difference in weight reflects what Warmoth says as well, and this is reassuring to me since I'm picking Poplar for that very reason over an Alder body for my next project. I want a piece of wood on the heavier side but I don't want to pay a $40 upcharge to Warmoth to specify a heavier piece, and it's going under a solid finish so Poplar it is.
ZionWarmoth
Junior Member
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- 169
Love your work!Crimson Guitars said:
