Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

jerryjg said:
I got a guitar body I dont know what the hell it is. Its a 3.2 lb. Warmoth body. Its either Basswood, Alder or Poplar. I called the people at Warmoth and they werent able to specify based on the info i provided.
Supposedly Basswood is whiter colored and can have green mineral streaks, and the wood grain may have a rougher texture than alder or Poplar. Basswood is lighter wieght generally than Alder or Poplar and has a mid heavey tone-profile, but lacks complexity.
Alder is smother in texture, and darker in color, and is balnaced in the frequency spectrum and can vary a bit as to weight, anywhere from over three pounds to just under 5 lbs.
Poplar ranges on the heavier side of Alder, and is slammed for having a lack of tone from waht little I know.I dont think it matters much if your playing at high gain with a lot of compression or distortion however.
I'd like to know what my body is made of, but will have to sell it as an Basswood body.
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it can be very hard to tell... but i did take a body to a good guitar shop that has guitar makers on staff and is quite famous for it's work... the staff there looked at the neck pocket area and told me mine was alder....
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

I see this conversation about tonewoods on nearly every forum. Why not use wood properties to determine which tonewood to use? There is the Janka hardness scale--alder and poplar are similar in hardness, with alder being slightly harder. Alder is slighty lighter as well, so that is in it's favor. Neither has pretty grain, so solid color finishes are good for both. Poplar is less expensive. This takes away some of the voodoo.
 
a7marshal said:
I see this conversation about tonewoods on nearly every forum. Why not use wood properties to determine which tonewood to use? There is the Janka hardness scale--alder and poplar are similar in hardness, with alder being slightly harder. Alder is slighty lighter as well, so that is in it's favor. Neither has pretty grain, so solid color finishes are good for both. Poplar is less expensive. This takes away some of the voodoo.
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Well, a variety of reasons.

One, hardness isn't the only factor.

Two, as mentioned in the thread, it's subject to the differences in each piece of lumber and each variation within the species. Are there certain characteristics that you can ballpark? Sure, and that's what we do now. But the variations inherent in wood being an organic and being subject to the environment in which it grew mean that no two planks are identical - possibly even from the same tree.
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

Telesexual said:
I think poplar is a bit heavier on average than alder. This is probably not going to work in all cases though.
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I agree. My Peavey Predator is a massive block of Poplar.Heavy. It doesnt have a lot of body vibrating resonance , liek even some cheap plinky guitars can have (I scoff at people who believe resonanse is the ultimate measure iof a guitars sound- hell, some cheap crap guitars I have resonate so much that they dont even sustain well), but you can feel a bass note sustain on the predator almost endlessly; significantly moreso than any of my other Strats ( I've got nine). It really has a lot of Ooomph in the bass/low mid register, and perhaps has noticeable quashed tone on the mids and highs.
Poplar is good, and even better as it opens up with age.
 
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Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

J Moose said:
Poplar is kinda like the poor man's alder & they're pretty similar.
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This.

I was unaware Fender switched to Poplar with the MIM models. I was under the impression it was reserved for Squiers. It's a workable tonewood, but at that price level, you might as well get the higher grade Alder.

You can generally find poplar in starter kit guitars - First Acts, [Made by Fender] Starcasters, Maestro by Gibsons. Best Buy/Toys r' Us/ Walmart guitars.

I'll betcha you can hunt down an alder MIM from the late 90's/early 2000's on eBay.
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

I don't think it's an inferior wood at all, or even a "poor man's alder". Some of the best sounding guitars I've played have had poplar bodies, the tele and kelly I currently own are among them.

The downside with poplar is just what Warmoth says, it doesn't take a stain or transparent finish well, I'm pretty sure that's why more builders don't use it.

It was good enough for Jackson though.
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

I have played both and none of the poplar guitars I ever played were the same quality as the alder guitars. Moreover, alder has a stronger and more balanced sound overall while poplar is spiky. I don't know who told you that poplar is a superior wood because I've always read the opposite, and someone else said it here: "poor man's alder."
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

UberMetalDood said:
I have played both and none of the poplar guitars I ever played were the same quality as the alder guitars. Moreover, alder has a stronger and more balanced sound overall while poplar is spiky. I don't know who told you that poplar is a superior wood because I've always read the opposite, and someone else said it here: "poor man's alder."
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I don't see where anyone said poplar was superior, and I just said I don't find it to be inferior. Most people seem to have the same opinion as you, and I disagree. I think most people have that opinion based on the fact that a lot of poplar bodies are found in cheap guitars. That doesn't mean it sucks though, just means it's cheaper for that manufacturer to use at that time. Like was stated above, poplar actually costs more than alder now, so now you see more alder bodies on cheap guitars. Doesn't make them better either.
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

*nods* I would be more concerned with how many pieces make up the body before arguing over alder or poplar (or any other wood, for that matter).

2-3 pieces is the most I want to see. Preferably 2, and dream for 1.
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

Not too many years ago I called and spoke to one of the Fender guys about the alder vs poplar issue....I was told that Fender went back to alder on the MIMs because poplar was costlier at that time over the alder...I don't own a poplar body and so can't opinion on alder vs poplar.My strats/Teles are either alder,ash,or basswood(MIJ) model..
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

every two pieces of wood are different regardless of species so this question is irrelevant do you prefer one body to the other if so go with that body

don't just buy something because you perceive it to be better buy it because something is wrong with your tone and you know that it'll fix the problem
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

I know this thread was a while back. But I own a popular guitar. I love it. It's nothing fancy. It's a GRG20Z. It was supposed to have a whammy bar (Not whammy bar liscenced by Kramer like the Kramer Pacer). I bought
the guitar because I purchased a Les Paul II special, and it was cold soldered deadening the bridge pickup.

I didn't know it was popular. It played like a dream. The thin U style neck allowd a lot of fast playing up the neck for guitar solos. So I am an Ibanez guy. That being said. I owned an Alder strat 57' Standard. They both have a similar tone.

Alder seems to be brighter, and has more snap to it. So in my opinion Alder is good for bluesy, country, rhythm and lead. While Popular has more of a modern rock sound, balanced, good highs, tight lows.

Strats and Teles always seem like their more bluesy anways. I dunno maybe just me.

I'm going to buy another Alder. Eddie Van Halen in a 1978 interview said "I hate Alder". Steve Vai Ibanez Jem, which is like a more expensive version of my guitar, uses Alder. They both played with David Lee Roth.

Eddie's been building guitars since as far back (you know) since Van Halen I and II. Frankenstein was on on both albums, and both tours.

If you want me I'll be dipping my guitar pickups in wax. Har

Brian
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

My best sounding non-vintage Fender Strat has a poplar body. IME, it's completely comparable to alder, as long as you are using an opaque finish. It's an uglier wood than alder, by conventional aesthetic standards for judging wood. I would never swap out bodies just to change from poplar to alder, hoping for an improvement in tone. I'd only do it if I wanted to switch to a translucent finish instead of an opaque one.
 
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Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

My 2001 jackson DK-2 has a poplar body... Best sounding guitar I have ever owned and feels perfectly balanced..

I put a '79 Gibson humbucker in her.. sounds super SWEET..accidents sometimes really do pan out.. this might also might contribute to her tonal quality and mojo..

a guitar is the sum of its parts..reason,some guitars have that something special about them.. i.e."mojo" and others just dont..
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

Zombie-Thread-Walk450.gif


Wow, a full 8 and a half year-old thread that just refuses to die.
 
Re: Body wood: Poplar vs. Alder

Tonally similar but poplar is an uglier wood that has a greenish hue and can be oily so it's better suited to solid oplaque colors whereas alder has a nice grain and works well with natural and transparent dyes and bursts where the wood shows.
 
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