Poplar Or Alder ?
- Thread starter Cazmarzak
- Start date
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
I have found poplar to be kind of lifeless...the sound just kinda falls out and lays there...no real punch at all plus it's ulgy as hell most of the time!
I have found poplar to be kind of lifeless...the sound just kinda falls out and lays there...no real punch at all plus it's ulgy as hell most of the time!
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
Both my guitars have graphics , so I never thought about what a wood looks like. I have a Jackson SL-2 and it is alder and I put a Breed in it. I have a charvel Vivian Campbell replica that is poplar and I just put a Full Shred in it and bothe guitars are very similar in tone to each other now.
Both my guitars have graphics , so I never thought about what a wood looks like. I have a Jackson SL-2 and it is alder and I put a Breed in it. I have a charvel Vivian Campbell replica that is poplar and I just put a Full Shred in it and bothe guitars are very similar in tone to each other now.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
Poplar sounds very small to me.
A good piece of alder has a gigantic crunch that just punches you in the face.
Poplar sounds very small to me.
A good piece of alder has a gigantic crunch that just punches you in the face.
Quencho092
New member
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
alder all the way. Its the only wood you can sound great with in a smooth blues/jazz setting, then rip up the fretboard with shred chops. You can do this with other woods, but alder really contributes to the strat's flexibility, making the strat the most genre friendly guitar in my opinion.
alder all the way. Its the only wood you can sound great with in a smooth blues/jazz setting, then rip up the fretboard with shred chops. You can do this with other woods, but alder really contributes to the strat's flexibility, making the strat the most genre friendly guitar in my opinion.
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
please don't use poplar
IMHO its not a wood worth using on a high end guitar
1) poplar = aspen trees = very small tree adn thus you almost always need multiple laminates to make a body
2) its ugly - grey to purple to green
3) tonewize - to me its a dud or a blank slate - maybe that's a good htink, but i just have never been very fond of it
alder is a different story - see above comments
please don't use poplar
IMHO its not a wood worth using on a high end guitar
1) poplar = aspen trees = very small tree adn thus you almost always need multiple laminates to make a body
2) its ugly - grey to purple to green
3) tonewize - to me its a dud or a blank slate - maybe that's a good htink, but i just have never been very fond of it
alder is a different story - see above comments
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
IMO Poplar is not a bad wood (James Burton actually specifically requested it on one of his signature teles) bust just because it's inexpensive doesn't mean its bad. To my ears, poplar has a tighter low end, less mids, and snappier highs than alder does. It's a different flavor. Some people like it, others do not. I have a poplar MIM strat that sounds just fine to my ears.
It's true that it can be very ugly, so it's not for use with graphics. It often has nasty grey/green mineral streaks in it.
IMO Poplar is not a bad wood (James Burton actually specifically requested it on one of his signature teles) bust just because it's inexpensive doesn't mean its bad. To my ears, poplar has a tighter low end, less mids, and snappier highs than alder does. It's a different flavor. Some people like it, others do not. I have a poplar MIM strat that sounds just fine to my ears.
It's true that it can be very ugly, so it's not for use with graphics. It often has nasty grey/green mineral streaks in it.
BS123
New member
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
My old Nashville B-Bender Telecaster was poplar. Why Fender would make a higher end production Telecaster out of poplar is beyond me. Maybe they figured that having to cut the body up to install the bender wasn't worth using ash or alder...
Having said that, I never could get a sound out of it that I was satisfied with. The closest I came was by using a Jerry Donahue pickup... I can't help but attribute some of the guitars tonal shortcomings to the bender itself...
But poplar would not be my first choice....
My old Nashville B-Bender Telecaster was poplar. Why Fender would make a higher end production Telecaster out of poplar is beyond me. Maybe they figured that having to cut the body up to install the bender wasn't worth using ash or alder...
Having said that, I never could get a sound out of it that I was satisfied with. The closest I came was by using a Jerry Donahue pickup... I can't help but attribute some of the guitars tonal shortcomings to the bender itself...
But poplar would not be my first choice....
NecroPolo
New member
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
Alder is my #1 choice because it has extremely accented midrange and that's where I live
For me, poplar sounds quite similar to alder but it does something wrong to my ears and feel with lows and mids that I don't like overall. Compared to alder it has a kind of muffled sound and response what I feel while alder is full opened and has a really juicy, presenceful tone.
Alder is my #1 choice because it has extremely accented midrange and that's where I live
For me, poplar sounds quite similar to alder but it does something wrong to my ears and feel with lows and mids that I don't like overall. Compared to alder it has a kind of muffled sound and response what I feel while alder is full opened and has a really juicy, presenceful tone.
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Poplar Or Alder ?
I've always thought Poplar sounded small and bland, and definitely favor alder for
bolt-on guitars. What strikes me as odd, is that Suhr and Anderson have recently been using poplar with a maple cap. Does that mean it's a variation on the theme of putting maple on mahogany? Less mids, but the same snappiness and tight lows?
Personally, I don't like poplar guitars, but it's interesting to see that some top notch luthiers are putting maple veneers or caps on it.
I've always thought Poplar sounded small and bland, and definitely favor alder for
bolt-on guitars. What strikes me as odd, is that Suhr and Anderson have recently been using poplar with a maple cap. Does that mean it's a variation on the theme of putting maple on mahogany? Less mids, but the same snappiness and tight lows?
Personally, I don't like poplar guitars, but it's interesting to see that some top notch luthiers are putting maple veneers or caps on it.
