Poplar lumber

[KRamone27]

I just got a good size load of this stuff from work and it looks pretty clean. I thought about making one of my Mosrite clones out of it and heard that poplar is very close to Alder. Is there any truth to this? The wood its self comes on the bottom of the metal siding and roof packs when we do post frame construction, I noticed that it had a greenish tint to it but it was hard to tell as it was still ruff cut. I took all 20 billets some and took my hand plane to it and found that it had an awesome grain. Can't beat free wood if I can use it. Kevin

[dubtrub]

Warmoth has bodies available in Poplar. Scroll down to Poplar on their website.

[KRamone27]

I've heard of fender using poplar in the past but wasn't sure if they still used it. I think they use alder for the mexican and american models.

[oipunkguy]

i have a mexican strat and a 64 fender mustang that is popular. to my ear it's pretty close to alder. it's wood grain often times has green tones in it. the biggest disadvantage to popular is that it is a very soft wood, and can be easy to break or crack a guitar body.

[EFElliott]

Hey Kevin, Poplar is real good wood to make guitars out of
once you get past that green-ish tint, Semie used it from
time to time, he even made some of his 1971 Mobro necks
out of it. When I worked for Music Man back in '86 we used
Southern Ash for the naturals and sunburst String Ray Basses
but all the solid colors were made of poplar. All I did for a while
was make custom solid body electric mandolins, the first 25 or so
I made all the tops out flame maple, all the backs were poplar,
even the one I sold to Martie Maquire, I liked the grain,
A little softer so it's easy to work with. no grain filling required.
Kevin, great find on the wood!
http://s360.photobucket.com/albums/oo48 ... aquire.jpg

[KRamone27]

I finally got a chance to get the poplar to my father in laws house to mill it down to a manageable size. I actually ended up having enough wood for three bodies so that's something for me to ponder about.

[MWaldorf]

Kevin,
Wood for three guitars should keep you busy through the winter!

Eddy,
That mandolin looks great, as does your "Panama Lane" sidejack in the other album. I know you made the vibrato plate (Vibra-rite) yourself; did you make the bridge as well?

Mel

[KRamone27]

Yeah it should I just wish I had electricity in my shed so I can work out there.