Members elsupermanny14 Posted December 30, 2008 Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 I noticed that on the Warmoth website a poplar Strat body is much cheaper then Alder body. Is there a reason why poplar is significantly cheaper? Also, what kind of wood do you guys prefer and why? Alder or poplar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted December 30, 2008 Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 Poplar is often ugly with mineral streaks and a greenish tint, so depending on the piece, it may not look good with a transparent finish. As a tonewood, poplar isn't bad at all though. It's just cheaper to buy than alder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faber Posted December 30, 2008 Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 Which strats are poplar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C-4 Posted December 30, 2008 Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 Poplar, as with any wood has to be favored by personal preference of the player only. Most people find alder to be far more preferable over poplar. Poplar is like a cheap alternative to other, more favored wood choices. Everyone is different. I personally prefer an alder body strat with a maple neck/rosewood fretboard and a tele with a light weight ash body and an all maple neck. It's just a tonal preference. In order for you to really understand the differences, you need to play a variety of Strats to hear the differences. The strat that I prefer has a slightly wider, slightly softer tonal attack then an ash body strat and offers a bit less note attack then an all maple neck strat would offer. Why do I like this combination of woods? Because the strat is normally a thinner sounding guitar to begin with, so I want to help it sound fuller, especially with single coil pickups. However on a Tele, the instrument just sounds more versatile to me as I described above. Actually, an ash body, all maple neck tele is one of the most versatile, stock instruments going and can sit in with almost any style of music very well, as well as record superbly. You just need to find the combination of woods by reading about the differences they offer, then playing different combinations of woods to learn how to tune yourself into these differences and find you own desired wood combination. There really is no other way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GarysBlues Posted December 30, 2008 Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 After all the years of playing Strats I prefer Alder/Rosewood. I like the EARLY 60's Strats, By early I mean 60-61 even by 62 the necks were TOO-THIN again. 50's are OK with ASH/MAPLE but have a tendancy to be BRIGHT? But the Ash and Adler are much nicer Transparent. Thats really the reason they are favored. Poplar, Basswood, and many others have alright Tone but don't have the total package of Grain patterns, Weight, and Tone. Their is usually something missing on them. If they sound good, they look like {censored} or weigh a Ton? But the Jimmy Vaughn Strats were Poplar for a few years. Not bad with Solid Finishs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted December 30, 2008 Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 The other thing is Poplar is just about the cheapest wood you can buy. Doesn't mean it sounds bad - it just costs less so it makes sense that the bodies are cheaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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