basswood or poplar?

minho422

which one do you like the most?

basswood MG69,73 reissue or poplar MG65 and all the originals with poplar body?

jacksonjackass

I think they both fail.

Alder is better

minho422

mcconnachiea said: I think they both fail.
Alder is better

ha you're probably the people with xenophobia about the 'cheap' manufactured woods huh?

If they both fail, then I wonder why Ibanez 'Jem", Parker, and a lot of superstrats use basswood hmm... so Satriani, Vai, and Kirt Hammet are failures since they use basswood?

I DON'T THINK SO.

and if poplar is also a failure, why did Fender use poplar for 65~78 mustang production? in 70s, there were some ash mustangs, but still, poplar was the main body wood for mustang

if you played both poplar and basswood mustangs and they sounded like crap, it's probably because you played like crap or you had a crappy effect setting. I can get the John Mayer breakup tone with a First Act guitar with my twin reverb..but it only lasts for about 5 minutes until it goes out of tune.

I didn't ask which is better, I asked which one do you like the most. learn to read.

jacksonjackass

You don't need to be so aggressive, its not shortscale 😛

It really depends what you are after. They both have a rather large mid response (which I hate) but poplar seems to be better.

And the reason that they made guitars out of poplar is because its dirt cheap

Robbmonster

I don't have personal experience with Poplar, but my 51 is Basswood and sounds far more rich and full than my other two guitars, whcih are both Alder.

Problem with Basswood, of course, is if you want to modify it, you run the risk of it crumbling to splinters.

jacksonjackass

Yeah, basswood is such an easily shaped wood but it dents really badly

ng78x

Now I don't now much about poplar so I can't comment on it, but this basswood is soft as cake stuff is overblown. I own a 69 reissue made of basswood and I have abused the thing many times over its 14 years. Sure there are some dents and #### but short of throwing it a against a brick wall I don't think it matters much. It also produces a nice warm bitey sound if that makes any sense.

jacksonjackass

Yeah, the warm sound is because of a lot of mid - lows. Also its more of a warm sound, not as rich as mahogany.

and @ ng78x: It has a lot to do with the finish. Raw basswood dents real easy and a thin finish provides no strength. If you want a guitar to keep in good nick for 40 years, basswood is not an option IMO

jolecai23

lets cut the crap here, if you're going to build it use limba

jacksonjackass

jolecai23 said: lets cut the crap here, if you're going to build it use limba

Cast iron would be better

feedbackismyfriend

I heard from someone that cement was good for making guitars 😛

On a more serious note no experience with Poplar but I like basswood a lot

minho422

feedbackismyfriend said: I heard from someone that cement was good for making guitars 😛
On a more serious note no experience with Poplar but I like basswood a lot

CEMENT?? that rocks. I mean 'rock's. I used a glass guitar before, and its sustain lasted for days. but I never even knew that cement guitar exists...

jacksonjackass

I can just imagine this thread getting so ridiculous, someone will say 'A guitar made of wood???? Now thats just crayzay!!'

feedbackismyfriend

Dude they make guitars out of wood??? Probably sounds like crap though 😛

foxyloxy

mcconnachiea said: I think they both fail.
Alder is better

i love how much that pwned, join the club.

robertoriginal

im not trying to come off as an ass but.....

poplar and basswood are of the same family. i want to say that they stem from the linden tree.

but i may be wrong.

as far as bolt on guitars go, the wood has nothing, literally nothing to do with the sound of the instrument.

if you want some sort of proof, i recently made a mahog tele body for a guy in town(57 tele with later pickups)

the originaly body was a 3 peice ash body, and the body i made him was a single peice, he hesitated thinking that it would change his "tone"

but after it was completed he was suprised that his "tone" was exactly the same.

the wood made no difference, except for wieght.

i got a video on youtube of the guitar after i first made the body and did a dry run, i should have done a video of the beast before i made the new body.

the only time that wood really makes a difference is in an archtop or acoustic setting, and even then the bracing will determine the overall sound.

Robbmonster

That's what I have been thinking for ages, glad somebody agrees.

Sometimes I think people only talk about tonal difference between woods because they want to sound like they have a marvelous cloth ear.

I would love to see some soundwave diagrams that actually prove the tonal qualities of woods. Electric guitar noise is generated by the disruption of a magnetic field... why would wood influence this?

Either way, I will never be totally convinced until I see some evidence to support it.

Last point... if you feel basswood has too much mids, or alder has too much highs, adjust your amp settings !!!

Ok, I'm done 😆

foxyloxy

you guys have a good point.... lol rob

GeorgeF

I don't think it's a suprise that a large majority of people are quick to dismiss the tonal quality of woods or doggedly defend basswood and poplar in this forum because most Mustangs and Jag-Stangs are going to be made from them; and both woods have generally been unfavoured and seen as a mark of a poor guitar across the guitaring world for many years. It's also no suprise that "good guitars" are made from basswood and poplar nowadays because in reality neither are bad. I don't think that means that wood doesn't have an affect on tone, and that they all sound the same though.

The problem with all these tonewood discussions is I don't think many of us here have been in a position where we can accurately A-B compare two different varieties of woods in a controlled test, except in your friends case robert(original) 😆. That's why I'm ashamed to say I listen to some luthiers etc who have been in business for a while when they say there is a tonal difference in woods, however slight. If you need scientific evidence to support the existence of tonal difference then fair play, I'm just ignorant. I can't readily tell the difference in tonewoods that well, but I still believe there is an affect.

Btw,

Mustangs would have been made out of poplar post '65 because of the CBS buyout. If you were trying to make a point about poplar not being a cheap wood that didn't help your case 😆

jacksonjackass

Poplar is cheaper than basswood 😉

I think there is a difference. Once I compared my basswood jagstang to an alder reissue and the RI sounded much brighter like a fender 'should'