New Sub 1

[fbecir]

I figure if Steve Morse chose the wood for his sig guitar, it's good enough for me.

+1

I am not sure that the guy who said that "that poplar has undesireable tone characteristics" was ever asked to join Deep Purple

 

[e.mate]

I am not sure that the guy who said that "that poplar has undesireable tone characteristics" was ever asked to join Deep Purple

That's it

 

[telemike]

I love my SUB-1. Poplar sounds good to me.

 

[nobozos]

I wonder why poplar isn't more of a popular wood to use on guitars. Seems like if the tone is very similar to alder, and it's cheap, it would be used more than basswood on opaque guitars.

Is poplar harder on tooling than basswood? Could it be that manufacturers discovered the wood was harder to work with?

 

[paranoid70]

Poplar is a nice hardwood, but damn near impossible to get a good stain. I have used it for word working projects and let's just say if you are going to paint it, it's a great wood to use. If you want a nice stain or translucent color, that would be tough - I think that's way a manufacturer will often opt for alder or something else.

 

[fbecir]

If you want a nice stain or translucent color, that would be tough - I think that's way a manufacturer will often opt for alder or something else.

The Morse Blueburst is a transparent color ... and it's cool !

 

[telemike]

I'll bet the poplar used on the Morse is higher grade and more expensive to get than the poplar used on the SUB line which had the textured paint.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

I can attest to poplar not wanting to take stain. I did outstubborn my sub by applying close to 100 coats of cherry red stain......some left on for hours with rubbing every 15 minutes to keep from drying solid on the surface. Some of the wood has a greenish tinge to it. I expect the Morse guitars have the wood carefully chosen and I'm guessing that the finish is a transluscent paint, rather than stain/clear.

 

[e.mate]

Poplar doesn't have a problem with transparent blue or green colors, as the grey-green areas in the wood don't change the color impression. Looks actually cool, as it gives kind of shady look

It's completely different with natural or transparent yellow or red colors...it looks somehow dirty with these, so you hardly find these transparencies with poplar bodies.

 

[panther_king]

I just ran through the pickup selection aids on the SD and Dimarzio sites. The pickups that came up most with most regularity were the Tone Zone, and the Custom 5. I'd probably go with a JB as opposed to a Custom 5, but maybe I should trust the website.

If you play with those pick-up selectors, you'll find that the same pickups keep popping up over and over again; it's typically their most popular or best selling models, and not necessarily the ones that might best fit your tone.