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Poplar? Morse?

A

athlonwai

Member
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
16
Location
Hong Kong
My friend told me that poplar is usually used on low end guitar because they are cheaper in price, but I also notice that the Morse is made of poplar...so is there a reason for that? how does this piece of wood affect the sound anyway?

THanks
 
I think that is a common misconception re: poplar. It is a high quality wood. I think that the misconception about the quality is due to the price vs. the price of other guitar body woods. Price has a lot to do with availability & demand. More expensive woods, such as koa, are usually expensive because of the limited supply vs. other woods, BUT that doesn't make any of the other woods less quality.
Poplar is a good wood because it offers a good balance of sounds vs., say, all mahogany, or all koa. Also, it is usually lighter in wt. vs. other body woods. Another reason that the cost may not be as high is that it is much easier to work with for guitar builders.
Hope this helps.
 
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Huh? All kinds of different woods are used for different reasons. I don't think your friend really knows the scoop.

The Morse is made of Poplar because that's what Steve Morse wanted. He could have had anything.

I've heard that Poplar helps give the Morse a lot of midrange. Not sure if that's true or not, but it's a damn fine sounding guitar.
 
Low end OLP Axis copies are made from basswood, and so is the real deal. I don't think the type of wood necessarily has anything to do with the quality of a guitar (within reason, of course). My Sub is made of poplar also, and even though it is bolt on, it sounds better, meaner, nicer, and sustains better than the solid mahogany, neck through LTD that I had....
 
Same reason why JP is made of basswood. Because John wanted it that way. :rolleyes:

Mr. Morse, however, stated that he likes the poplar because it sounds very neutral.
 
Yeh, completely true, just because a wood is cheaper it does not mean it sounds worse, obviously within a particular wood type there is better and worse grades as far as guitar suitability.

In fact Mr Suhr has stated that Basswood with a Maple cap is just about the holy grail of guitar tone( Axis Supersport etc) , despite Basswood being fairly cheap.

By the same token certain expensive woods are valued for their tonal properties (e.g. Brazilian Rosewood) It's really designing the guitar to best exploit the particular properties of the wood
 
greeny said:
... just because a wood is cheaper it does not mean it sounds worse...
Click to expand...
So true, there is a lot of the mis-information out there. Much of it from the cork sniffing crowd that forms their opinion on price alone.

For me its all about the right tool for the right job with the foo foo factor being secondary to function.
 
Cherry wood is great for kitchen cabinets.... it was more expensive than maple too. I wonder how it would work on a guitar. ;)
 
I used to believe companies used poplar for their cheaper lines. Then I bought a Fender Nashville B-Bender Tele. I believe the main reason for using poplar in that guitar was the weight issue. 4 lbs. of steel running through the body does add some weight...
 
Despite my Silo Special & Axis Sport, I do have to state that my SUB has a very open sound of it's own I never have experienced on any other guitar before.
Though I haven't played a Morse model til present I have quite an idea about what might have tended Steve towards that bodywood.
Although it's the low budget guitar from SLO, I would not let go of my SUB for its unique tonal characteristics. :)
I think poplar is a fine choice and you can see it also more and more as highly figured tops, especially on small series of European guitars made of mahogany these days...
 
I thought for sure that jongitarz would read the title of this thread and write:

"Yes, Morse is very Poplar" :D
 
F*** Y** Steve!!!! I was going to say the same exact thing!!!! You know me too well, my friend. But for this, I alder kick your ash. (I know I have used tthis in the past, but hey, it's a good one.)
 
I think one reason poplar gets a rap as a "cheap" wood is because it sometimes has a greenish tint to it, which sometimes makes it impractical for see-through finishes. Hell, the back of my Morse has some green in it. Because of that, most builders choose to use solid colors on poplar, and these days it seems that a guitar isn't considered "high end" unless it has a flame maple top.
 
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