Poplar tonewood?

[joe white]

I had one of the tulip poplar Liberty Tree Taylor guitars and it was a very nice sounding guitar. Words are often silly when used to describ tone but I remember that Liberty Tree GC guitar to be quite "articulate"

[RJVB]

"Articular" sounds about right indeed. Someone above mentioned similarities between poplar and maple and I have indeed been thinking that the Taylor 11x and 21x series have something that reminds me of the clichés told about maple B&S. Nothing like their 61x series and somehow I doubt that the claims they make about the versatility of maple in that series (that you can make it sound the way you want) hold true for the veneered-poplar B&S in the lowest 2 series.

Which is a shame because there's a bit much of a gap to stretch a budget to cover a 61x...

[RussL30]

I know wood doesn't matter as much on electrics, but my mid 90's Tex-Mex strat is made of poplar and it sounds great.

[Tony Burns]

Opinions but not facts ( mostly )

Some phenominal guitars are laminate ( to a point )
to my knowledge, i only have one - my 70's Guild D-25's Back -
it's that way because it's a bowed back ( on purpose)
honestly its a phenominal Guitar - but the layers are all Mahogany !

My first was a Poplar $10 dollar used guitar rental special , that you needed frankenstien
fingers to play -not great , but my determination and stubborness to play it,
let me upgrade and continue playing .
Funny, but when i visited the Rock and Roll hall of fame they had James Taylors first guitar -
The same Guitar model that i started with - it honestly was a bad piece of firewood. ( thats where mine ended up )



.

[Rudy4]

[QUOTE=RJVB;7421696]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Taylor's ability to produce a good sounding instrument from layered construction has a lot to do with the ability to form the back into a arch that is stable but doesn't need additional bracing. This helps produce a lightweight and resonant instrument.
/QUOTE]

That's interesting. I've been watching a number of demos of the 112ce and 212ce and while some mentioned that the listed B&S woods were mostly there for cosmetics because thin veneer over poplar, none said anything about arched backs. Are we talking arched like what Guild use in their archback models (so not really obvious to the eye), or the kind of arching you find in archtops and e.g. the Eastman Cabaret?

I agree these 112 guitars sound like they're probably quite resonant (hardly surprising for a spruce-topped Taylor that still costs upwards of 700€ IIRC) but also rather bland/clinical. To the point where I wondered where the difference lies between a 112 or 214 besides in the veneers.

I'm not familiar with all the brands / models you reference, but Taylor's induced arch backs tend to be somewhere in the middle ground of those extremes. The arching is readily apparent on the braceless Taylors, but there's no recurve as you might see on some of the pressed plates of less expensive "archtops".

I have posted before about my thoughts that the braceless arched back on lower level Taylor guitars is part of the "secret sauce" that makes a guitar like the GS Mini so rich and resonant. It's easy to verify the impact the arched back has on these guitars by simply holding them in a way that dampens that back movement. You can easily hear the difference by varying the way the guitar is held, much more so than an instrument with a conventionally braced back.

[RP]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

...Curious, how big are the trees near you?

The trees that we're getting are about 150 feet tall and maybe 8-10 thick at the trunk. Could be that Oregon tulip poplar is just maturing and the poplar in appalachia just got a big head start.

Several years ago a tulip poplar was taken down at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Huss & Dalton got some pieces and made a special commemorative guitar https://hussanddalton.com/special-si...edition-oo-sp/...

[The Bard Rocks]

I see H&D must have received the middle.

Seriously, I did not know they could reach that kind of girth

[MinorKey]

Originally Posted by 27R

Have played some exceptional electrics made from poplar. Very lightweight.

One was a high-end boutique build lacquered in a very classic nitro finish so to say it doesn't take lacquer isn't correct.

Yea but Tulip Poplar isn't actually a poplar, its closer to Magnolia

[ReinvanBelle]

Here https://fraulini.com/2017/01/decalomania-6-and-12/ Todd Cambio states that many of the early 20th century'birch' guitars were in fact made of tulip poplar

[RP]

Originally Posted by MinorKey

Yea but Tulip Poplar isn't actually a poplar, its closer to Magnolia

While that's true, I have to wonder when the word "poplar" is thrown around for various kinds of woodworking, if it's really tulip poplar and not true poplar that's being used? That's one of the problems with using common names rather than scientific names, i.e. genus and species, to identify a particular wood or tree. I guess Liriodendron tulipifera just doesn't roll off the tongue like tulip poplar does...

[MinorKey]

Originally Posted by RP

While that's true, I have to wonder when the word "poplar" is thrown around for various kinds of woodworking, it's really tulip poplar and not true poplar. That's one of the problems with using common names rather than scientific names, i.e. genus and species, to identify a particular wood or tree. I guess Liriodendron tulipifera just doesn't roll off the tongue like tulip poplar does...

Over here its called Tulip Tree. But I always prefer latin names (bit of a plant geek)

[Gasworker]

Originally Posted by joe white

I had one of the tulip poplar Liberty Tree Taylor guitars and it was a very nice sounding guitar. Words are often silly when used to describe tone but I remember that Liberty Tree GC guitar to be quite "articulate"

“Silly” Are you implying my guitar doesn’t sound like chocolate