What Is The Worst Tonewood For Electric Guitars

[@SrySraDosperros]

Hi Dylan, I’m a middling guitar player at best, but I’m a master cabinetmaker and furniture builder. Don’t really understand so many folks ragging on poplar. It’s always been one of my favorites and I use it all the time. It might not be much to look at unfinished but it’s very dimensionally stable, has nice tight relatively straight grain, it’s affordable, it works and machines very nicely, takes stains and finishes really well, for any paint grade millwork it’s always been my go to species, and, unlike Honduran Mahogany, it’s environmentally sustainable. It’s also user friendly toxicity-wise. Honduran Mahogany is beautiful and works like butter but it’s quite expensive. The Ash family looks nice and makes great baseball bats, but it’s not user friendly in terms of it’s working characteristics and toxicity. Ash splinters are the worst. They get infected easily and take much longer to heal up. As far as electric solid body guitars go, if you have a poplar body one and you don’t like the guitar, it’s not the wood that’s the problem. I think our friend with the benches and classic motorcycle engines put that myth to rest. Cheers, Mark

[@idiotburns]

Aluminum shavings based splinter rarely get infected and usually are spit out in a couple days

[@idiotburns]

(aluminum guitar builder here)

[@SpencerP96]

​@R David Sigh you do not hear the sound of wood on an electric guitar

[@SpencerP96]

@R David and? So?

[@idiotburns]

@R David PRS, has no scientific data to back that, its his 21 keys to good sales trick schtick Pauls been repeating over the last 20 years at every NAMM show and more!

[@WickedFesterBand]

Tooth picks and tight bond make this a moot point though. I love the warmth a good tooth pick brings to my tone. Round only. The flat ones ruin sustain.

[@kensolo6793]

make sure that you use the proper tight bond glue if you want your toothpicks to retain that proper toothpick tonality

[@WickedFesterBand]

@@kensolo6793 lol

[@tony_n316]

Moot

[@WickedFesterBand]

@@tony_n316 Fixed it. Thank you so much.

[@tony_n316]

@@WickedFesterBand 👍 😉

[@DDE_ADDICT]

Polar is the #1 construction grade wood for cabinet making, typically in paint grade furniture. It is very stable, takes finishes excellent and the density ratio is perfect for guitars. It is harder and denser than Alder, and on the technical structure it is every close to Mahogany. As far as using a polyester finish over it, that is the best wood for the job, as Alder dents easier. Ash is subject to insect attacks and fractures easily if not properly handled. Comments from a Cabinet & Chair maker that also makes guitars.

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

Polar is very cold, as well.

[@kq6878]

I've had a poplar body guitar for almost 40 years now...never had a screw strip, always sounds great, plenty of sustain

[@cloudchaser9951]

thats what i thought. i have a squier made with poplar wood. i upgraded the tremblock and the nut. the note sustains forever!

[@ramencurry6672]

Budget wood can be surprisingly good. I have a drum set made of cheap luan wood and the tone is amazing. It’s just as good as pro level drums in terms of sound quality.

[@peterhedrich7653]

the twelve string squire paranormal ...guitar is made with a poplar Body the chinise which buildt that Guitar use that because they are like Mr.Leo Fender( he used often alder later that was a 😁Tonewood😁 ) - pragmatic -they use that wood to buildt an Instrument and they are not stupid if poplar is not a cool wood for an Instrument the don´t use it -poplar is easy to laquer it is light and availeble not only for chese boxes or Matches other than the spurce wood for a Stradievarie violin but very ok for distorted electic Guitars😀

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

I have seen the softness argument made a lot about basswood. Normal people don't unscrew pickguards all the time but they do remove trussrod covers or backplates to adjust vibrato springs. If stripping occurs, sticking the end of a toothpick in the hole is an easy workaround.

[@taimaishu-nao1922]

But toothpicks are generally made of basswood though…

[@Trauzzinator]

That is the method that my grandfather taught my dad and that my dad taught be, works all the time!!!

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

@@taimaishu-nao1922 Tonepicks. That's what you need for full tonal integriity ;)

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

@@BlueberryStinkFinger62 There is no need of a "tone wood" in solid body instruments. Only snakeoil swallowers discuss this until they look like complete idiots. But there is a need of a wood that can hold screws.

[@mackk123]

@@Leo_ofRedKeep tonepicks is what I use too. Also with a micro dab of the good woodglue.

[@SeanAllocca]

If you know how to properly 'back screw" so the threads line up with the existing hole that was made with the first screw you should never have a problem.

[@An2oine]

That is what I do.

[@newgunguy4176]

True. I discovered that as a kid.

[@idiotburns]

Each wood type gets an automatic 100+ screws if you learn proper technique. This video just showed us Dylans level of technique more than anything. Project Farm?

[@An2oine]

@@idiotburns That is not a technique.

[@bradt.3555]

Most people don't even know how to put a screw in the first time much less back it off to line up threads.

[@paulbrown7775]

When I was a woodworker, we used poplar all the time for painted furniture, and it was also useful in upholstered furniture for its ability to hold staples.

[@arnolddealiii4259]

All I got from this test is don’t use a drill to screw in a screw. I always use a screwdriver to drive the screw home so I don’t over torque the screw. It just needs to be snug. I think it would be extremely easy to over torque the screw with the drill. If that were truly the case my old ash body American series Stratocaster would have had every screw stripped out years ago, as I’ve put mods, and various pickups in the guitar for 20 years now. I’ve easily taken the pickguard off 20 or more times to change things as simple as cap values. Every time I put the screws back in with a screwdriver not a drill with a screw bit.

[@jeffthompson1869]

Yep. I am not sure what Dylan was trying to prove with his demonstration. That isn't really a normal test for tonewoods. What is the best or worst is very subjective. The original Telecaster was made from what I understand was yellow pine. That is a soft wood. Tonewoods are important with accoustic guitars. I would say what kind of pickups you have on the instrument is much more important than what the guitar is made from. I have a Telecaster made from basswood, which is an analogue of Aspen and Poplar - it has great pickups on it and is painted blue. Why not stained? Just like Poplar there is very little in the way of a notatable grain - and so is considered ugly. I think that that would be the main complaint of Poplar - it doesn't have good looks by itself or stained.

[@paulbraun926]

Sure, but it is critical to torque the pickguard screws to the proper setting. Experts can tell the difference.

[@drew9000]

@@jeffthompson1869 I could be wrong, but I think Dylan is ultimately just doing a durability test, but using the little faux pickguard and pickguard screws is a way to do that *could* come up in real life. It's not perfect by any means, you could change your pickguard every day for years and you'll never strip the wooden threads on the screws as long as the guitar is resting on a table and you're gentle with the screwdriver. I was actually hoping that he would have a piece of basswood for this video because in all my ~20 years of woodworking (not professionally, just lucky to have a very highly skilled cabinet maker as my high school woodshop teacher) and owning name brand instruments and my own hand built instruments, basswood was the softest by far. I bought a brand new, cheap six string bass years ago, I handled and played it less than my strat or my jazz bass and it had a spot in the corner where nothing every fell or bumped into it. After 9 months I sold it because the back was covered little dents from my belt buckle and the front had 3 larger dents (about the size of a dime) from just playing it in my room.

[@anthonydavella8350]

I use an impact drill full blast. Nice and quick

[@redstrat1234]

So, you didn't see the guy stringing up a set of strings in his shed with no actual guitar body and it sounded no different than when he played the strings on a guitar ? Softwood, hardwood, NO WOOD it makes zero difference. Maybe you're using the hot button 'tonewood' for clicks...

[@allanflippin2453]

Actually, Dylan himself shared that video for us. Probably it's "tonewood" for clicks and a weird sense of humor. In the video, he only rates how susceptible each type of wood is to screw holes stripping :D

[@brianarmstrong8080]

Question: Once an electric guitar is amplified and loud enough, so that, all you can hear is the sound coming out of the speaker, does it matter what the body material is? Acrylic, glass, poplar, plywood vs. traditional “tone woods”

[@kirkwilson6229]

Not really.

[@brianarmstrong8080]

@@kirkwilson6229 That’s what I was thinking. It’s more about aesthetics and weight, which are not small things.

[@ThomasJackMoore]

Weight is a huge factor but the wood affecting an amplified tone is almost nonsensical.

[@Roikat]

At extreme volume, a Masonite Danelectro is the ultimate feedback chaos monster. But you’d be better off with a wood, plywood, glass, acrylic or aluminum solid body if you actually want to play notes.

[@rickcrotts6673]

I agree. I've never liked poplar guitars cuz I've never had one that sustained well.

[@fueymanchoo1291]

Here is my two cents, coming from a professional woodworker, and a guitar player for well over 30 years. Wood comes from trees. Trees are unique individually. One tree may be excellent for a 6 string, while the tree next to it might be great for a bass, or just not good at all. I have played very inexpensive guitars that for some "magic" reason just blow your socks off. Conversely, I've played expensive guitars that were.... meh... It really boils down to individual instruments, and the resonance and frequencies that they accent and diminish.

[@artemisxo6734]

it's not about how many times you take the pickguard off, it's the attention you pay to technique and torque

[@barbmelle3136]

From Leo: I wax all the screw holes in every guitar I have worked on and am careful when reinstalling screws. None of mine are stripped out, even on my hollow body guitars. For the guitars brought into the shop, I kept 3/16", 1/4" and 3/8" maple dowel rod in stock. I fixed a lot of holes. There were always some ham fisted people who must have learned mechanical skills on farm implements. It seems like the last 10 years has gotten a lot worse. Using construction tools without understanding the torque limiting clutch seems to be a problem. I am fixing 2 week old guitars that people installed their own strap locks. Lots of cracked plastics too.

[@kensolo6793]

well, you know a screw is not really tight until something splits, cracks or strips. That's how you know you screwed it all the way in (and of course screwed all up as well).

[@drew9000]

@@kensolo6793 I got a new Hipshot bridge for my six string bass a couple months ago. I made this bass years ago in woodshop and the body is made from padauk. If you're not aware, padauk is a funny wood; cuts and sands super well, very smooth and it looks beautiful after sanding, even with some ~300 grit those little lines and waves start to pop. It's also very dense and... grippy? Frictiony? Not sure exactly what's going on but I think it's the grain, it will easily and smoothly split lengthwise with enough pressure but absolutely will not compress at all. Back to your point about knowing when you have a screw tight enough, I knew the mounting screw was tight enough when the entire head sheared right off and I was stuck with a headless screw lodged VERY firmly in the body

[@drew9000]

"people who must have learned mechanical skills on farm implements." My guess is the opposite, I think that due to a number of factors, almost entirely related to technology, fewer and fewer people are learning how to use tools besides the simplest little things around the house. I'm not saying this is any kind of moral or societal or political failure, nor do I have grumpy old person opinion about "kids these days." I think it's just a side effect of how awesome computers are, what used to be accessible is now out of reach for most people, e.g. in the past you could fix a lot of stuff on your car at home with very little training, take the time to learn some extra skills using only tools most people had at home and you could do a lot more; now we have so many computers and chips all throughout our cars that the most you can do in some cases is disconnect the broken thing and reconnect the replacement you bought

[@kensolo6793]

@@drew9000 sounds like that one was good and tight ;-)

[@michael1]

Imagine their wives suffering on their wedding night.

[@guitarandmore69]

No such thing as "Tonewood" seen it disproved many times. The best one was when no wood was involved at all, and it sounded the same as it did when the pickups were installed in a guitar with "great tonewoods"...

[@Glicksman1]

You have previously helped to demonstrate along with Jim Lill, that the material that the body of an electric guitar is made of is irrelevant regarding tone. There is no "tone wood" for an electric guitar. So, poplar as a tone wood is as good or bad as any other. Screw stripping, etc.? Another matter.

[@michaelstevenfriedlander4583]

You are completely wrong but I'm not surprised. The type of wood is the most important factor by far.

[@Glicksman1]

@@michaelstevenfriedlander4583 I won't argue with you. This is not about me or my opinion. The irrelevance of an electric guitar's wood has been demonstrated conclusively and very clearly by Jim Lill, and reiterated by Dylan. Check those sites out and see if I'm so wrong after all. If the wood is, in fact, "the most important factor by far" (in an electric guitar plugged in) then that would be self-evident to all. However, as that is not the case, either lots of luthiers, etc. are not as well-informed as you, cannot hear, or what you said is not true. So then, why are you not surprised that I'm "wrong"? That's not a polite thing to say, and makes you seem to think that you are a superior person. In any event, that only works, albeit in a very annoying, childish way if you are correct. But as you are not correct in this instance, it's just annoying and childish, oh, and ignorant, too. People skills are so important to have in order to get along in this crazy world. Cheers.

[@billsmith3042]

@@michaelstevenfriedlander4583 wood has no impact on electric tone. a 2 x 4 sounds the same as brazilian rosewood on an electric.

[@Glicksman1]

@@billsmith3042 You're wasting your time with this guy. He won't believe you or me. Let him learn for himself as we did. I wonder if he will, and if he does, I wonder if he'll apologize and admit that he was ignorant of the facts. Contrition builds character.

[@w13rdguy]

I used poplar as a fretboard, with ebony stain, on a CBG. Looks great, works great. The weird grain pattern, in that instance, was a definite plus!

[@jacobbockover1628]

Im gonna say refrigerator magnets could be the most problematic tone wood

[@jjfloyd618]

It’s always very important to remember that the more times you remove the pick guard from your instrument the more adversely it affects your tone.

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

Sustain is adversely affect ed as well.

[@jjfloyd618]

@@NitroModelsAndComics 💯% you have no idea how many beautiful, vintage instruments I had to toss in the dumpster back in the day because I had a penchant for installing some wild new pick guard before every gig. If only I'd had access to this incredibly valuable information. I think Dylan @ least deserves consideration for a Pulitzer for this comprehensive deep dive into the age old tone wood debate. YAY SCIENCE!

[@gregholmes1289]

Poplar is a tough wood. I once broke off the head of a screw trying to screw it into a poplar guitar body.

[@WillfulThinker]

For guitars, my preference is treewood. Still, I wonder why so many cheaper guitars are made of poplar but not expensive ones. Is it just the result of an unfounded bad reputation? The wood should sue somebody for defamation of character.

[@empiresSR]

Probably just because the wood itself is inexpensive. It’s also prone to weirdness in coloration and graining which makes it a little less useable if you want a natural looking stained finish. For opaque finishes it’s great wood.

[@Malcolm701]

Wood makes no difference to the sound. I don't know what this 'test' proves.

[@kingstumble]

I agree. Years ago Washburn released three versions of the same guitar, the only difference being the body wood used. One was alder, another was mahogany and the third was ash if I remember correctly. And nobody could tell any difference in the sound.

[@TacTicMint]

It's testing how durable the woods are. Calling them tone woods was unrelated.

[@aleclitvinov]

this is something to be expected. poplar is really soft and uniform, ash is hard and composed of layers with different properties (mahogany is somewhere in between). the same qualities that make ash (or pine) strong and elastic should make it more brittle than "rubbery" woods like poplar, aspen or basswood. but is that much of a problem? a drop of glue usually makes the screw hole functional again, a toothpick can be added in worst cases.

[@GabrielNacu]

The best tonewood is the one that actually makes music and gets recorded ;)

[@clarkbabin9799]

Maybe the confusion is that there is several types of poplar and not all types are able to be used to make an instrument.

[@skydogstudio]

I personally would not use alder to build a guitar unless I was going to mass produce cheap stuff (like low end versions of PRS guitars) I do use poplar to make cabinet doors because it is in between Pine wood (that is only slightly better than Douglas fir) and actual hardwood like Red Oak which is if I was going to stain the doors I would use because Poplar is kind of Greenish and the grain is ugly. My fave wood for guitars is Mahogany for bodies and Maple for necks.

[@djpenton779]

When I started making guitars I went with poplar because I buy at a local family run lumber yard that has 8/4 poplar at a great price. I assumed that I would botch my first few guitars and didn't want to ruin expensive wood. However, I have continued to use it because it works well, is pretty light, and is fairly stable. I paint the guitars. Some high end guitar companies use basswood, which is considerably softer. Alder is only marginally harder (590 janka vs 540). I have also added some nice figured caps to poplar bodies, painted the poplar and left the figured caps natural or dyed (with clear coat of course). When I say poplar I am referring to "tulip poplar" or "yellow poplar" (liriodendrom tulipifera). That is the stuff with the greeny look to some grain, AFAIK (correct me if I'm wrong). I have never tried true poplar (populus species).

[@johnstitt2615]

I have a guitar with a poplar body. Angled pickup. Sounds killer. Spray painted stormtrooper white and clear coated. Tone wood. Nonsense or a valid thing ? I would have to change the body to test. Does my finish affect things ? Would a more natural Hardwax Oil finish be different on the tone ? So many questions....so little time. 🤣✌️😎✌️🎸✌️

[@Markcio182]

I own the silversky se, and I find it to be really good. Recently I change the pickups to very low output 5.7k and I notice that poplar lacks of mid range which alder has it. So I guess that's why they choose to have a 7.4k stock pickups. If I would upgrade the pickups I will do it to something in the 6.3 area. Besides that poplar is very resonant and light to me.

[@rondelio8562]

It's 2 years later, but my guess was Ash. I have used poplar in factory shipping and it was light, strong, and took nailing like a champ, so I knew it was strong. My issue with Poplar is how light it is. I'd hate to build a guitar where the neck is heavier than the body. I did that once with a Tele using a Sycamore body. Mahogany didn't surprise me, since it is a very hard hardwood and with it's grain, and I have had experience with this and Ash. As I recall, once I had to fix a stripped hole in an Ash Strat I built for my daughter. Once glued and filled, it was stronger than the regular wood. But thanks for the comparison. Perhaps someday I will build Poplar body guitar.

[@Bingopete71]

The original Danelectro guitars had Poplar necks. No truss rod. They were such good necks that Grover Jackson used one to build Randy Rhodes Polka Dot flying V. He added inlays to turn the dots into bow ties and shaved the inline headstock into the V shape.

[@jthonn]

OK I'm an ass, but when it comes to electric guitars, IMO it doesn't matter what type of wood you use, exception may be semi or hollow body. If you made it out of brick, the sound comes from the type of electric components you use. If it is cheap junk, it will sound crappy, if it is quality, it will sound good. As far as what strips out quicker, does not matter to me, don't strip it out! If you do, break out the glue and toothpicks and get over it. Furthermore, use good pots and pickups and you should not have to keep taking the pick guard off anyway. I will shut up now, like I said, I'm an ass, I know you know your stuff and you did make a nice video.

[@anrit5972]

You can strip a thread in any material the first time a screw is threaded into it if too much torque is applied

[@dw7704]

I’ve removed screws from my earlier guitars more than29 times Some stripped, some didn’t The best was maple, followed by mahogany ( never stripped) Worst was a multiply veneer

[@martianmurray]

Stripping out the wood is what keeps me away from guitars with the truss rod adjustment at the bottom of the neck, well that and the hassle of having to remove the neck just to adjust the truss rod.

[@davidkristyhaan3178]

I’ve had guitars with mahagany and alder bodies where the strap buttons have worked their way out and partially stripped and required shoving toothpicks in the hole to fill it back out. This usually happens around a year or so. Just from use. The one guitar I have that has an poplar body that I have removed the guard a handful of times since purchase (brand new) and have never needed to tighten up the strap buttons on. Another guitar that was purchased shortly after with mahogany sides and maple top and back, started working out the strap button after around the year mark (a little more, closer to a year and half). Time to dig up some toothpicks.

[@ryanhurst3859]

I have several alder, several basswood, one ash and one poplar. Most are from the 90s. It never occurred to me, but my ash Strat (1997) is the only one with an issue with a whole bunch of stripped screws. One of my basswood Strats from 1992 has one pickguard screw that is just barely stripped, it's still snug enough though/not completely loose. Everything else is good. I also have a pine body on the way which people say is soft, but who knows.

[@chuchuchip]

I have never had a screw hole stripout. When I reinsert the screw, I do it with a hand driver & a DROP (applied with a toothpick before plate placement) of white or wood glue. 1- the glue will strengthen the fibers, 2- dried it acts as a lock tite, keeping the screw from loosening, so a high torque is not needed. Screws require a little extra to loosen (very little) & no rusting of screws detected. I'm an large scale model railroader so I've worked with all kinds of wood similar or the same used in guitars. On my Strats most are Ash because II prefer a stain & clear finish to show grain. Painted bodies prefer Alder or Poplar. The plain look or unsightly green is covered, plus the cost is lower. Only one of my Strats I detect a woody tone, I contribute that to the neck. It's the only one with a boat profile shape (more wood).

[@LeStraTele]

Basswood is much softer than poplar and it is widely used for guitars. Poplar is a pretty good wood for guitar bodies as far as durability goes. Tone wise it has a flat, neutral sound. In my experience it's all about matching the right pickups to the right wood.

[@MurrayWilliams]

Don’t know what this has to do with tone … I think you proved the best screw-wood.

[@216trixie]

Sometimes in guitarland people refer to the wood of the guitar itself as tonewood whether it's electric or not.

[@oldmantwofour5561]

I've got an idea! Quit you're complaining and start your own damn KZbin channel.

[@V0idFace]

@@oldmantwofour5561 *your. Sit quietly until you learn English.

[@GCKelloch]

Whether it strips depends entirely on the torque being applied. I don't know how you could have applied the same torque with each piece of wood by relying on the feel. A better test would be to set an adjustable torque drill to successively higher torque and report which setting stripped each piece. Evern then, it might be different within each piece depending on the grain strength at the given screw point.

[@jeffcampanale3540]

I've built several guitars out of poplar and to me they sound a lot like alder. Both have floyd Rose tremolos and I haven't had an issue. The first one was built in the 90's and is still going strong.

[@cloudchaser9951]

Old is gold!👍🤘🏻

[@MarkErikEE]

Jim Lill went down the road of ultimate sustainability with his air guitar. And couple of old Honda engines.

[@DylanTalksTone]

We did a reaction video. He was fantastic

[@xClunky]

Didn't we establish previously that wood doesn't matter for electric guitar tone? Did I miss something?

[@maspesasmasperras5554]

Tell that to Paul. As in Paul Reed Smith

[@xClunky]

@@maspesasmasperras5554 That's the exact reason that while I've always liked his designs I've never been able to fully embrace PRS. He's a snakeoil salesman and I just can't respect that.

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

The whole video is about getting screwed. Watch it.

[@DougieD_Funk]

@@xClunky Call me crazy but that statement is beyond nonsensical lol. If wood differences matter with a bass, I don’t see how it wouldn’t for a guitar as well. Specifically for this reason I have 2 of the exact(as exact as ‘exact’ can be) same streamers. One is solid bubinga with ovangkol neck and one is solid maple with ovangkol neck. They are RADICALLY different sounding. If woods are different densities, how would that not make a difference?

[@DougieD_Funk]

Bubinga’s crushing strength is 10,990 lbf/in squared and maples is 7,830 lbf/in squared, how would it be feasible to say they have the same acoustic properties

[@JeffGillis-lv1rz]

The odd thing is that popular or tulip wood as it’s commonly called is not in the genus of the popular tree, nor is it related to tulips. It’s actually a member of the magnolia tree family and could more accurately be called sugar magnolia. Totally true no bs.

[@DavidBrown-it9ig]

What changed my mind on Poplar is that the most expensive and sought after banjos use poplar in their resonators and always have

[@mikestrowbridge]

Try this to fix a stripped screw hole. Put water in the hole with an eye dropper or other method. Wipe top of guitar and leave water in hole filled to top. You can refill it once or twice but wipe of your finish and only let the water touch your wood inside the screw hole. Leave to sit overnight in the summer or maybe a few days in wetter, colder times. Your wood will swell and accept thy screw.

[@TheloniousBosch]

Also where are these people that react that way to poplar? I haven’t encountered the anti-poplar crowd

[@BurninSven1]

I got two poplar trees in my yard and they grov tall with very thin branches on it so it should be very easy to max out the amount of body blanks from one log compared to other spieces.

[@Barbarapape]

A very intersting experiment, if only you had included basswood, the only guitar that a stripped a trem screw on had a basswood body, and i had to plug and redrill it to refit the trem. Some woods get a hardtime with guitarists that believe all the myths that circulate about tonewood. Once the paint is on, does the wood realy make a big difference to how a guitar sounds?

[@mikkosutube]

one other structural consideration is that different woods dry out or absorb moisture at different rates..some types of wood will shrink and expand because of this at different rates and can be a problem when mixing woods..or you can get some pretty serious cracking as it dries out..

[@glenkepic3208]

Pretty funny. In '95, i found a MIM Sq Strat at a shop. Rental use only at a consignment shop..."Go next door, they'll have one" They didn't. Went to another shop which had like a dozen MIA Peavey Predator Turbo guitars, all black like the Sq. Found one i dug and went home to ask the Missus. Went back a week later and half were gone. Next was one with a beautiful birds eye maple finger board and while it didn't sound as good as the other, it was still awesome. $239 with a gig bag, strap, cable and all. I still have it. and, yes, its made of Poplar. Best example of tones, Workin' For MCA by 'Skynyrd. 4 single coils and a great switching set up. Its never been apart but needs a 5 way switch,,,i don't have anyone i can trust with it. Local shop closed... Works but sloppy in #5. btw, Steve Morse chose Poplar for his MM sig model about 20 years ago. Can't be too bad ;)

[@LilYeshua]

Add the possibility of the factory over tightened screw holes that are half stripped to begin with. I've had to do the toothpick and wood glue repair method on two strap buttons I replaced with strap lock buttons

[@jimcamp2423]

That's what I read online,, that the softer hardwoods are relatively better for holding the screw threads than harder species. The point is, hope that the manufacturer used the right screws & threads, didn't strip out what they did screw into it. And limit the times you swap parts on & off the body. There's plenty of screw thread depth to hold a guitar together, don't over tighten to damage the screw head or break the threaded portion, even the pilot hole in the body that became threaded. One can always toothpick & glue the body to repair stripped wood threads.

[@cwwisk]

Has to be pine, poplar, or basswood because they are "squishy". Physically, that means faster deterioration and warping over time. While some will argue the tone is not the issue, when the bridge wiggles itself closer to the nut over the years and no longer has enough strength to hold screw threads, these are probably the worst. I, like everyone else, leave my guitars out in the rain and snow so they can self-relic. 😂

[@DylanTalksTone]

Show me… I want to see proof.

[@boddumblues]

When I predrill for pickguards I use 1,5 mm. for swamp ash and 2mm for most other woods, in order to keep the screws tight FWIW

[@robertstan2349]

among many things, what irks me is how they always try and sell you on the cheaper wood being perfectly fine (and it can be!) but they don't charge you less for it - it just becomes the new 'floor' for the price structure and then they crank up the price for the better woods

[@DylanTalksTone]

Has the thought ever occurred to you that wood is getting more expensive so finding “cheaper” wood to maintain a price point might be needed?

[@ice9snowflake187]

I've got a partcaster Strat with a poplar body, and it sounds great. The wood has a nice firmness, and to me sounds somewhere between mahogany and maple. I think poplar is underrated. (by "sounds", I just mean what it sounds like when you knock on it- how that contributes to electric tone is another matter.)

[@icemanlee666]

it just hit me that when discussing wood and its tonal properties have you looked into or spoken to someone who makes xylophones as they could be a perfect example of the tone of wood so if several bars were made to the same pitch out of different woods the sounds compared maybe a really interesting way of comparing the differences, would love to see a vid of it ;)

[@stuartp8658]

While it would be interesting to see, it would not add anything to the debate about tonewood with regards to solid body electrics. With a xylophone, the sound is produced by the vibration of the wood and I don't think anyone would dispute that different woods have different resonant qualities. The vibration, resonant qualities, of the solid body has such minimal impact compared to the other tone generation factors that you aren't actually comparing the same thing.

[@chriscampbell9191]

Never over-torque a woodscrew. You're not trying to hold elephants down, it's just a pickguard or whatever. Sometimes when I've been worried that the screw hole might strip (on an old guitar) a drip of glue in the hole will adhere to the sides of it, giving the screw a bit more surface to grab when you screw it in afterwards. I haven't had a hole strip yet. I have had some that became looser then desired, and the glue trick worked.

[@DylanTalksTone]

I think it’s so funny how much advice there is on this.

[@chriscampbell9191]

@@DylanTalksTone We all care and worry about our guitars.... Care and maintenance and all that, I guess. :-) Peace.

[@J0HN01DATA]

That was an interesting test. I may lean towards to flow of the sound through a softer variety of material based on these results.

[@niteshades_promise]

tone wood is only a thing on acoustic instruments. stratavarious sound great not because of what tree the wood came from, but that the wood grew threw the last ice age. tone acrylics. now thats where its at.🍻

[@FenianBreed]

Super news! I'm getting a custom guitar made with poplar. The luthier himself recommended it highly, and doesn't why people dump on it so much. I've seen people say luthiers prefer it only because it makes their job easier. I presume they say that because they wrongly assume the wood is so soft, therefore, easier to machine, and bad because its cheap(only because its abundant), and would like to justify their own poorly informed opinion. I've softer woods in other guitars that have lasted well(Basswood), so I went for it as it helps keep my costs down, and all my tone that actually matters are coming from my Seymour Duncans and Engl Fireball. I'm also having it painted, so don't need to worry about its natural colour. On the matter of tone wood, it makes very little difference in IMO. Yes, there are very small noticeable differences(see Warmoth video as an example), but nothing worth buying an electric guitar based on. Great pickups and amp will get you the sound you want on electric anyway.

[@stepvanjoe3469]

Have had very few stripped screw holes over the years, I tend to let the screw catch without alot if any real down force on the screw when reinstalling

[@haveagoodone5830]

Prediction @3:13: I guess mahogany will yield the fastest, then poplar, then ash. P.s. that's cool, i was totally wrong! I would love to see basswood included: I actually have a friend whom I helped buy a mahogany body for his RG Prestige after he'd splintered its neck pocket made from basswood just from tightening the screws: he always felt like the screws were too loose

[@innocentoctave]

'he always felt like the screws were too loose' I suspect that this is 99% of the cause of stripped screws: overtightening.

[@TaftysGuitars]

Matt's taste test is never wrong. We built our "war hawk guitars at the Mike Learn class, more than a year ago, out of poplar and I have no issue at all with it. Even the Floyd studs are stable. And poplar can look pretty cool too.

[@idiotburns]

One of the best videos, so simple and to the point

[@mikemcginnis1419]

ive only had basswood strip out . filled the hole with glue and a toothpick trimmed it and was back in business..

[@castnoshadow82lr48]

I hand screw and whilst it takes a touch longer it’s hardly time consuming and I’ve had my scratch plate on and off my squier probably more than 30 times (just guessing never counted) I’m not a tech but I’m guessing the torque in a battery screw driver would speed up the process of striping screws out I’m not 100% sure but I think it’s an alder body from around 1999-00 when I brought it new. Personally I wouldn’t care what would the guitar is made from I love the look of the George Harrison rosewood tele I’d happily own that but generally if the thing sounds good the neck and fretwork are on point then who gives a shit. I hate pau ferro fingerboards I don’t know why I’ve never played one it’s just listening to all the negativity around wood changes I guess they look a bit naff but who knows when I play one I might love it

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

Only fantasising idiots "like to play" a particular fretboard or not. Fingers are on the strings. Pau Ferro is disliked because it often looks like a fresh turd.

[@empiresSR]

I have a Pao Ferro fingerboard on an Epiphone and it’s my favorite fingerboard out of what I’ve got (others are rosewood, maple, and NZ pine)

[@NinjaRunningWild]

This is a poor gauge based on a flawed premise, leading to a non-sequitur conclusion.

[@DylanTalksTone]

It’s called fun

[@JonDeth]

I've never owned a guitar wood I didn't like including a 30 year old Squier made from furniture plywood lol! I have several poplar guitars including a 24-fret Jazzmaster clone and it's both heavy and dense as hell. I have an asymmetrical flying-v body built from blocks and a pancake style and the fucker weighs at least 15 lbs!(I typically lift free weights in the gym frequently) These pieces are hard as hell and I hand selected them so the grain is absolutely beautiful and useable. *Now, lets' talk about BASSWOOD! lmao!* It's truly the weakest, lightest and loosest grain wood in widespread use today and it sounds absolutely beautiful. It also makes the best sounding Stratocasters I have ever owned and Ibanez can't be wrong that many millions of times. I did have to cut out the portion of the body the tremolo was in on 2 of them though and 1 has a block of red oak since it's what was available glued in with 2 posts for a vintage style floating Stratocaster tremolo, the other I just used aluminum block, drilled and threaded for the same vintage appearing tremolo.

[@baronguitars]

You can put a drip of CA glue in the hole, let dry for a few seconds, (add wax to the screw if you're anxious it will be stuck, i don't), and voilà! The wood will be a lot stronger. The worst tonewood isn't the one that the softest; its the one that sounds the least attractive to your ears. I've made a guitar with a one piece spruce body that sounded great. Did I take care of solidifying the screw holes? You bet I did!

[@terrywashburn6347]

I wish Pine had been included in the test because I have a Squier guitar that is made of Pine and I changed the pickguard ONCE and I stripped out two or three holes. However, I can't really tell any difference as far as how the guitar actually sounds through an amplifier compared to other types of wood. It totally sucks stripping out screw holes on my guitar though!

[@matthewzingg8878]

Also keep in mind swamp ash is lighter and softer than regular heavy ash that should be your new test. I think people often mistake poplar for basswood basswood is extremely soft and light and dense really easy to use correct poplar is much more similar to Alder

[@chopperdeath]

Tone wood is bs for electric guitars. Nobody even mentioned “tone wood” before the 1990’s. It’s a marketing ploy.

[@michaelstevenfriedlander4583]

Hello, clueless. The fact that the most successful guitars are built from certain types of wood is not an arbitrary decision. It was carefully researched and developed.

[@chopperdeath]

You really are a funny guy.

[@Patrick-857]

It's not black and white. There are two camps and they are both wrong. Wood absolutely plays a part. But how expensive it is, that's not what makes it good or bad, which is itself subjective.

[@chopperdeath]

@@Patrick-857 Physics says you're wrong, not me.

[@Patrick-857]

@chopperdeath On the contrary, physics says I'm right. Anything in contact with the string will influence how it sustains and what harmonics are sustained, damped, or experience resonant peaks. You can argue to what degree, but you can't argue the effect doesn't exist because unless you have the string attached at both ends to something of infinite density and hardness, which cannot exist in reality, then the material it's attached to will have an influence on how the string vibrates. If you're feeling the vibrations of the strings through the back and the neck of your guitar, then there's interactions happening and that's introducing all kinds of complex non linearities to the equation. That's physics, just a bit beyond your level of understanding though....

[@freddymclain]

does the term 'tonewood' even apply to solidbody guitars? it's not like the body is really vibrating. It's just a big chunk of wood with pickups mounted on it, right?

[@Arfonfree]

If you're concerned about stripping screws: Buy better screws. Quality screws will hold significantly better. Then learn how to use a manual screwdriver and don't overtorque them. Finally, in the last resort, learn how to drill and plug old screw holes. None of this is hard and these techniques will extend the life of the wood indefinitely.

[@TheloniousBosch]

Lol Matt’s cameo was perfect. That look on his face 😂

[@jakelee7639]

Proud original owner of an ‘85 san dimas charvel....popular body,..no screws have stripped ..great tone too!

[@jimmypenrose1401]

I'd be pretty reluctant to use a drill to screw in a pickguard, no matter what wood the instrument is made out of, especially if I'm using wood-screws. When the screw begins to tighten I want to feel that tactile response through a small screwdriver, not the motor of an electric drill. But if I were that worried about it, I'd probably consider using small insert nuts and matching machine screws; then you'll never have to worry about how many times you remove a pickguard.

[@troythompson1621]

I've had issues with basswood and bridge screws, but I like poplar. What's your opinion on thermally aged woods?

[@asambatyon]

I always thought the problem with poplar was that it wasn't very pretty so you would never do burst with it, I personally have three starts: A poplar one, an Alder one and a Swamp Ash one. They all have different necks: Maple, Rosewood, Ziricote. At the end of the day, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart since even the weight is different. The two things I have noticed to affect the sound is (1) pickups and surprisingly enough (2) the tremblock material, since one has a brass one.

[@dafud77]

Makes sense to me. Grain structure on the Ash and Mahogany is much "bigger." The wood will splinter faster making the hole bigger.

[@aceyriot]

I use poplar for making bodyshape prototypes. i have never once thought it was too soft. honestly had the opposite problem. i love it for painted guitars and poplar burls are beautiful.

[@robtog]

Once plugged in and dialed up, all is forgotton or forgiven

[@gil_evans]

American poplar (liriodendron tulipifera, probably the piece in the vid) and European poplar are very different. I have a The Heritage H 150P which has an American poplar body. It is not particularly light nor soft. The neck is mahogany. Good sounding instrument.

[@itchyvinyl]

All I know is I have enjoyed more Squier guitars since they switched from Basswood to Poplar. It may be a coincidence that their construction methods changed or improved at the same time. But I now have 3 Poplar Squiers that sound great, whereas every basswood guitar I tried got sold. Who knows.

[@caseywilson7768]

Tone wood is a myth.

[@kensolo6793]

i suppose after this test, "poplar" may become more "popular"

[@nickdawson1024]

Good intel, for the record I love poplar for dye and wax finishes, ash for relic bodies and mahogany for blocking out trem routs.

[@beckwith5880]

i think that there is a difference in the tones of the wood that i'd like to see tested. i've had 2 poplar guitars and did not like the overtone series. swapped one out for alder and it made all the difference

[@BrandonOutside]

@1:13 “You can tell it’s Aspen because of the way that it is” 😆

[@derekbrown6832]

Hi, from the UK, i have a G&L tribute tele, in butterscotch blonde, made with swamp ash, i have no idea if it's affecting the tonality, but it looks great, and sounds great, and plays great! Probably more to do with those MFD pick up's, me thinks.

[@gobodega5226]

Hi Dylan, Somehow I don't understand the discussion. Alder has been used for a Stratocaster for 70 years. When PRS releases the SE Silver Sky, poplar is suddenly a great wood 😉🤔 What are the reasons for poplar if not the costs?

[@shawncrowley5012]

The original Dean usa baby series were made of poplar wood for both the necks and bodies. The necks were three pieces laminated.

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

Everyone should know that the more exotic and rare a wood is, directly corresponds to how great of a tone wood it is. It's just what the science of marketing 101 proves peoples.

[@lone-wolf-1]

My Ibanez Gio out of poplar is very resonant. My Ibanez miKro bass is out of poplar too and is light and sounds very good. Poplar seems to be a more resonant and sustain supporting body wood than basswood. Love poplar. 👍🏼

[@Voxguitarsrock]

My Squier VM 70's Strat is Basswood. My nephews Fender Strat is alder There is a * slight* difference in tone between them but nothing you can't adjust for using the amps tone knobs. So not a big deal either way. Both sound as a Strat should.

[@kevinfitzpatrick9537]

Poplar is most commonly used for framing in furniture such as couches and beds and is sturdy however unpleasant it may look

[@peterliolis5482]

I have had a Gibson M111 since 96 and had no issues with stripping ,the Floyd rose copy is still on , It may lack in bass and mid a little but as a comparison to alder yes it is brighter good alternative ,the nitro. paint does get little dents but I am more careful now otherwise yes this is a good tone wood ,reading a guitar mag years ago a British guitarist said he had a 72 ,75, and 82 Les Paul and he really liked and played the 75 ,so he had a lot of dead wood he didn''t play ,no matter the timber a bad sounding guitar will lay idol even mahogany

[@ColonnaTheKid]

I would have curious about pine/roasted pine. A review about it being soft on the American Pro 2s made me afraid and go with the alder models. Now I wonder if the lighter guitar would have been better on my back