Let's talk Wood!!! Mucho Pictorage from a Gabe post-1/07/07

[Craig]

A post from the past, originally posted on the G&LDP by GPD on January 07, 2007 at 22:31:40:

Let's talk Wood!!! Mucho Pictorage

Hey Gang,

Got into a discussion a few threads down regarding Jay's kewl leadle SC-3 refin-job (courtesy of John) which I dig very much.
Anyway, one thing that a lot of folks question me regulary about is what type of wood their body might be. This chat and the
abundance of questions I get on this topic prompted me to snag a few naked G&L bodies and take some pix for your perusal...

So here goes!

Here we have a 3-piece Alder Climax body from 1992 next to a late 80's 2-piece Skyhawk body in Poplar.
Note how much "browner" or "tanner" the Alder is compared to the Poplar. Also note how lame the grain is on
both though one is certainly no better or worse than the other. Poplar and Alder are very similar in many respects.


Close-up of Alder versus Poplar. Pretty boring stuff...you can see the grey streaks here pretty readily.


Here we have an early SC-1 body made from soft northwestern maple...this guy has some flame content as an added bonus.
On the right is a mid-80's Invader made from Poplar.


Here is the Alder Climax next to the Poplar Skyhawk again. This time I wiped a portion of both with mineral spirits to mimick what a natural finish would bring out.
This piece-o-poplar ain't 1/2 bad and would've made a nice burst if the match was better...too bad that wasn't the case. This highlights the dramatic difference in
coloration between Alder and Poplar very well though.


Here we have a BBE made Cantrell Rampage copy...not very faithful for a number of reasons including the very obviously alder bodywood they elected to use.
See how tan/brown the pocket and pickup route are? There is no mistaking alder once you see it in the nude a few times.


OK, moving on...Alder Climax on the left and an 83' soft maple body belonging to a hard-tail Cavalier!!!


Same two bodies but with a little mineral spririts on them to give you an idea of the shade differentials one would expect with some finish on them.


These two rare beasts are on display to give you a flavor on how variable soft maple grain patterns really can be...and also because this is perhaps
my most favorite tonewood of all time for solid-body guitars. On the left is a mega-rare Superhawk body in maple originally Sunburst!!! On the right an
equally rare maple bodied lefty old-school S-500. Pay close attention to the grain differences here.


Here is the backside of a maple SC-1 and the Poplar Invader both partially wetted with mineral spirits.
Note the differential in hue once these guys are wet...interesting? No?


OK, now what we have here is the Alder Climax on the left, a Home Depot slice of Poplar and a Poplar Invader. No mistaking Alder versus Poplar in this case.


Again...note how radically different color-wise poplar is versus alder.


Now, the Home Depot Poplar scrap on top of the Poplar Invader...grain is actually in the same ballpark between these two trees!!!


Throw a little mineral spirits on them both and you get this...hmmmm...grain looks might similar to JASAT's refined SC-3? No?


Same deal but against Alder...huuuuuuuuuge difference here folks.


Poplar scrap on Poplar Skyhawk...yes, it really is a hard-tail!!!


Anyway, figured you guys might get some value out of this barrage of jpg's...

Have a great evening...

See you guys this week.

Gabe