Whitewood, can anyone here tell me something about it?

[cnltb]

Hi!
I just heard of whitewood and since I can't remember ever hearing of it before in an instrument-context I am asking here; can you tell me something about it?
What tree does it come from, what is it mostly used for (if at all) how about hardness and tone and stiffness and weight , what 'tone woods' might one compare it to etc etc etc.

Thanks!

 

[yoshi]

Never heard of that, but found this:

"It's a trade name for marketing. And nothing you want to use in a boat.

Depending on where you are, "whitewood" can include hemlock, the true firs, and a few western pines. Or in hardwoods various poplars, cottonwoods, aspens and the like."

- Invalid Link Removed

By the sounds of it, it wouldn't be much good for an axe. I am making a guitar with poplar and, although it's light, it dents so very easily. Plus it has no real character - looks like plain paper almost. Certainly going to be painting it!

 

[joseplluissans]

It's a commonly used term in plywood industry, meaning spruce. Not for electric instruments...

 

[Jon Clegg]

AKA Common board.

 

[Hopkins]

As far as what they sell as whitewood at my local home depot. It is just high grade pine/fir

 

[Phil Mastro]

By the sounds of it, it wouldn't be much good for an axe. I am making a guitar with poplar and, although it's light, it dents so very easily. Plus it has no real character - looks like plain paper almost. Certainly going to be painting it!

Although I'm not a big fan of poplar, it does make a light body, and if it's good enough for Martin Keith, it's probably good enough for me. I've made a bass body out of pine, and it worked out fine. Sounded great, too. Some of the other softwoods I'm not so sure about, seeing as they can have really wide grain or copious amounts of sap making finishing a pain. Basswood is fairly common, and that's way softer than poplar. Again, I'm not a fan, but it's possible to make it work.

Long story short, if you have some on hand or have access to some for cheap, there's no reason not to try it out. On the other hand, I wouldn't go out of my way to get some.

 

[Hopkins]

Poplar is wonderful for a painted body, and I have seen some curly poplar that looked very nice. Poplar and Alder are my two go to woods for the majority of my builds. Both of them are light, easy on tools, and finish nicely.

 

[Keith Guitars]

Poplar is a great wood, very much underrated in my opinion.
Many other excellent high-end builders use it, often under the name "tulipwood".
It's similar in properties to alder, but I prefer it somewhat.
I've used some incredibly resonant pieces of poplar before, much more lively and acoustically active
than lots of other common woods (ash, some mahoganies). It's great, and it grows domestically which is a plus.

Basswood is also a very nice-sounding material that has the benefit of being quite lightweight and very stable.
The grain is quite plain (some say boring), but it's a very viable instrument wood.
A lot of the best-sounding Parker Fly guitars were built with basswood bodies and necks.

Cheers,
Martin

 

[moonshinegtrs]

"Whitewood" is also a term used in manufacturing to describe any type of wood previous to finishing (paint).

Gibson has a Whitewood dept. where the final sanding and prepping is done before instruments are moved on to the finishing dept.



Moonshine