A few comments and then a few questions.  Since I don't have good maple or other decent hardwoods readily available to me I use the 1x2's from the home centers.  Went to HD and Lowes yesterday searching for decent 1x2's.  Sorted through probably 75 boards and came home with 3 good red oaks.  Went through all the poplar they had and found nothing that was even approaching straight.  I've read where they use tulip wood and call it poplar.  Which to me is aggravating.  And frankly kinda dishonest.  Also the poplar seemed flimsy, shaggy  and awfully lightweight.  Haven't done a neck with it yet and frankly haven't found a reason not to use the red oak.

I know that many on here like poplar but is what they sell at the home centers really poplar or tulip wood? 

Why do you prefer poplar over red oak?  

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I agree the selection and quality at HD and Lowe’s can be spotty. But I have limited options because I can’t drive, and HD is on a bus route.  So I bought a piece of what they call tulip poplar, which would’ve been more correctly called rainbow poplar. It’s the same ole yellow poplar we are used to, but grows in places where it ends up with color from minerals in the swampy ground. I’m legally blind, lousy depth perception, and can’t really tell if things are straight. But I can carry a stick and lay it on the edge of a nice sheet of Birch plywood, and was able to find a straight piece and have them whack it to three feet, since getting on the bus with an eight footer wouldn’t have been fun, lol. It came out fine. 

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nice looking instrument, I like the different colors you can find with poplar

Hello,
in NVA , here at HD, they have Oak, Poplar, Walnut, and maple. Picking through it I have found straight pieces, flamey grain, quartersawn and flatsawn .,I look for flat one myself. Around Here Poplar and Tulip Poplar are the same tree., you can get rough cut or the 1x2's .,.,.
For me Poplar is cheaper, a decent tone woood, and stiff enough.,,.I use it as an alternate to Pine.,.Oak is fine.,Just depends on the weight of the build I am shooting for.,,.I have used Poplar for 100 builds..,. it just helps to be picky about the selection. I avoid bowed wood unless I have a reason to disregard it.,.,

Poplar is easier to work than oak & also a lot of people don’t like the open grain of oak, I’ll use anything myself?

I used HD poplar for necks on a bunch of guitars, I was happy with the results, If I perceived a slight curve, I would aim that curve downward. A while back I switched to HD maple. I went to HD the other day to get 1/4 x 1.5'' poplar that I still use for fret boards, and it appears they no longer carry it, disappointed. Ordered maple fret boards from Gitty. 

I've been down this road... Hope I can help!

The Home Depots and Lowe's here each sell:

 - Red Oak: 'Hard' to work with.. .meaning it's more like stone than wood sometimes. Thick, strong, dense. Pre-drill everything. You'll learn whether or not you like it after you carve a few necks. It's fantastic for supplemental stuff - box bracing, amps, framework, etc.

- Poplar (or whatever they have there): These look real soft and sketchy... but, if you can get a relatively straight one (I like to rotate them on the store's floor to check if long pieces are bendy), they do fine. Even the ones that look shaggy at the edges. They're a breeze to carve and sand - wood almost melts away. They aren't nearly as strong as oak, but for 3 string cigar box guitar necks, they do alright. I wouldn't use a Home Depot stick of poplar for a 6-string or bass though. They take stain and finish beautifully. Pick one up to see if you like them .. they're cheap enough to play around with.

- Walnut / Cherry: Much more expensive, but they work well. Cherry tends to splinter more than I'd like. They're both hard to carve and sand but real sturdy. Real pretty when finished. I buy 1 inch sticks of these and glue them together into a nice neck laminate. I haven't tried an entire neck out of either yet, but I can tell they're both real solid wood.

- Hemlock: There is one Home Depot around here that carries hemlock (and only one). I go out of my way to get it. It's as strong (well, nearly) as oak but much easier to work with... though it does splinter if you're not careful with a chisel. It sands down to a beautiful baseball bat finish. Cheaper than oak (I think). The weird thing is - it's not cut square, for whatever reason.. the edges aren't crisp like the other wood, they're rounded off. Which, if you're attaching a fretboard to it, means more sanding than usual.

The good news is: a stick of any is relatively cheap. You'll be able to figure out which is your favorite quickly if you rotate woods with each neck. Have fun experimenting!

Cheers!

Heh. I just got back from Home Depot and picked up a nice piece of Hickory. I'm pretty sure I've used Home Depot hemlock before on past necks, but it's entirely possibly I made it all up. Perhaps I was consonantly confused.

In case you're curious, Hickory costs almost as much as walnut, and it's nearly twice as expensive as oak at this Home Depot. Looks real straight, strong, and quite splintery. Wonderful grain - I'm looking forward to shaping it!

EDIT: I was right.. my previous necks were hemlock. Home Depot carries both, but only sometimes. So, I've never tried hickory before... hmmm...

From Popular Woodworking:

The wood we know as poplar has many common names, such as tulip poplar, yellow poplar, tulipwood, yellow tulipwood, tulip tree, whitewood and canoewood. The “tulip” part of these names comes from the tulip-like flower the tree produces in the spring. Where the “poplar” part of these names comes from is a mystery, because the tree is not even a true poplar—it’s a member of the magnolia family. In fact, poplar is known as the “king of the Magnolias.” It’s also the tallest hardwood tree in North America.

Well, thanks Webster! I know exactly what tree they're talking about now.

Learn something new every so often...

I've never built with poplar or pine but I've played some and they just felt really cheap and flimsy. I'll stick with oak and maple. Harder to work sure but look and feel, to me anyway, more like a serious instrument and less like a toy.

I tend to agree with Korrigan, I have used pine necks but I'm not a fan. 

Hardwoods are best for necks if you are looking for a better sounding guitar. I like the vibrations to stay in the body, especially as its so small, not soaked up by a soft neck.

Taff

We get more of  the good grade  poplar here in Canada , great stuff .  but the odd piss plank  is included ,   so location , and shopping / picking  (tapping the melons)  all becomes a factor .

I have heard more horror stories about Oak  curling up  ( especially after plaining) ( a plainer acting  like a pipe bender  on oak   etc)  .. or bowing after strung .   than  horror stories about  poplar. 

for a 3 stringer ,  a good piece of poplar is sufficient  , and  you'd be supprised how much  just an oak fretboard ontop of poplar  adds to the strength . almost overkill .

that being said ..     oak iz purdy.  ;-)

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