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Originally Posted by Q Factor Isn't poplar low quality compared to some of the other woods? |
It's a good choice for interior plies, IMHO. My set is an old set of six-ply
Ludwigs (poplar interior, maple exterior plies), and I'm very happy with the sound of these drums. It's not as visually attractive as maple, from what I've heard, but AFAIK several companies have used poplar for interior plies.
I haven't had much experience with different tonewoods on full kits, other than the old standbys of birch and maple, but I've got a good variety of snare drums (in terms of the shell materials used). Some of my favorites are cherry (somewhat similar to birch), walnut (a little darker and "warmer" than maple), bubinga, purpleheart, and a hawaiian wood called monkeypod, or raintree.
It's interesting (to me, at least) that "birch vs. maple" is the big debate when it comes to wooden shell materials. I don't hear as much of a difference between those two tonewoods as I do with woods that offer a greater difference in hardness and density. Do an online search for something called the Janka Scale, which rates woods according to relative hardness. You'll see that birch and maple aren't
that far apart on the scale, compared to softer woods like walnut, or harder woods like bubinga or purpleheart.
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