"Whitewood"

[Dave Hicks]

What do ya reckon it is, really? I'm looking at some Recording Kings that have whitewood b/s, but other makers use it, too. I'd guess in that location it's probably some light-colored hardwood, such as poplar.

D.H.

[rollypolly]

Aka the cheapest possible wood they could find. Also, it’s laminate white wood so I’m not sure it matters too much for that application.

I actually really like alternative woods. I have a birch Levin that sounds great, a little like mahogany but brighter, still warm and resonant.

If Martin or Waterloo made a birch or whitewood guitar I’m sure it’d be great.

[PineMarten]

Modern Recording King or the original ones? There are just a few likely candidates for light coloured, plain and inexpensive North American hardwoods, but on a modern Asian build there are a lot of different woods it might be, probably used interchangeably.

[John Arnold]

Basswood is a good possibility. It has a long history of use for kerfing and bent linings.

[67goat]

Whitewood generally comes from the tulip tree, also known as fiddle-tree and yellow poplar.

Liriodendron tulipifera

However, like many wood terms it is not always used correctly. At a hardware store it generally just refers to the cheapest soft or soft hardwood. In that context it is usually pine, spruce, hemlock, or fir.

[gr81dorn]

It's almost certainly a catch-all, as mentioned, for a variety of things. Chinese manufacturing often uses materials that come from the USA, so it's likely USA basswood, birch, poplar and probably even some maple - those are all very popular veneer/plywood species, run in massive volumes and with a wide spectrum of grades, including stuff that would be suitable paint-grade like the RK instruments use. If they source stuff closer to or from China, there are very similar species in Eastern Asia that it could be, too.

From a marketing standpoint, it's good enough to just call it "whitewood". I think it's tackier for Martin to genericize "mahogany" or "Select hardwoods" because it maybe matters more to their audience than those buying $200 RK parlor guitars.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by 67goat

Whitewood generally comes from the tulip tree, also known as fiddle-tree and yellow poplar.

Liriodendron tulipifera

However, like many wood terms it is not always used correctly. At a hardware store it generally just refers to the cheapest soft or soft hardwood. In that context it is usually pine, spruce, hemlock, or fir.

Pine, spruce, hemlock, or fir being softwoods some may not agree. I have taken apart a few dozen console radios and whitewood under all that veneer. Never a softwood to be seen. Mainly poplar, never seen birch or maple either. But in other parts of the world things are different.

[67goat]

Originally Posted by printer2

Pine, spruce, hemlock, or fir being softwoods some may not agree. I have taken apart a few dozen console radios and whitewood under all that veneer. Never a softwood to be seen. Mainly poplar, never seen birch or maple either. But in other parts of the world things are different.

I said soft or soft hardwoods. Actual whitewood (tulip tree) is technically a hardwood, but it is one of the softest ones.

However, hardware stores use the term to describe whatever their cheapest wood is. That may be a softer hardwood or an actual softwood.

[Flyingtigre]

Sounds like what model airplane enthusiasts call Lite Ply as opposed to birch.

[John Arnold]

I do make a distinction between whitewood from a building supply (random softwoods, mostly) and that being described and used in Asian budget guitars. I have seen basswood in the latter. Tulip poplar is another species that has been described that way, in spite of the dark heartwood. The white sapwood can be quite thick, especially on younger trees.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by 67goat

I said soft or soft hardwoods. Actual whitewood (tulip tree) is technically a hardwood, but it is one of the softest ones.

However, hardware stores use the term to describe whatever their cheapest wood is. That may be a softer hardwood or an actual softwood.

I am no disputing you saying soft or soft hardwoods. On whether hardwood stores label softwoods as white wood, I am not aware of any hardware stores that call softwoods white wood. Around here any hardwood is at least double the price of a softwood so we do not see the two mixed together.

Just did a search, Lowes does refer to construction lumber as white woods but they being a recent arrival north of the border I may have missed it. Mind you, the website also gives my closest store on the US side of the border so maybe it is a term more used down there. Silly of me to think things are the same all over.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Flyingtigre

Sounds like what model airplane enthusiasts call Lite Ply as opposed to birch.

Having built a few model airplanes I would say the lite ply is birch. We also use basswood and of course spruce.

[Dave Hicks]

Birch was used in the cheaper Gibson mandolins back in the 1910s. I think my 1916 A has birch b/s, but I'm not entirely sure how to tell it from maple.

D.H.

[Osage]

Originally Posted by Dave Hicks

Birch was used in the cheaper Gibson mandolins back in the 1910s. I think my 1916 A has birch b/s, but I'm not entirely sure how to tell it from maple.

D.H.

Probably a third of all the archtops Gibson built through the 60's were Birch, despite being advertised as Maple.

[Flyingtigre]

Originally Posted by printer2

Having built a few model airplanes I would say the lite ply is birch. We also use basswood and of course spruce.

Not what I buy here. I think what I buy here as Lite, is some variety of poplar.