honduran mohog

[Montagman]

I friend of mine has 2 boards 28 " x 84" x 1/2" of old growth honduran mohogany. It was originally 14 feet! He cut it in half to get into his house, He wants to make raised panels for one wall of his living room with it. I told him to use mohog plywood and sell the boards to a guitar builder. What do you guys think it would be worth? I thought at least a couple thousand.

[Johnny Two Tone]

Mahogany is a relatively cheap and very common exotic wood. 8/4s are sold at around $15 per board foot (to give a reference). 1/2" boards aren't great for guitar bodies as half of an inch is too thin to do much with without having to add a very thick top to - which no one would do with mahogany. The fact that it's old growth may be enticing to some people looking for fine wood but I doubt that that's a very sought after bit of wood for a guitar builder.

[Alan Roberts]

I tend to agree with JTT - it's not going to be too desireable to many builders because of the thickness. Acoustic builders could use it but it wouldn't be thick enough for electric builds. Price will also vary depending on the quality of the board. The width might make it more appealing to other types of builers, though. I think it'd probably make better furniture than instruments based on that. I'm sure it's a beautiful piece of wood but I doubt it's worth anywhere near $1000. Sorry

[MahaloVision]

28" wide? I dunno about a couple thousand, but at that width it's worth looking into the value at a cabinet shop or designer's studio.

[Belva]

The only way I could see a guitar builder using 1/2" is planing it down to 1/4" for a top. As mentioned, mahogany isn't used for tops. If it were 6/4 it would be desireable to make LP's with maple tops on the mahogany. I suppose you could laminate 3 pieces together with a 1/4" maple top or 4 pieces for the complete body. But if a builder is gonna do that, he/she might as well just build a plycaster.

[MrGretsch]

 

. If it were 6/4 it would be desireable to make LP's with maple tops on the mahogany. I suppose you could laminate 3 pieces together with a 1/4" maple top or 4 pieces for the complete body. But if a builder is gonna do that, he/she might as well just build a plycaster.

 

 

Ever see a Martin D-15M? Solid Mahogany back, sides and top. I almost bought one in '08, but even $800 or so was still too rich for me. Now, I'm a little sorry I went for a hollow-body. Only a little, as I prefer Spruce tops (I don't think I'll ever get one, though!)

[Belva]

 

Ever see a Martin D-15M? Solid Mahogany back, sides and top. I almost bought one in '08, but even $800 or so was still too rich for me. Now, I'm a little sorry I went for a hollow-body. Only a little, as I prefer Spruce tops (I don't think I'll ever get one, though!)

 

 

 

Uh, it ain't no 1/2" thick.

 

[MahaloVision]

But through the magic of resawing...

[MrGretsch]

 

Uh, it ain't no 1/2" thick.

 

 

Ever hear of a saw? How thin do you want the wood? I'm sure there's a shop somewhere with the equipment to split that into at least 1/4", all the way down to veneer. After all, it started out as A WHOLE TREE! Wow, how'd they get it down to 1/2 "?

You can go back to sleep now.

[WRGKMC]

I've built plenty of electrics with pieces of thinner wood glued together in layers.

If you want a mahagont body as thick as a Les Paul, just glue three layers togther

before cutting the body. Then you can round the top off. mahagony is heavy but it

does sound good.

[Johnny Two Tone]

I just built a guitar body using two 1/2 pieces of zebra wood. It does work, but the edges look kinda funny since their grain doesn't match. I'm going to round the body which should change the perspective.

[WRGKMC]

I built an excelent guitar that way using two slabs of maple.

A cool option for the grain factor would be to sandwich a thin layer of wood between

them thats of a different color, either lighter or darker. It would give a nice lamination look and the

different grains wouldnt matter.

[flump]

 

I built an excelent guitar that way using two slabs of maple. A cool option for the grain factor would be to sandwich a thin layer of wood between them thats of a different color, either lighter or darker. It would give a nice lamination look and the different grains wouldnt matter.

 

 

I've always liked that look. I think it really adds to it when there are say 3 layers of very thin material that maybe alternate similar to a 3-ply pickguard. Definitely a different look.

[Johnny Two Tone]

 

I built an excelent guitar that way using two slabs of maple. A cool option for the grain factor would be to sandwich a thin layer of wood between them thats of a different color, either lighter or darker. It would give a nice lamination look and the different grains wouldnt matter.

 

 

Damn, it! Why didn't I think of that? A round bodied guitar with a center, thin laminate... cool.

[WRGKMC]

^^ Yea allot of bodies are made that way.

Kramers with the alluminim necks come to mind.

I think thay had some great laminate bodies if I remember right.

Kind of looks like a racing pin stripe on a natureal body and looks great as all get out.

[Belva]

At1/2" thick you could find maybe some maple, ash, or any light color wood and make a butcher block guitar. Some of those look pretty cool. Hell, for that even white pine would work. Maybe add in a dark wood like walnut?

[WRGKMC]

My last build was a semi hollow tele built from antique wood that was over 200 years old.

it had a single piece top of Walnut, maple sides and rosewood back which was also a single piece.

The top and back were maybe 3/8" thick. the walnut was thicker in the center so I made it a slightly

arched top with a block in the center and glued the sides down under pressure. It made the top extremely

resonant and bright. Quite a unique sound with those wood combinations. it has elements of darkness and

bright contained in the notes. I can get everything from a jangle to a more subdued Paul sound.

I used a Tele neck, mini Humbuckers, TOM bridge and floating tail piece. Its One of two guitars I consider as

my number one players over all my Store bought Rics, Fenders and Gibsons. those are great too of course,

but I just cant put down my last two builds. My second was made from antique maple. It was shelving from an antique

china cabinet. The wood was about 1" thick so I laminated the two pieces. Heres the results.

 

 

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[Huggy B]

 

^^ Yea allot of bodies are made that way. Kramers with the alluminim necks come to mind. I think thay had some great laminate bodies if I remember right. Kind of looks like a racing pin stripe on a natureal body and looks great as all get out.

 

 

Wow, that's a blast from the past. Aluminum Kramers, that was their claim to fame before EVH put them on the map with the hotrod strat thing. I actually played one for a while back in the 80's. A lot of players didn't like the cold feel of the metal neck, after a while I had to agree, but like you said, they looked great.