mystery wood....

[LDF]

I will be getting a Martin 000-15 soon. I was wondering how I would know if the guitar is genuin mahogany or Sapele since the website says it can be either. Also the neck will be "select hardwoods". What the hell is that?

 

It would be nice to know, ya know?

[Hael]

Apparantly there is a shortage of mahogany now, so some guitar companies have become limited in their supply. Sapele is also know as African mahogany, so its VERY similar to mahogany in tone. You've probably seen some sapele guitars before and assumed they were mahogany.

 

I just recently bought a Martin 00-15, and while I'm not sure if its mahogany or sapele, I can tell you it sounds amazing.

[JasmineTea]

I asked Martin the same question.

________________________________

 

Good afternoon!

 

 

 

Due to the changing availability of wood we use Mahogany or

 

Cedar interchangeably according to availability. Our specifications

 

are subject to change without notice and therefore the use of

 

any particular wood type is not documented in our production logs.

 

 

 

Thank you for your interest in C. F. Martin & Co., Inc.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

Sandy Trach

 

C. F. Martin & Co., Inc.

 

Consumer Customer Service

[knockwood]

Sapele (Entandrophragma), while often referred to as African Mahogany, is not quite the same thing as proper African Mahogany (Khaya Ivorensis). Sapele tends to be harder than African or Honduran mahogany and exhibits a more varied palette of figures.

 

(I don't really know all this crap - just looked it up online about a minute ago.)

 

My Taylor 310 is made of African mahogany and I love it. I don't think this is the mahogany variety they use in the Marty 15 series, though - whatever they use, I actually tend to prefer its looks over my African mahog. Sapele in particular is some pretty attractive stuff. Plus, I've wanted to run out of the store with every 000-15 I've ever played 'cause they all sound fantastic. I don't think you have anything to worry about qualitatively, although I agree that Martin's missing specifics gets kind of annoying. Taylor has a cool wood type page if you're interested:

 

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/features/woods/WoodTypes.aspx

[kwakatak]

Originally posted by JasmineTea I asked Martin the same question. ________________________________ Good afternoon! Due to the changing availability of wood we use Mahogany or Cedar interchangeably according to availability. Our specifications are subject to change without notice and therefore the use of any particular wood type is not documented in our production logs. Thank you for your interest in C. F. Martin & Co., Inc. Best regards, Sandy Trach C. F. Martin & Co., Inc. Consumer Customer Service

 

Shi!

 

That makes me wanna buy a Collings too - but I can't afford one!

[35fingerpicker]

"select hardwoods". What the hell is that?"

 

As Sandy said: Cedar. However, it's Spanish Cedar, not Western Red Cedar. Martin changed from Spanish Cedar to Mahogany necks a long, long time ago because of a downturn in the availability of the original neck material(Spanish Cedar). With the stain they use on necks, it's likely you wouldn't know the difference.

[LDF]

Thanks for all the info guys. I should be comfortable with whatever wood my guitar is made out of. It seems it will sound good no matter what.

 

I guess when someone asks "what kind of wood was used in that guitar?" I can say "Mahogany or sapele and perhaps mahogany or cedar for the neck".

[guitarcapo]

Ironically the TRUEST mahogany is CUBAN mahogany...which is the wood that built all those Chippendale chairs and the Spanish Armada etc...It's practically extinct now. That's right...even Honduran mahogany (used in guitars up until the 1980's) is a "substitute" wood.

 

I wouldn't worry. The back and side woods contribute little if anything to the tone of a guitar. It's the top woods, bracing, scale length, bridge plate, body shape, volume, soundhole size and a score of OTHER things that make up the sound of a guitar.

Back and side wood species makes very little difference.