Mahogany or rosewood?

[sgrocker77]

Mahogany or rosewood?

 

What is the difference soundwise?

 

Which is more highly regarded?

 

And which is more rugged?

 

I am looking for a new acoustic electric under 1000 and mahogany is usually cheaper i was wondering if it is worth it to get rosewood or what?

 

So any opinion is appreciated

[Prozak]

Soundwise. Some major differences are that Rosewood has more bass, and it has more overtones/complexity.

I think Rosewood is more highly regarded, not sure though.

What tonewood you get should depend on what you like really. Don't fall under the trap that Rosewood is better because it's more expensive, because it's not inherently better, just different. With Mahogany, if you get a C, you'll hear a C and just that, with Rosewood you'll hear more overtones. Personally, I think lately I've been leaning towards likeing mahogany more, but that might be because I just got a guitar with mahogany.

One might be better for certain style of play, but I'm not sure. Tell us what you plan to play and maybe someone else will stop by and give you more information to help you out.

[min7b5]

Apples and oranges

Rose wood is more well regarded, though I believe part of that is because of mahogany

[Jessie Mathews]

I know for sure that mahogany is great for fingerpicking its clear and very "simple" you get what you play its the best for most of styles but i think best for the blues, rosewood is much more harmonic and completly different then mahogany i too will go for mahogany.

[joestierman]

I noticed that the bass is much more full and responsive in rosewood. Mohogony has a tendency to have tender, clean highs but they seem to the wood overall seems less responsive. I think rosewood is the more dynamic wood. I've also read that it is heavier (in density). They are both great though.

[EvilTwin]

Pretty good explanation, imo from the Bourgeois guitar site:

"Brazilian and Indian rosewood have an extremely high velocity of sound and a broad range of overtones. The rosewoods, as well as their various rain forest cousins-cocobolo, kingwood, morado, and the like-have strongly pronounced low overtones, usually the lowest resonating frequencies in the entire guitar. These lows help to create a complex bottom end and to impart an overall darkness of tone to the instrument. Strong mids and highs serve to reinforce overtones generated by the top, contributing to a fatness of tone on the upper registers. Guitars made of rosewood also have a pronounced "reverby" tone, caused by a strong, clear set of sympathetic harmonics with a delayed onset and slow decay.

I

[mj3]

I love the punch of mahogany for single note lines and certain finger picking styles-- but it's a harder sound than rosewood, and since it isn't as sonically broad and harmonically rich as rosewood, it tends to stand alone in a mix, particularly in a recording, and benefits from the added textures of other instruments. One of the reasons it's used in guitars used in bluegrass music. Rather staccato. Think Beatles or early Joni Mitchell. Intimate sounding.

Rosewood is very full-- almost orchestral-- and it blends nicely in a mix, almost like a wash-- fluid.