Prostheta Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 I am about to make a 35mm thick bass with Sapele and have considered chambering however I think the weight issue is only really important for people who play upright regularly (I play upside down of course) and even then a wide soft strap does wonders. I'll do some thinking about the whole chambering thing when I post about my project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 How can it be tone deficient if wood doesn't affect tone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 It does, but not in the way most people are taught to think it does. I think Sapele is a fine wood as it is cheap and readily available. It makes finer instruments than those dropping out of the end of factories if chosen and worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 That's just semantics.wood choice affects tone in all stringed instruments and we all know it.i have been playing my sapelle V a lot lately and it sounds great.Like Mahogany but a bit more highs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 I like sapele a lot. The last board I had I sold to a guy I know who made an electric jagstang styled guitar out of it and it wasn't heavy at all I didn't think. I know taylor uses it for their acoustics but I think it's plywood that they use, at least my GS mini is 3 ply sapele/maple/ sapele. The stuff I have had is pretty light and it's around the same price as african mahogany where I get my wood, about $4.25-$5.00 a board foot. I know I can get a pallet of 100 BF or 8/4 african mahogany for around $500 and the sapele isn't to different from that. I don't really see how it would be a bad wood to use. I compared a sapele acoustic to a honduran mahogany acoustic back in the spring and they sounded pretty close to the same. I'm not sure how it is in factories though since there isn't much freedom in shaping the braces to make a better sounding acoustic, which may be the issue with the guitars Martin is building like what was said above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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