Honduran Mahogany

[594life]

Any idea if anyone can get some old Honduran Mahogony? I've read that this stuff is long gone. Any idea? Is there another wood comparable to that old stuff Gibson used back in the day?

[verhoevenc]

I've seen tons of stock in the past like 2-3 days from this one guy being sold in like 10-12 blank batches going for dirt cheap. Some quartered, some rift sawn. Some big enough for one piece, some need to be used in laminate necks. It's got the word lutheir in the auction name... if there's any still going, so go search eBay

Chris

[erikbojerik]

I know exactly what you are looking for. There is a guy on the Les Paul forum who claims to have been a Gibson employee back in the day, and claims to have a stash of old 50s Honduran. He frequents the vintage section, you might try posting there. I don't remember his handle.

That said, your best bet in modern lumber for 1 piece bodies is probably Brazilian mahogany. There is still some genuine Honduran around, but as it is now on the CITES list, its price has gone up, and will continue to do so. And it is not as light as the old growth stuff.

[SoundAt11]

Your best chance of finding it is in small town lumber stores that may have a couple of dusty old Mahogany boards laying around.

I ran across a few short boards of the good stuff last week that have been drying for at least a year after the initial kiln drying.....and bought them up:) These had been sitting there since last year, because I'd passed on these narrower boards to buy the big 16" wide board sitting behind them. So if these 3 boards still remained a year later, you can see how small the market is for Mahogany locally.

One of my pro clients is interested in them, but if he changes his mind or I have anything left, I may post it here.

Last November, I had some perfect 16 x 24 x 1.75 1pc Honduran Mahogany that I wish I still had, you can't find that stuff anymore, most of the stuff coming out Honduras now is really poor quality for what it's graded as (in my experience), all fuzzy, knotty, and full of holes, and that's from one of the US's biggest dealers at the higher grades, yuck!

Otherwise, there's plenty of good African Mahogany out there, much of it weighes less and is as resonant or more resonant and cost less/easier to find, it just rarely looks the same as that beautiful rust orange color that we all associate with the old Mahogany.

[TimS]

I got two 21"x1.75" honduran boards, one 4" wide, the other 5.75", on ebay for $15.