kench Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Hello. I was wondering the tonal capabilities of the woods I am using for my first guitar project. I am building a Les Paul style guitar and here are the woods I am working with. Body: African Mahogany with Flame Maple top (17 mm thickness) Neck: African Mahogany Fingerboard: Ebony from StewMac. There are commonly two types of mahogany here in Turkey. Both from Africa and called as Sapele and Sipo. At first I bought a bone dry Sipo blank for the body but I realized that there were lots of cracks in it while working on it. So I bought some nice and very straight grained quartersawn Sapele blanks for both the body and the neck. I was wondering if they are any worse than the Honduran Mahogany? I tried to find the latin names of the woods I have got but I couldn't. Any of you guys know the tonal differences between Sapele, Sipo and the Honduran Mahogany? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTLguitars Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Hi, I'm also using african mahogany in my guitars, mostly because it is available here in Norway. The one I use is called Araputanga, but I think there are many local names on the same type of mahogany, so it may as well be equal to one of those you mention. Anyway the araputanga has good tonal qualities. As far as I know, the african mahogany is less dens about 10% to 20% (doesn't harm when building a LP) and also a little more brittle. That means a little less strength and a bit stiffer (less flexible). Regarding the tonality, I will say that it is a bit brighter. The only problem I can see, must be the strength in the neck-headstock region, but only against accidental damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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