Official Luthiers Forum!

Oh man, that's amazing stuff!

Hesh, that is gorgeous zoot my friend!!! That could almost pass for mahog from 'the tree'.   I'm sure you will do it justice!

Any plans/thoughts for it? Let me guess, Adi top?

String her up already! (crack the whip!)

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

That looks more like Sapele to me...?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Hesh, you have a serious case "Zootalaria Cantstop buyingus morus"

Highly contagious I hear!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Isn't Sapele mahogany?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

[QUOTE=L. Presnall] Isn't Sapele mahogany? [/QUOTE]

Mahogany isn't even Mahogany!!

[QUOTE=L. Presnall] Isn't Sapele mahogany? [/QUOTE]
Nope, in spite of what many vendors claim. Different species. Harder and heavier.

I am really happy you like the set.

Khaya and Sapele are often refered to as "African Mahogany". Of course neither of which are actually Mahogany. I really like to use Sapele for necks. I used a set from the same billet that set was cut from for my last project and it was great to work with.

Peace,Rich

Sapele has gained a very wide acceptance in the market, partly because of the amazing quilted stuff that came into the country over a year ago, but partly because Taylor and others have been using it as a substitute for Mahogany. As it turns out, it's a great tonewood, much like mahogany but leaning a little toward the rosewood side of things due to it's density and hardness.
Khaya is very nice too. I've been cutting some lately (the quilty stuff I showed a picture of recently) and it seems like a very nice tonewood also.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Don, you pretty much nailed it. I choose to use Sapele for necks over others because of it's properties. I really like Khaya for its lighter weight (great solid body wood). Honestly, forget about the association with Mahogany and they are great tonewoods on their own merits. The great thing about these woods is availability of great quality pieces. Not to mention the very reasonable price.

Peace,Rich

Hesh, like Al said, put strings on it and sing us a Dylan or Neil Young's song will ya?

Very nice wood, you suffer from checkibookitaaalluseda! Pretty serious contamination. i might try to separate you from that wood, it would really help you out!

Oooh, that's pretty, Hesh.

Hurry up and build something with it.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Thats nice stuff man.

Rich, that's exactly right. We all get hung up on the "original use" species like BRW, Cuban Mahogany, Honduran Mahogany, and even Koa. So hung up, that we psychologically block out the merits of other tonewoods that are great all on their own. And we make the mistake of comparing these woods to those "originals" and calling them "substitutes for...", which is somewhat unfair.
It reminds me of the whole Black Acacia thing with Koa. All you have to do is give it that "substitute" label, and people automatically think it's not as good, and they are somehow settling for second best. Often that couldn't be further from the truth. Certainly Black Acacia can be every bit as beautiful as Koa, and tonally it equal or better.
So much of this game is based on individual perception....

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Gotta get me some of that!

[QUOTE=Brad Goodman] [QUOTE=L. Presnall] Isn't Sapele mahogany? [/QUOTE]

Mahogany isn't even Mahogany!![/QUOTE]

There are 600+ species in 60 genera in the family Meliaceae, all of which can justifiably be called 'Mahogany'.

The ones that we usually call mahogany are from just one of these genera from the New World, Swietenia; S.mahogani (Cuban), S.macrophylla (Honduran), S.microphylla (small leaf).

In Africa there are 17 species in 2 genera that can also be called mahogany (as members of the Meliaceae family). These two Genera are Khaya and Entandrophragma.

The Sapele we use is Entandrophragma cylindricum, while the Khaya we use is from a number of species mainly K.ivorensis, and K. anthotheca, though a heavier species K.senegalensis is a wood I'm currently trying to track down.

So, all of them can be equally be called 'Mahogany' though for the sake of clarity maybe we should use the terms South American mahogany or African mahogany.

I have long been a believer that all wood should be sold with its taxonomic name.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Well, ya learn something new every day! (Well, not me...but most folks do!! )...I'd always heard that Sapele was African Mahogany, but no matter how you slice it ( ) it sounds GREAT! Hurry up and bend that stuff Hesh, and let's SEE it!! Colin, dude, did you major in Forest Rangerment or something? Til I got into guitars all I knew was "pine tree, oak tree, christmas tree"....

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Whatever you want to call it, that's some sweet looking zoot! Go Hesh!Dave Rector38917.4451736111

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

[QUOTE=Colin S]
I have long been a believer that all wood should be sold with its taxonomic name.

Colin[/QUOTE]

Oh, man... Latin was never my best subject. Although I do understand how it could add more clarity to what we are buying/using. I just don't think I could get my head wrapped around the thousands of different variations of trees out there.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Beautiful wood there Hesh.

Don, Taylor has now switched from Sapele to African on their 300 series. They are still using the real mahogany on their 500 series instruments. Which may have changed now by the time we look again.

Of course, Bob can build great guitars with pallets....

Thanks Colin

That is very informative, how do you know all this stuff ? It's Amazing

[QUOTE=Colin S] The Sapele we use is Entandrophragma cylindricum[/QUOTE]
I've read that the striped sapele is a different species from the highly figured stuff. Not true?

Whew, 600 species of mahogany? I suppose they're all endangered, too.

Since i see that you are the reference man on taxonomic names around here... ahem... have you ever heard of anyone building a guitar out of a ginko biloba tree please?

Thanks

Serge