TONEWOODS FACT OR FICTION

TONEWOODS FACT OR FICTION

 

I found listening to the individual strings played open at the end the most useful. I was listening for the highs... the lows... and the resonant point in the mids.

The mahogany ...deeper lows and the mids resonated in the low mids
The maple ..........brighter highs and it was the upper mids that have the resonance.

Interesting because listen to a video of two Les Pails the pricey one had a maple cap over the mahogany where as the cheaper one was all mahogany and I noticed the same thing.
(Les Pails ... dumb typo but too funny to fix Ed.)

One thing harder to notice unless you play the guitars is that mahogany evens out the sound ...you have much fewer and less pronounced dead notes or hot notes. Especially if the neck is mahogany.

Even a maple fingerboard will give you some top end zing. It is subtle but noticeable.

As proven by a classic LP a bit of both sounds damn good!

I have 6 guitars with a variety of woods. They all sound great on the tunes I use them on.
If I only had one a classic LP is probably the most versatile.
My best sounding guitar at the moment is my reissued  '59 LP Special with the soapbar in the neck swapped out for a PAF. The neck and body are all mahogany.

The Guild Bluesbird is vaguely LP in shape and is also all mahogany...from 89 to the mid 90's.
The DeArmond Korean made guitar is virtually the same instrument. Grade A woods the whole deal.
Recently it has become collectible but it has hit the mainstream collectors yet so prices are less then $200.00 USD. I scooped one for $130.00 USD. The wood quality & workmanship are scary. Nineteen years old and the neck is as true as a level! The tone and long sustain are as good as a LP Custom I owned in '67.