I have a full hogger as well as a sapele and I just comparred them.. here is how it sounds to me... The Hogger has +10 on bass settings, The Sapele has it on +6.5/7. The Hogger has + 7 on the Mids, The Sapele is on +8.5. The Hogger has +6.5 on the highs and the Sapele is on +8. Thats how my ears hear them. :D

However, if you were to compare n mahogany guitar with another mahogany guitar, you might end up with the same scoring as above.

I agree.. it really is true that EVERY guitar is different. :D

I like mahogany and sapele. You can't usually find mahogany that looks like this:

http://www.guitarmatch.com/images/rkb14/rkb14e.jpg

but then again, you can't find the sapele that looks like that anymore.

Wow the back on that is like a wild animal!

Sapele has a fantastic tone, though I have mixed feelings on it's appearance on the lower end models. On my GSmini for instance I love the wood on the sides of the guitar and the neck, and it has a deep rich colour, but I'm less keen on the uniform stripes on the back. Most sapele backs seem to come looking like this, though some of Taylor's 3 series are a bit more individual.

Here is my Sapele story. I went into Best Buy looking for a gig guitar, I did not care how it looked only how it sounded unplugged and plugged in. I know BestyBuy sounds like a weird place to get a guitar but my local best buy has an incredible guitar room and selection. I played everything from the Taylor 914's down to the 214 and all the high end Martins and Gibsons as well. Based on sound alone, I walked out with the Taylor 314ce. I know sound is subjective but this guitar has a very crisp and balanced sound that I was looking for. I actually even prefer the look of the Sapele to the Mahagony because of the more distinguished grain patterns.

That at least was my experience.

Then there is Khaya Mahoganny - a tonewood that Jean Larrivee has used with great results.


Latin name: Khaya ivorensis
Other names: African mahogany (english); Khaya (USA); Acajou afrique (french); Mogano africano (italian), acajou, akuk, bandoro, bisselon, eri kiree, ogwango, undianunu, n’gollon, zaminguila.

http://www.wildwoodmusic.com/wp-cont...humbs/1265.jpg
http://www.wildwoodmusic.com/wp-cont...humbs/1268.jpg

Khaya is the only African wood said to be a mahogany

Acajou... is the French word for anything that looks like mahogany and yes it is used for mahogany.. but as in the US ..Acajou "implies" mahogany, just as mahogany "implies" mahogany

The word Acajou has an interesting history.. again derived from wood and tree hunters from Europe to foreign lands....

origin of the word? a renaming of a native Brazilain tree
later transported to India.... not rosewood

I suspect part of why folks tend to like the appearance of mahogany better than sapele is that sapele is used mostly on less expensive guitars on which less effort and expense is devoted to making them look nice.

Sapele is neither cheap or inferior when the Greenfield logo is on the headstock (believe me)!

Cheers
Vic

I have a 1996 412 made from "African mahogany" -khaya. It is a great sounding great looking little guitar with a Sitka top and satin finish. Everyone who plays it loves it.

Is your 412 specifically Khaya or african mahogany ?
Nowhere in the literature did it say "kahya" it said "mahogany" not american mahognay of african mahogany but mahogany...

And according to sources before the 4 series was changed to the railroad tie wood ovangkol) it was sapele.. not mahogany.

The 1996 catalog lists my guitar as African mahogany. I e-mailed Taylor and asked them if my guitar was in fact African mahogany or sapele. They replied that my 1996 412 was in fact African mahogany not sapele. Khaya is called African mahogany so that is what I'm going with. What ever it is, it looks pretty and sounds nice. :D

Taylor is hedging. They did not specifically say "khaya" they said African mahogany.

Which says nothing about the quality of the guitar. Glad you enjoy it.

I consider all three woods (Honduran, khaya, sapele) as roughly equivalent as far as sound goes.

There are lots of reasons that Honduran mahogany is a favorite, and many of them have nothing to do with sound. Mahogany is very workable, finishes beautifully, and is one of the most stable woods there is.

Although sapele is denser than Honduran on average, khaya is not. Khaya is less workable than the other two, mainly because it tends to 'fuzz up' from machining or coarse sanding. However, this 'fuzzing' usually is eliminated by the time the finest sanding is done prior to finishing.

The main distinction I make is because of the deep interlocked grain of sapele and khaya. This is the source of the ribbon stripe on quartered surfaces. Honduran mahogany can also have a ribbon stripe, but it is generally less severe, and it is usually the least prominent in the wood sourced from Central America....as opposed to wood from closer to the equator (Amazon, primarily).
Severe ribbon stripe can also have an adverse effect on stability. That is one reason that khaya is considered a less stable wood than Honduran.

In the good old days, Martin preferred mahogany with a minimum of ribbon stripe, because it had less manufacturing problems like warping of the bent sides and complications from carving necks.