Staining 00-15m

[fazool]

I admire and respect Martin more than almost any company. I am a manufacturing professional and I get involved in helping with company ownership changes a lot. Here is an interesting statistic:

Second generation owned companies only survives 30% of the time
Third generation only survive 13% of the time


I don't think they have a statistic beyond that. Martin is doing phenomenal things well.

I agree on everything you said in your post. I love Martin, the company, I dislike this one practice of theirs (well OK and charging for owner-club membership also). Other than that I love the company and respect them so very much. Certainly would not deter me from doing business with them.

And, most importantly (and to keep on track) changing the color of the top afterwards is foolhardy.

[runamuck]

As I understand it, there is only one true mahogany: swietenia mahogani.

In the hierarchy of classification, Meliaceae is the "Family" name and contains, within that family, many genus and species that are not mahogani or even swietenia, for that matter.

In other words, Sapele is not a mahogany any more than a Great Dane is a Pug.

Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Tracheophyta
Class Magnoliopsida
Order Sapindales
Family Meliaceae
Genus Swietenia
Specie Mahogani

Originally Posted by fazool

...What I mind (and resent) is that there is a striking aesthetic difference and some people (not all) do care, but when you buy one, they will send whatever they have and you don't get to choose...

I understand your point, but end users do not buy directly from Martin. Martin does business through a dealer network. The dealer/retailer gets the guitar from Martin, and their client (you, me, or the OP) chooses whether or not to purchase that particular guitar. If I didn't misunderstand, the OP bought the guitar sight unseen from a retailer. That's between him and the retailer, not Martin.

Originally Posted by runamuck

As I understand it, there is only one true mahogany: swietenia mahogani.

In "wood speak" true mahogany and genuine mahogany are different things. The wood industry calls anything in the broader mahogany family "true mahogany". They use "genuine mahogany" only for Swietenia genus. Swietenia macrophylla is the one traditionally used for instrument making and is also called Big Leaf or Honduran mahogany. Swietenia mahogani is commonly known as Cuban mahogany. It is available in limited quantities and is not used in large scale production for instrument making.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Todd Yates

I understand your point, but end users do not buy directly from Martin. Martin does business through a dealer network. The dealer/retailer gets the guitar from Martin, and their client (you, me, or the OP) chooses whether or not to purchase that particular guitar. If I didn't misunderstand, the OP bought the guitar sight unseen from a retailer. That's between him and the retailer, not Martin.
...

That's a strong point that I didn't realize and which changes my harsh opinion. I would have absolutely no heartburn if a manufacturer (Martin in this case) lists materials that may be used. I was thinking a customer would order direct from Martin and get a surprise wood choice.

Originally Posted by fazool

That's a strong point that I didn't realize and which changes my harsh opinion. I would have absolutely no heartburn if a manufacturer (Martin in this case) lists materials that may be used. I was thinking a customer would order direct from Martin and get a surprise wood choice.

I see your point even better, and if that's how it worked, I'd agree with your initial agitation even more.

Now what could happen is a dealer doesn't have the guitar in stock. You (the customer) order it from the dealer. This guitar is what comes in, but you don't like the look. Since the dealer ordered is special for you, are you just stuck with it? That's part of the peril of special orders. If you're buying an in stock item from a dealer, you have a chance to see it first.

If you're ordering a Custom Shop guitar, you can specify what wood you want. Of course, wood varies in grain, color, and so on, but at least you pick the grade and species. There's always some risk with a custom order.

[Reidclifford]

Basically what happened, is that I purchased a 000-15m without doing enough research. I later realized I'd probably prefer a 00-15m for my playing style. So i ordered one from a different location of the store, without knowing about all the wood controversy... Cause it's not widely known or advertised.

I waited over a week, and took a $180 hit on the restocking fee. It looked funny to me, but I just thought that's what they looked like in person (i havent seen too many mahogany martins in person)

Now I realize it is sipo/utile. Not the traditional mahogany I thought it was.

I shouldn't have to dig theough forums to see what my guitar is made out of.

I'm just gonna live with it, look into a refinish/stain one day.

[fazool]

You don't want to refinish/restain it - I think that would be silly.

You're better off returning/sellnig/exchanging it.

And just one last note - those stripes are sapele not sipo.

[Reidclifford]

Won't be returning it, cause I need an acoustic right now, and don't have time to sit around and wait for a local 00-15m that is pre 2015. So I'll just play it until I have the money for an old 00-17 like what I really wanted.

I do like it, just bummed on the circumstances, and trying to make the best of the situation. I'm usually not the guy who cares about how his guitar looks, so long as it plays and sounds good.

I actually hate white guitars, but I fell in love with a white 62 reissue hot rod strat, bought it, and later found a 69 reissue thinline tele... Loved it, bought it. Hate thay they're white... But they're my babies.

[Reidclifford]

And I suppose, as a lover of old mahogany martins (John frusciantes 0-15, tom waits 0-17, dallas greens 00-17, the girl from nashvilles little 00-17) the 00-15m is a good guitar to me to hone my acoustic craft on before I can afford what I really want. I did come from a yamaha acoustic single cut to this, so I could be doing worse

[CoolerKing]

I think they're awesome guitars no matter what they're made of.

[Reidclifford]

I guess it's ugly to me, cause I'm used to seeing that reddish, traditional mahogany with more subtle, or no striping. But to the naive eye, it's a pretty lovely guitar. I bring it to work with me when I go to my parents, and when I leave I have to open all my bags and show the contents (I work in retail) and I always open my guitar case. We all joke that I just do it to show my guitar off.

Anywho, I opened the case today, and everyone was commenting on how nice it was.

I also buffed out the satin finish, and that is an improvement. It's darkened it a bit, and the grain doesn't show so much contrast.

[Reidclifford]

It's also funny how when I originally purchased the 000-15m... I was worried about the nut width... Cause I am in fact a hardcore finger finger, but didn't realize the 000-15m came with a 1 11/16 which is less practical for finger pickers, and not a 1 3/4. So I considered returning it, and getting the 15sm instead. As an electric guitar player, we don't worry about nut widths. A les paul is a les paul, strats a strat, tele's a tele. I saw the guitar I liked, and I bought it, without realizing all these small variables related to them.

Now I've realized the nut width is no issue at all. You just adapt to whatever's in your hands.