School me on all-mahogany guitars

[Kayper]

Originally Posted by JGinNJ

I've never owned one, only tried one of the lower end Martin's. I'm partial to my spruce top Martin's (DC-16, D-35) but I'm curious about something different. I like a longer scale dreadnaught, preferably with a cutaway and electronics. I like a full, darker, tone, and I play jazz chord melody and Travis picking stuff.
At first glance a lot of the mahogany guitars seem to be basic, more beginner/intermediate. I have a bonus and a big-ger birthday coming up, so I can set my sights a little higher....

Do it. We had 3, down to 2 right now. Nice gutsy sound. Ages impressively and even in this dry winter, they sound great.
I have a solid hog top, lam hog back and sides Alvarez parlor, spouse has Cort solid top and back, lam sides folk size.
I had a 000-15s Martin, but it was uncomfortable for me. When the money is there I am going a 00 all solid.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by merlin666

So are any of these modern "hog" tops built with real mahogany, or are they mainly topped with substitutes such as khaya, sapele, sipo etc? If so, is there a difference in tone for the different varieties?

Martin all Mahogany guitars are all Mahogany as far as I know.
Sapele is in the Mahogany family, so is Sipo and so is Khaya.
They will all provide a darker warmer response in varying degrees and according to the builder.
Someone recommended a J45. That guitar has only a Mahagony back and sides but it sounds dark due to its construction.
Taylor makes some great sounding Mahogany/Sapele guitars.
All of these guitars have that "woody" sound. It's up to you and what appeals to your ears.

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Martin all Mahogany guitars are all Mahogany as far as I know. Sapele is in the Mahogany family, so is Sipo and so is Khaya.

Martin makes a distinction between "genuine mahogany" and "mahogany." The latter is often Sipo, which, to my ears, sounds awesome.

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Someone recommended a J45. That guitar has only a Mahagony back and sides but it sounds dark due to its construction.

It's also available in all-mahogany.

[Sonics]

Compared to spruce it's a radically different tone. Dull?...murky?..organic?...warm?..YMMV. However, this difference is even more apparent when you strum.

It's an 'alternative' and not for everyone.

I bought the Taylor, because it's brighter...no surprises there!

[crafter ga6]

I've never owned one, but have played a couple (I think). The first was a Martin (I think one of the performing artist range? probably all solid wood). I didn't like it as it was heavy and had a chunky neck with high action compared to my own guitar. The strings were a bit old and it had a very dull sound compared to my bright sounding Crafter.
The second one was a Vintage (I think laminate b/s) of a similar size to my Crafter. I was impressed with this - it wasn't as bright as my spruce top guitar, but still had plenty of punch, and it sounded good when strumming with fingers - on my spruce top Crafter this tends to sound a bit mushy.

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by merlin666

So are any of these modern "hog" tops built with real mahogany, or are they mainly topped with substitutes such as khaya, sapele, sipo etc? If so, is there a difference in tone for the different varieties?

Taylor's mahogany is just that, Swietenia macrophylla. From their least expensive offering to their most expensive offering, if they call it mahogany it is genuine mahogany. Their GS Mini hog top, for example has a solid mahogany top with layered sapele/poplar/sapele b&s.

Other makers are a mixed bag. Martin, on their 15 series, for example, offers "mahogany" (which might be sipo, khaya, Spanish cedar, real mahogany or, in the past, sapele) and "genuine mahogany" (Swietenia macrophylla) which is listed on their standard series such as the D-18.

Larrivee's website explains that they use khaya in their mahogany guitars.

From what I've read from others that have recently contacted Martin, it's pretty much all sipo (an African mahogany relative a.k.a. utile) that's been going into the "mahogany" Martins these days.

From the comments I have read, sipo is often considered the closest in tone to genuine mahogany out of all the other so called " mahoganies"
Sapele is often described as being a bit brighter with more treble response. I don't have an opinion derived from first hand experience as to the veracity of any claims of differences or similarities.

[Looburst]

I own two all hog guitars. One is a 1943 Gibson Banner LG2 and it has a somewhat richer tone than say a spruce topped hog b&s model of the same make.
Now my all hog 2011 Santa Cruz 1929 000 is a real sweetheart of a guitar! Richer tone yes but with some other nuances that make it a delight to play for any setup or situation. I guess what I'm trying to say is the mis are much more pronounced and lively.

[JSDenvir]

I’ve made a couple of all-mahogany OMs, and loved both of them.

They’re fabulous bluesy fingerpicking boxes, dry and articulate. But they are what they are.

They’re not overtone-rich and ringing out, but I’ve found that, built lightly, they can be a lot more responsive than most in the Martin 17 series.

I prefer them in the smaller sizes. I can’t justify it, just personal preference.

But if you can get your hands on one of the Santa Cruz 1929 series, you can get yourself one heck of a guitar.

For some, it’s an acquired taste, but I think they’re great.

Steve

[llew]

It's a different animal for sure. It seems you're either all in or all out. I've owned several of Martin's offerings from single 0, 000, to 12 fret dread. Still have the latter. I love 'em but not everyone does? Real nice for fingerpicking...