Mahogany - less popular for Customs than Martins/Gibsons?
 

A bit curious. Mahogany is a huge hit for the likes of Martin and Gibson. For example, the Martin 15 and 18 series - and variants of them - are very popular.

But when it comes to custom guitars, I see far fewer Mahogany guitars being ordered in proportion.

If I am right, is it because Mahogany works better for the Martin 'tone' and less so for modern custom's tone? Or is it just that those who order custom instruments want exotic woods and mahogany just does not fit that purpose?

Love to hear your thoughts.

Not sure about that. Gruhn has 97 sinker mahogany customs in stock right now.

https://guitars.com/inventory?page=1...artin%20sinker

Mahogany and East Indian rosewood, Sitka too, all are perceived as being ‘standard’ woods and many people who commission a guitar will look
At the relatively small marginal cost to upgrade to ‘fancy’ woods.

I adore mahogany and think it’s good for all kinds of guitars. I’ve commissioned one with regular old mahogany and have two other custom built guitar with it, although aside from the one where the builder convinced me that I should just get the plain stuff, I generally fall victim to the lust for shiny things. This is why I usually wind up with customs wearing more gaudy woods.

Mahogany is just great though.

Those look like Martins to me. I think the OP was talking about other custom builders - small shops and individual luthiers. I would say, from hanging around this sub-forum, that various rosewoods are more popular than mahogany for custom builds - as well as less mainstream woods like koa, wenge, ziricote etc. - but it's good to remember that "The Tree" is actually Honduran Mahogany, and I don't think there is a more in-demand wood out there for custom builds.

I've commissioned a few luthier built guitars. The first was Brazilian Rosewood, the second was Cuban Mahogany, and the third was Pernambuco. I no longer have the BRW guitar.

If / when I commission another, it will most likely be a smaller body guitar with either Honduran Mahogany or Cuban Mahogany.

For me, Mahogany is a wonderful choice.

I am building a customer ordered Cuban mahogany guitar as we speak.

I suspect that people who are ordering fancy exotic wood guitars are sometimes more interested in showing them off than folks who are more about just having a great guitar. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it would account for the OP's observation.

I have no idea about the percentage
 

..but there certainly are those custom guitars with fiddleback or The Tree mahogany...

I suspect that you are right, that rosewood and other glassy exotic hardwoods are more common than mahogany guitars in terms of custom commissions.

That said, my best guess would be that all mahogany (using the term broadly to include H. Mahogany, C. Mahogany, Khaya, Sapele etc.) comprise of about 1/3 of custom guitars which is significant and likely is reflective of the overall market. My guess the general market is ~ 40% rosewoods, ~30% mahoganies, ~20% maples and ~10% koa.

Aside from typical quartersawn Honduran Mahogany that you find in factory guitars, you will see mahoganies with unusual figure used in custom commissions (e.g. “The Tree” quilted, fiddleback, bees wing, mottle, rope, broken rope etc.). For example here are two of my mahogany customs:

This is a 000 sized guitar by luthier Laurent Brondel. The back and sides are Honduran Mahogany with an unusual large block mottle figure imported to the US in the 1960s.

https://i1238.photobucket.com/albums...psy8hxexoc.png

This is a guitar that falls between an OM and a M sized guitar by luthier Nick Kukich (Franklin Guitar Co.). The back and sides are fiddleback Cuban Mahogany from a fallen tree in Hawaii.

https://i1238.photobucket.com/albums...psnnbj6qur.png

I don’t see what you’re seeing. I see quite a few mahogany guitars for custom orders . . . across the board. It’s very common for a reason. It’s amazing.

Thanks. Helpful to read all the observations. Keep 'em coming.

I recently picked up my first 2 Mahogany instruments ever and the tone has grown on me. In the past, I thought that more is better - more overtones, more sustain - everything. Mahogany seem to have less of these compared to some of the more reflective woods such as Braz - but they have a kind of simplicity in tone that can be more musical. But there's always resale value to consider as I don't get to keep most of my guitars . So if there's custom orders, there's always an eye towards resale value and it seems that Mahogany just does not fetch the kind of value that other woods do. That's just my impression.

But yes, I realize that the point of a custom is to order what one think that one will like most.

My guess would be not all guitar buyers are singers. I have found that instrumentalists enjoy the overtones that are more prevalent with Rosewoods where the fundamentals of Mahogany blend with a voice better IMHO.

Obviously, not always the case but I have found it to be true in mine. Bruce Sexauer (as he mentioned in his post) is building a Cuban Mahogany FT-0 for me right now. Can't wait to get it in my hands.