Does Martin still use mahogany for necks?

[leeplaysblues]

Looking at the grain pattern on my HD28e I am fairly certain that the neck timber is mahogany.

The specifications say select hardwood, so I am not concerned if it is one of the other timbers often cited by Martin.

However, I am interested to know if Martin still source mahogany for their necks and if they do, at what price point/series do they start using this supply?

Does anyone have any reasonably credible information relating to this?

[John5]

Yes. They still use Mahogany. It might not be genuine Mahogany. However, it may be true Mahogany. Some other builders refer to true Mahogany as Sapele, however, that is it's untrue name. Be careful not to get it wrong though, as Sapele is not genuine Mahogany. You should be able to look up the definitions of "true" and "genuine" in a dictionary to better understand what those terms mean.

Source: Martin Guitars.

[warfrat73]

For the ones listed as "Select Hardwood" (standard series through 35 i think) it is usually Spanish Cedar these days. They do sometimes use mahogany if they happen to have enough available.

Higher level guitars (40 series, authentics, etc.) listed as "genuine mahogany" use mahogany... they're listed as such on the Martin website.

If you're looking for credible sources, you can google them as well as I can... but there are hundreds of threads about it between here and UMGF (ok, fine... maybe only dozens of threads).

[Birchtop]

I won’t be buying any more brand new Martin Standard series that don’t use genuine Mahogany for the necks from here on out. It took me 40+ years to get a brand new D-35 and am a little disappointed it doesn’t have a genuine Mahogany neck like the ones I first seen in high school. Same goes with my new 000-18. While both are excellent guitars, I will be buying older used models for the other Standard series Martins that I’m interested in that use genuine Mahogany for the neck, even though I’ll probably pay more for them than the newer equivalents with the “Select wood” necks. Not that they care, but that will be Martins loss, not mine.

[UncleJesse]

They did on my 2019 HD28

[DownUpDave]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

They did on my 2019 HD28

Wow that is very pretty. I love how the curl continues right up through the back of the headstock. Thanks for sharing............I sure love the looks of figured wood.

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by DownUpDave

Wow that is very pretty. I love how the curl continues right up through the back of the headstock. Thanks for sharing............I sure love the looks of figured wood.

Yes it’s really pretty and it surprised me when I got it and saw online most other people were not getting necks that looked that pretty.

[Parlorman]

"Genuine mahogany" is usually the term used to denote South American mahogany as opposed to woods called mahogany from other parts of the world.

Despite name, Spanish Cedar is also native to Central and South America. It’s a wonderful wood and strong wood for necks and was used in high end guitars (including Martin) up into the 1920’s. It’s still used on fine classical guitar necks today.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Birchtop

I won’t be buying any more brand new Martin Standard series that don’t use genuine Mahogany for the necks from here on out. It took me 40+ years to get a brand new D-35 and am a little disappointed it doesn’t have a genuine Mahogany neck like the ones I first seen in high school. Same goes with my new 000-18. While both are excellent guitars, I will be buying older used models for the other Standard series Martins that I’m interested in that use genuine Mahogany for the neck, even though I’ll probably pay more for them than the newer equivalents with the “Select wood” necks. Not that they care, but that will be Martins loss, not mine.

Hi Birchtop, Martin used to use Adirondack spruce, BRW backs and sides, and even, ivory for bridges and pins, and real tortoise shell.

Gibson made some high level archtops with maple necks, and birch (instead of fiddle maple) backs.

You know what has happened to Dalbergia Nigra, which you would not see on a new D35, and mahogany is going the same way. Why feel so bad about Spanish cedar - a long established material for necks?

If it has the same or similr tensile strength and mass as mahogany why does it matter?

[Dotneck]

Originally Posted by Birchtop

It took me 40+ years to get a brand new D-35 and am a little disappointed it doesn’t have a genuine Mahogany neck like the ones I first seen in high school.

Sadly, many things change in forty years...

[Scotso]

Originally Posted by Birchtop

I won’t be buying any more brand new Martin Standard series that don’t use genuine Mahogany for the necks from here on out. It took me 40+ years to get a brand new D-35 and am a little disappointed it doesn’t have a genuine Mahogany neck like the ones I first seen in high school. Same goes with my new 000-18. While both are excellent guitars, I will be buying older used models for the other Standard series Martins that I’m interested in that use genuine Mahogany for the neck, even though I’ll probably pay more for them than the newer equivalents with the “Select wood” necks. Not that they care, but that will be Martins loss, not mine.

OK but you will not be getting the forward shifted scalloped bracing of the newer Stds unless you scale up to used limited editions and extra $. It is always a give and take on specs. I think the new reimagined Stds are awesome despite the sometimes hog and sometimes spanish cedar necks.

[lowrider]

started a new thread with my question