#31
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I have a LA Guitar Sales custom Martin 00-15 from 6-7 yrs ago, all Honduran Mahogany that most folks who play it say, it's magical.
One of those friends wanted me to order him the same model from LA Guitar Sales. He's had it for a month now, it's the same model but all Sapele,... out of the case it blew mine away in volume and clarity. So in my experience, Sapele is not inferior to Mahogany. |
#32
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Inferior? Not at all. Cheaper? Yes. Cheaper woods tend to be used more on cheaper instruments (duh).
It's like saying apples are inferior to oranges (they grow them here in the NE, so they are cheaper.
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The Bard Rocks Fay OM Sinker Redwood/Tiger Myrtle Sexauer L00 Adk/Magnolia For Sale Hatcher Jumbo Bearclaw/"Bacon" Padauk Goodall Jumbo POC/flamed Mahogany Appollonio 12 POC/Myrtle MJ Franks Resonator, all Australian Blackwood Blackbird "Lucky 13" - carbon fiber '31 National Duolian + many other stringed instruments. |
#33
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LOL. How to start a three-page* thread with a three-sentence OP.
* And counting.
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stai scherzando? |
#34
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This strikes me as unlikely. The -15 series is made in the US, and Martin is using Sipo on their US instruments (below standard series), or Khaya.
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Larrivee OM-03RE; O-01 Martin D-35; Guild F-212; Tacoma Roadking Breedlove American Series C20/SR Rainsong SFTA-FLE; WS3000; CH-PA Taylor GA3-12, Guild F-212 https://markhorning.bandcamp.com/music |
#35
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I don't consider it inferior at all and often the wood grain looks far nicer.
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Phil Playing guitar badly since 1964. Some Taylor guitars. Three Kala ukuleles (one on tour with the Box Tops). A 1937 A-style mandolin. |
#36
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...........and this is Spot On
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#37
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Clearly Sapelle can look and sound amazing, but I just don't like the striped appearance that one often sees. It's likely that the OP got the idea that it's inferior because it is often (but not always) used on less expensive guitars; but more cost effective does not equate to inferior...
Last edited by RP; 11-20-2021 at 07:06 AM. |
#38
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Quote:
I have been an admirer of that beauty since first seeing it on Bill's site ... so you're the guy that stole her away ... BTW and more on topic, I have the plain old "striped" variety of Sapele on my 314, and even that displays some beautiful chatoyance when turned in the light ... but more importantly, the guitar sounds very nice. Doesn't look or sound 'low end' to me at all ... ~ Paul
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` “Success is falling down nine times and getting up ten.” Last edited by Ludere; 01-25-2020 at 05:11 AM. |
#39
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My 2010 Taylor 114e has Sapele back and sides. I've compared it to the newer 114's with Walnut B/S and like the Sapele sound much better. I have no bias either, just because mine is Sapele. If I liked the walnut better, I would gladly admit it.
Granted, it is not a direct comparison to a hog guitar, but I believe it would depend on the individual guitars, themselves. The same is probably true of my comparison to the walnut 114's stated above, but I have A/B'd several examples and the Sapele won every time...At least that's what my ears told me. YMMV. |
#40
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have it you way.
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#41
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Yes. He forced me.
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#42
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When discussing the factory builders they need to create product segmentation (marketing). Price is not necessarily the driving factor. Personally I prefer figured sapele to figured mahogany. My preference is asthetic and not tonal. They are so close tonally in my experience.
https://sixstringacoustic.com/sapele...hich-is-better
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2019 Taylor Summer Ltd. GA Redwood/ Ovangkol |
#43
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Martin, Taylor, and Eastman, just for openers.....
Don |
#44
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Also Dowina from Slovakia (which is a maker I had not heard of until recently and seems of interest for me from word of mouth, and Furch being from same region) Sapele their lowest priced all solid model. And others as you say.
Last edited by fregly; 01-25-2020 at 02:44 PM. |
#45
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Quote:
There was a time, by both of your standards, when Mahogany was the "starter tonewood." For decades, Martin's less expensive guitars were mahogany. Then the supply of Mahogany began to dwindle, the cost increased, and Martin had to seek alternatives that they had never used before. That doesn't mean that those alternatives were inferior. It was simply a direction in which necessity forced them. At some point in the future, if the supply of Sapele starts running out, it will be spoken of in the same way as Mahogany is today.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |