Two Identical Guitars other than B/S, what do you hear?

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by Steadfastly

Perhaps, but I would like to hear Wade's response. No disrespect to you, Bob. I always like to get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. BTW, what does YMMV stand for?

Your Mileage May Vary = YMMV

[vindibona1]

Here's the quick answer... Mahogany will cause the overtones/harmonics to decay faster. Rosewood will preserve the sustain of them.

[TBman]

I can't decipher the differences between rosewood and mahagony. All of my hog guitars sound much different from each other. A straight comparison to rosewood doesn't seem reasonable.

[RobKay]

In a blind test no one can tell which one is which😁😂

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by RobKay

In a blind test no one can tell which one is which����

In playing a D-18 and a D-28, I could, but on other guitars unless a person knows them well, you are right. There are too many other variables that affect a guitar's tone.

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by Oldguy64

I’ll have to agree that no two guitars are the same.
I have two Alvarez cutaway dreads.
Both have solid Spruce tops and Rosewood back and sides.
One is all solid, one is laminate b/s.
They are both warm and extremely responsive.
But the laminate backed guitar is “Jane Mansfield” bold, beautiful, and downright “voluptuous” tone.
The all solid guitar is “Mariska Hargitay”. Same boldness, same beauty due to shared DNA, not quite as voluptuous in tone. Not at all hard on the ears.

My Sapele backed guitar, also a Dread, is more responsive in some ways.
I believe it is the better guitar for plugged in work, as it doesn’t do the crazy overtones that the others do. But if the Rosewood guitars are Jayne and Mariska, this one is “Heather Thomas”. Bolder, brasher, and a little more “in your face” tonewise.

But it’s also a different maker and that will account for a lot of the difference.

It is actually Jayne Mansfield.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled discussion of tone woods and their general tendency to sound a particular way.

Best,
Jayne

[bufflehead]

Rosewood b/s = more bell tone
Mahogany b/s = more wood tone

[lastingimage]

I equate the differentiating the difference in tone woods to the appreciation of fine wines. Personally, I cannot appreciate the difference between a $5 bottle of Bone’s Farm and a $150 bottle of fine wine. The reason is I don’t care to. If I did I am sure I could train my palette to discern the nuances and develop an appreciation. The same goes for tone woods. I have been playing guitar since 2nd grade. I am now 63 years old. I also have the benefit of being a fine woodworker with extensive experience with both rosewood and mahogany. I own 9 Martin guitars, all 000 size, which makes my evaluation pertinent to the op’s question.
I agree with many of the above opinions. I find mahogany to be woody, airy, more fundamental, and with a shorter sustain. Rosewood on the other hand is more piano like, more overtones, deeper bass, and a reverb like quality. The reason is simply physics. Rosewood is harder than mahogany and therefore reflects more of these sonic qualities whereas mahogany, being softer, absorbs some of these qualities to a minor extent (enough to make a sonic difference). It doesn’t make one better than the other, just different. Now I agree with what others have said about 2 guitars coming off a manufacturing line possibly sounding different, No 2 sound exactly alike. With that said when I walk into a guitar store and pick up an instrument I know what basic tonal qualities I am going to hear, based on tone wood, before the first strum. As I stated earlier both rosewood and mahogany have basic fundamental tone/qualities. In a well-built instrument, the difference is obvious to me.
I do agree with Wade’s analogy about the D-18. Dreadnaughts by nature are popular for their boomy, thumping bass. The mahogany in the D-18 tames it a little bit while the increased bass in the HD-28 might sound overwhelming to some. Half of my Martin 000’s are mahogany while the rest are rosewood. I love the sound of both, but they are clearly different or else I wouldn’t own so many. Interesting point I have wondered about…….. In the Martin standard series guitars only the 18’s come stock with mahogany back and sides. All of the higher end models, 21,28, and so on are rosewood. Martin clearly has preferences skewed towards rosewood in their highest end instruments. If I could only own I guitar it would be rosewood, but as I stated earlier it all comes down to taste. So is there a difference between the 2 hard woods, yes. Will everyone be able to hear it, not necessarily? Back to my wine analogy, you can train your sonic palette to be able to discern between the tone woods, but is it worth it to you to take the time to do so?

[SprintBob]

I agree in a blind test, it could be difficult to tell the difference but if you have both in your quiver, the differences become more profound as you get conditioned and used to their tone.

My Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR) has a more pronounced low end and much more wet/blended flavor than my Collings 0001A (adi/hog) which sounds “drier”. My Skye 00 (Adi/Cocobolo) falls in between but has a drier tone than my Froggy Bottom but not as much as my Collings. If you weren’t conditioned to them, it’s perhaps hard to hear these differences right away but after you live with all three for 1-2 years through different string changes, their personalities start to imprint on you.

My bigger bodied Taylor 714 and Robinson sloped shouldered dread with Koa and hog B/S’s respectively have low ends that project as well as my FB, but without the blended/wet quality I hear in the EIR.

I love the diversity.