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  #1  
Old 11-20-2019, 06:44 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Default Is this South American or African mahogany?

I've been looking at examples of different woods online, and I just can't conclude what type of mahogany was used on my 000-15SM

What do you think? Is this South American, African or some other type of mahogany? FWIW, it doesn't really matter, it sounds great no matter what it is, I'm just curious.

These are all images of the same guitar:











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  #2  
Old 11-20-2019, 06:52 AM
Arthur Slowhand Arthur Slowhand is offline
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The obvious thing to do is to send an email to Martin with the serial number. They don't bite.
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Old 11-20-2019, 08:42 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthur Slowhand View Post
The obvious thing to do is to send an email to Martin with the serial number. They don't bite.
Yes, I was considering that. I was just hesitant to bother them with trivial poop.
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Old 11-20-2019, 08:51 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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I would guess genuine Mahogany, but if it's not, it is still a beautiful set of wood to make a guitar out of.
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Old 11-20-2019, 08:52 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
I would guess genuine Mahogany, but if it's not, it is still a beautiful set of wood to make a guitar out of.
Indeed, no matter the answer, it's a fine-looking instrument.
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Old 11-20-2019, 09:06 AM
gr81dorn gr81dorn is offline
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What year is it? There are lots of debates about what Martin has been using and calling "mahogany". I've known them to use a few things in the all mahogany guitars, not often is it actually Genuine Mahogany, but it I think the variants - typically sapele, khaya, sipo - can all look incredible and sound outstanding. I appreciate that your curiosity stems from curiosity and not some need to feel important for having a certain species ;-) . The worst-sounding guitar I've ever had was genuine mahogany and some of the best have been sapele. There is good and bad boards in ever species.
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Old 11-20-2019, 09:20 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gr81dorn View Post
What year is it? There are lots of debates about what Martin has been using and calling "mahogany".
I purchased it new on May 1st, 2019. You're right, the details on the wood species used have been pretty vague in recent years.

Quote:
I appreciate that your curiosity stems from curiosity and not some need to feel important for having a certain species ;-) .
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Old 11-20-2019, 09:21 AM
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OK, an email has just been sent to Martin customer service...

I'll post their response!
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  #9  
Old 11-20-2019, 09:24 AM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beatcomber View Post
OK, an email has just been sent to Martin customer service...

I'll post their response!
I look forward to hearing about what you find out from Martin. I am not a person that can usually tell much about different species of wood by looking at a photo so I wasn't even going to hazard a guess. Nice guitar no matter which but I also like to know these things out of my own curiosity.

Best,
Jayne
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  #10  
Old 11-20-2019, 09:28 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymarsch View Post
I look forward to hearing about what you find out from Martin. I am not a person that can usually tell much about different species of wood by looking at a photo so I wasn't even going to hazard a guess. Nice guitar no matter which but I also like to know these things out of my own curiosity.

Best,
Jayne
Thanks, Jayne. I tried doing a visual ID based on web images, but it's not easy without having an experienced eye. It's not as striped as some African hog I've seen, but the grain is not as tight as some South American hog I've seen.

I'm gonna hazard a guess that it's sipo, but we'll see what Martin says!
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  #11  
Old 11-20-2019, 09:28 AM
emtsteve emtsteve is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beatcomber View Post
I've been looking at examples of different woods online, and I just can't conclude what type of mahogany was used on my 000-15SM

What do you think? Is this South American, African or some other type of mahogany? FWIW, it doesn't really matter, it sounds great no matter what it is, I'm just curious.

These are all images of the same guitar:

I'm going to vote genuine S. American Mahogany. Doesn't have the characteristic striping of Sapele or Sipo.

BTW, I have one of these too and am curious about buffing the finish. My only complaint with mine (it sounds and plays GREAT) is the satin finish and the swooshing sound of my arm and sleeves. I'd really like to buff it to a smoother, soft sheen. Are you doing that and is that the product you used?
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Old 11-20-2019, 09:34 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emtsteve View Post
BTW, I have one of these too and am curious about buffing the finish. My only complaint with mine (it sounds and plays GREAT) is the satin finish and the swooshing sound of my arm and sleeves. I'd really like to buff it to a smoother, soft sheen. Are you doing that and is that the product you used?
That is exactly what I did.

If you decide to try it, be advised that it's extremely difficult to get an even finish, and it's possible to over-do it and expose the wood. Be careful!
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  #13  
Old 11-20-2019, 09:35 AM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Non-answer from Martin:

That is a great question but it is one that is hard to answer. We source our wood from all over the world (as you know), but when it goes out on the floor it gets mixed in with other wood that was sourced from other areas. We don’t have the capability to say where it came from. I am really happy to hear how much you are enjoying your guitar. Take care and thank you for reaching out to us.

Thank you,
Jason

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  #14  
Old 11-20-2019, 09:42 AM
yaharadelta yaharadelta is offline
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When I was looking into Martin's 00-15e Retro, I came across a bit of information from One Man's Guitar online review. He stated that since 2014 Martin has been using Sipo an African Mahogany in their 15M series guitars.
http://onemanz.com/guitar/reviews/ac.../00-15e-retro/

South American Mahogany is becoming scarce, Sipo is of the same botanical family as the South American Mahogany. The review says that Martin's Wood Buyer has said that of all of the cousins of Mahogany, Sipo has the most similar tonal qualities to South American. The discontinued 00-15e Retro is by the way a very nice guitar.
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  #15  
Old 11-20-2019, 09:45 AM
davidd davidd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beatcomber View Post
Non-answer from Martin:

That is a great question but it is one that is hard to answer. We source our wood from all over the world (as you know), but when it goes out on the floor it gets mixed in with other wood that was sourced from other areas. We don’t have the capability to say where it came from. I am really happy to hear how much you are enjoying your guitar. Take care and thank you for reaching out to us.

Thank you,
Jason

That's not a good thing to hear from Martin. Just mixing up different species of wood randomly? Yikes!
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