Mahogany vs Sapele vs Cocobolo real life stories

[biotechmgr]

Originally Posted by Jimpalereason

Can anyone give me the low down on the difference between Cocobolo, Mahogany, and sapele back and sides. This will be for a rockbridge SJ with Red Spruce top.



All the info out there seems to reference other woods or vague terms that are hard to translate in to a real world application. I would love to hear from folks who have experience with both and which applications they shine and which they don’t.



Play style is mostly strumming classic rock style with some single note lines when playing with a friend. Almost always with a pick.



Any advice is great appreciated.

Classic rock, I would yes to mahogany (my D16), no to sapele (my 314, too bright), and idk cocobolo.

[koko61]

Of my three guitars, the Martin is Sitka and Mahogany, the Eastman is Engelmann and Indian Rosewood, and the Loef is Alpine Spruce and Sapele.
Each one has a different tone, but if I had to keep only one I would keep the Sapele, it has a tone that is between mahogany and rosewood, but of course, it is also a dread and the others are OM. Each guitar is a world!

[Aspiring]

Like TBMan stated above build model and top probably make more difference.

I have a J45 style Avalon slope dread in mahogany / sitka, a Jumbo style Edwinson in Sapele / alpine spruce and a deep OM John Kinnaird Cocobolo / redwood.

The Avalon has some of that Irish thing going on and somewhat more overtones than Gibson j45s I've tried but somewhat less than the other two.

The Kinnaird is well balanced but does have a bit more overtones. The Edwinson is highly string dependent in how it responds but does have more sustain than the Avalon.

All three are great instruments. I could easily live with any of the three as my only guitar but it's nice to have the variety.

I also have an alpine / cocobolo Furch mini Jane and had the exact same guitar in cedar / mahogany. Between those two the coco definitely has more sustain and overtones.

[Jimpalereason]

Thanks so much everyone for the great responses. I have a lot to consider and will definitively be chatting with Brian at Rockbridge. I think I am leaning toward Cocobolo right now.

[Woodchoppersbal]

I have a D18 and a Eastman E1D that's Sapele. To me the Eastman had a tad bit darker sound than the D18 so I added some Bob Colosi bridge pins and it is now louder and a tad bit brighter and added just the right amount of flavor I was looking for. Kinda me back up D18. I have recorded them side by side comparisons and it sounds just as good as my 2019 D18. Well maybe 95 percent as good. IMHO

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by Jimpalereason

Thanks so much everyone for the great responses. I have a lot to consider and will definitively be chatting with Brian at Rockbridge. I think I am leaning toward Cocobolo right now.

IME with three ADI topped guitars that had B/S's of EIR, Mahogany, Cocobolo and one with a German Spruce top and B/S of Koa, I found that Cocobolo fits nice sonically between the dryer mahogany and wetter EIR endpoints. It probably sits closer to its cousin EIR than mahogany. Good Koa is very similar.

Visually, both woods can be stunning relative to EIR and mahogany so that can be another bonus.

Good luck!

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by Boozehound

I own one Cocobolo guitar, and have played a handful. I find Cocobolo to be loud, with a lot of overtone content and sustain. I prefer it for fingerstyle, but less so for strumming. On a strumming guitar I find Cocobolo can sound very impressive initially, but can deliver 'too much' sustain at times and sound a bit harsh and muddy.



If I was investing in a high dollar custom guitar I would personally choose Mahogany, but that's because it's my favorite tonewood, but your mileage may vary. I'd be careful with Cocobolo unless the builder really recommended it for my style of playing and my tonal preferences.

I agree with this assessment. I have a Wingert E - deep body grand concert in spruce/cocobolo and it projects a beautiful warm, lush tone that responds well to my light touch with flesh and a bit of nail. Great for finger style and light strumming. I have a Kramer Prairie Grass that is spruce/mahogany that is pretty versatile. I can strum it more aggressively than the Wingert, it has less overtones and more present midrange. Love both instruments and it does have quite a bit to do with the luthiers making the guitars.
I have less experience with sapele but have experienced it to be a bit on the brighter side.
Best,
Jayne

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by TBman

The one thing I have learned about tone woods is that the builder makes the largest difference.

I have 3 spruce/mahogany guitars, a Gibson J-45, a Larrivee OM-05 and a Martin D-16GT and they all sound very different.

That said, cocobolo looks really nice.

+1. Not only do those three guitars sound different, they all sound great. I also have the D-16GT and it has a great thump to it. I've been playing it a lot over the past few weeks.

[Shadowfox]

I've played a lot of Sapele guitars from Taylor, and they sound very similar to Hog to me, certainly within the same vein of tone.

My best friend has a Furch Dread with Sitka/Hog and it is light and just a killer acoustic. It is dry, but warm and projecting, with not a lot of reverb sustained from the harmonics, but it does sustain a while.

My own guitar is a Furch GA Alpine/Cocobolo. It sustains really well, and is very harmonically rich, almost like built-in reverb. It is heavier, probably double the weight of my friend's Dread. It's a rosewood, so expect rosewood harmonics. I find it to have clearer bass and less distortion than EIR. It pairs very well with the Alpine top as well.