Need help identifying this wood - light/white mahogany?

[DCikes88]

Any help is appreciated. It's an old Meazzi project from the 70s, lying in the "attic" for the last 3-4 decades atleast. My old man says it's some kind of light mahogany.
Can anyone help identify it? And it's tonal properties if you have experience with this kind of wood? It's safe to assume it's similar to other "types of mahogany", I suppose, but any insight would help.

[ICTGoober]

Your pictures leave much to be desired.... But. it's probably khaya, aka African mahogany.

[DCikes88]

Your pictures leave much to be desired.... But. it's probably khaya, aka African mahogany.

Hope this helps...

https://ibb.co/album/TMtFGj

[GuitarDoc]

I don't see anything wrong/undesirable about your previous pics. They seem pretty good/clear. You've posted plenty for us to get a very good idea of what you've got. Thanks.

There are so many different colors to wood types esp. mahogany. I've made lots of guitars with mahogany that range from very light yellowish (even more yellow and lighter than yours) to very dark reddish brown. Most of them have a distinct iridescence when finished with gloss lacquer. Another very similar wood in just about every respect is Sapele, which I've also used alot and actually prefer over mahogany for a number of reasons.

It's near impossible to identify the exact type of mahogany (or Sapele) from just a photo, but it is safe to assume that this IS a type of mahogany.

While separate slabs of the same type of wood can share some basic tonal characteristics with its relatives, keep in mind that each piece will have its unique tone...even two slabs from the same tree. However, this is minor since the electronics (pickups, amplifier, speakers) and hardware are together responsible for about 75-95% of your guitar's tone with wood being responsible for only about 10-15%. The neck is probably responsible for 45-70% of the guitar's tone attributable to the wood. Typically, mahogany will have a warm, very full tone, especially when compared to maple. Your guitar has body and neck out of mahogany and a rosewood fretboard (which also is a warm sounding wood) so I'd suspect that it will have a very warm, full tone. Sometimes that can also mean that it won't have "snap" and definition/articulation and can be a bit bassy and even "muddy" sounding. This is the reason why many guitars (like typical Les Pauls) will have a maple cap on their mahogany bodies.

So, are you going to complete this project? Good luck. Let us know if you need/want any help along the way. Going with Strat single coil pups or humbuckers? Or better yet,
p-90s?

In any case, I would suggest that you start with some bright pickups.

[DCikes88]

I don't see anything wrong/undesirable about your previous pics. They seem pretty good/clear. You've posted plenty for us to get a very good idea of what you've got. Thanks.
.................
So, are you going to complete this project? Good luck. Let us know if you need/want any help along the way. Going with Strat single coil pups or humbuckers? Or better yet,
p-90s?

Thank you for a very detailed and informative reply, doc! You've been very helpful.
I hope to take this project on in the following year, time mostly (and cash to some extent) permitting. I have mutliple projects in the works already (cort p-bass rehaul to vintage spec, tele metal beast, and my first headless), so I'd like to finish those first before commiting to another one.
Anyway I always liked the p90 sound, hoping to plop two creamy soapbars in this one. Considering maybe p100s and/or p-rails also. I'll try to avoid classic single coils and humbuckers for this guitar.
I will definitely seek help along the way. There's a lot for me to learn, and this community feels like a top-tier resource!

[GuitarDoc]

Good choice for the soapbars. A couple vintage spec with A5 magnets would be super. Or even a ceramic in the bridge (I normally don't like the sound of ceramic magnets, especially in humbuckers, but I've run across a couple P-90s lately that sound amazing in the bridge). More about that later when you get to that point.

Hope all your projects turn out just how you want them to.

[DCikes88]

Tnx! I pray to the guitar gods for clarity of vision regarding those projects. If I know what I want, there's little to stop me from bringing it to fruition. IF I know what I want
And yes, I personally feel the same regarding ceramics, with very few exceptions.