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Ibanez wood fraud

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  • #16
    Re: Ibanez wood fraud

    Originally posted by GuitarStv View Post
    (FWIW - the brightest guitar I own has a mahogany body. With musical instruments the type of wood doesn't matter anywhere near as much as the individual piece of wood you get . . . and there's a lot of variation.)
    Agreed 100%. My Les Paul is actually a little brighter than my Warmoth (alder body, maple/maple neck) Strat. The Super Distortion is the perfect pickup for that Les Paul.

    That bass could be Luan, also known as Asian Mahogany. The green could be a dye/sealant in the wood and not the natural color. Either way, if it sounds good, rock on.
    Last edited by ErikH; 05-19-2020, 01:59 PM.

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    • #17
      Re: Ibanez wood fraud

      That bass could be Luan, also known as Asian Mahogany.
      Luaun - Philippine Mahogany.
      Had to correct you.

      I have built with it, but it's not as strong as true mahogany. It splinters easily, breaks more easily, and frankly - it smells funny when I sand it. That said, there are millions of Asian guitars built out of the stuff. Unfortunately, most was plywood.
      aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever

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      • #18
        Re: Ibanez wood fraud

        "Mahogany," stated like that, can be any one of many, many different species of trees, and they don't all have identical properties, or even the same genus – not to mention that many woods are informally called mahogany in common parlance. It's a rather generic and loosely applied term these days.

        "Honduran mahogany" is the only widely commercially used lumber these days that is actually from the genus Swietenia – the classic guitar wood. Nobody would bother to specifically source it these days without boasting about the "Honduran" part in their specs.

        Notice that some time in the aughts, Gibson stopped specifying "Honduran" when referring to mahogany in their standard production line guitars (Historics might have kept using it; I don't know).

        A guitar maker can specify "mahogany," and without being fraudulent, probably give you a wood anywhere from heavy to lightweight, dark to light colored, heavily figured to totally plain. Why do you think they are so vague in the first place? It's to give themselves lots of leeway with sourcing their materials.
        Last edited by ItsaBass; 05-22-2020, 06:10 PM.
        Originally posted by LesStrat
        Yogi Berra was correct.
        Originally posted by JOLLY
        I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

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        • #19
          Re: Ibanez wood fraud

          Originally posted by ICTGoober View Post
          Luaun - Philippine Mahogany.
          Had to correct you.

          I have built with it, but it's not as strong as true mahogany. It splinters easily, breaks more easily, and frankly - it smells funny when I sand it. That said, there are millions of Asian guitars built out of the stuff. Unfortunately, most was plywood.
          Thank you. I had a Epi Les Paul Standard that was made from it that sounded really good. It was a solid guitar. No complaints.

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          • #20
            Re: Ibanez wood fraud

            Notice that some time in the aughts, Gibson stopped specifying "Honduran" when referring to mahogany in their standard production line guitars
            That's because Gibson now sources what is referred to as African Mahogany, but is actually Khaya. Epiphone uses a lot of Sapele, sometimes referred to as Striped Mahogany.

            And, though a lot of people don't know it - there are some domestic mahogany trees in the Southern United States. Honduras is the most treasured. I have some that's almost 30 years old waiting for the right person to pony up. It's big enough to make a one piece LP.
            aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever

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            • #21
              Re: Ibanez wood fraud

              Originally posted by ICTGoober View Post
              That's because Gibson now sources what is referred to as African Mahogany, but is actually Khaya. Epiphone uses a lot of Sapele, sometimes referred to as Striped Mahogany.

              And, though a lot of people don't know it - there are some domestic mahogany trees in the Southern United States. Honduras is the most treasured. I have some that's almost 30 years old waiting for the right person to pony up. It's big enough to make a one piece LP.
              Yes, my point exactly. Gibson stopped using classic Honduran.

              I purchased six big Honduran mahogany blanks that I special ordered from the local exotic hardwoods store back around 2000, when I was home on leave one time. Les Paul thickness, big enough to make a P Bass or anything smaller. Been naturally aging on stickers in Southern California since. I had one turned into a vintage-accurate single-piece Tele by my friend who worked in the Fender Custom Shop at the time. Still have five left. I paid $300 for the six of them 20 years ago. I have seen similar blanks sell for $400 each on E-Bay. I think that person who paid $400 was smoking crack, but it kept me from doing much with them over the years. If I have $1,500–$2,000 worth of wood sitting here, I would sure as hell rather have the money than the wood. I don't believe in any particular magical tonal qualities of certain wood for electric guitars. I choose woods based on looks, weight, and tradition.
              Last edited by ItsaBass; 05-21-2020, 06:09 PM.
              Originally posted by LesStrat
              Yogi Berra was correct.
              Originally posted by JOLLY
              I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

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              • #22
                Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                Yes, the wood industry (probably like the fish industry) is full of general names that get applied to all kinds of things. Add some unscrupulous dealers, and someone with a good marketing degree, then anything sounds good. Gibson used balsa as the center block of many 90s-era semihollows.
                Administrator of the SDUGF

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                • #23
                  Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                  Gibson used balsa as the center block of many 90s-era semihollows.
                  Which, as it turns out - isn't so bad. Billy Gibbons has a guitar made of balsa, it looks like a big jazz box. I think Dean built it?
                  aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever

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                  • #24
                    Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                    Originally posted by WDeeGee View Post
                    PS: Please let's all stay on topic: Ibanez lying about their specs.

                    Please cease the tonewood debate here.
                    PSA For the record, slamming other vendors on the Duncan site is against Duncan forum rulez. Now back to the slamming...

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                    • #25
                      Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                      Would the OP slam Ibanez if the wood were stated in the catalogue as 'agathis' and as it turned out, it were actually a 'good sounding tonewood (mahogany, koa, ebony, whatever)'?

                      I don't think so...

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                      • #26
                        Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                        OP here:

                        I was a bit bummed out because I was doubting between an SR300E (agathis) and an SR500 (mahogany), then I researched the serial number of the 300E which could be seen on one of the vendor's photos. I found out that for one or two years, the SR300E's were made with mahogany. So why pay more for the SR500 then if they're both made from the same wood (and have the same necks)? So I thought I was really clever to have saved some money but now it turns out the 300E isn't mahogany after all.

                        It's not a big deal, but I would have gotten the 520 if I had known there's so much fiddling goin on with wood types etc.

                        The only disappointing thing is the low sustain, but I use this thing to do home recording and get as much sustain as I want when I compress the hell out of it, so there's that.

                        The body is VERY heavy, though, for being so small. It weighs like a rock.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                          Everyone's saying specs subject to change without notice so that they can keep doing the production run even if things like a certain wood become hard to get
                          And model years can be a crap shoot, if they had agathis left over when yours was made, they probably just used what they had

                          Looks like agathis to me
                          But it's probably still a good bass
                          If you need a touch more sustain I hear those fat finger things work ok, a high mass bridge and good strings would probably help

                          I've taught myself not to think too much about the wood my instrument's made of. Either it makes the notes and sounds at least ok or get to selling it for something that does sound how I want. Hope you enjoy your bass
                          Full body pics might be nice, I like that color!

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                          • #28
                            Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                            I wonder how balsa wrapped in carbon fiber would sound. Like maybe a Steinberger style, neck through with stainless frets and a Gibraltar style bridge? And yes, if I had the money, I would have one built just to hear for myself. But, I don't. So I just wonder.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                              Originally posted by Demanic View Post
                              I wonder how balsa wrapped in carbon fiber would sound. Like maybe a Steinberger style, neck through with stainless frets and a Gibraltar style bridge? And yes, if I had the money, I would have one built just to hear for myself. But, I don't. So I just wonder.
                              I know Parker used poplar in carbon fiber. I am sure balsa would work, too, as long as you figure out a way screws and bushings won't strip easily.
                              Administrator of the SDUGF

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                              • #30
                                Re: Ibanez wood fraud

                                Have the bushings and bolt holes going into steel inserts attached to the carbon fiber, something similar to t-nuts.

                                Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

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