Which is more resonant...

[Heretic]

Alder or mahogany? A relative is gonna take home a blank, bookmatched board, but she can only choose one between the two. I would like to make a "beater," S-S-H guitar for blues and rock n' roll and perhaps a few cleans for slow rock.

P.S. Anyone tried a Philippine mahogany? They call it "White Mahogany" but I haven't heard one yet, but whiter wood from my experience, have some nice high end and it's tempting.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Which is more resonant...

They're both excellent tonewoods. If you're making a guitar for killer old school crunch, tho, I would go with alder -- that's what my Wayne is made out of, and it's an HSS, also, and it ROCKS!!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Which is more resonant...

Luan (or "Philippine Mahongany") is not a first class guitar wood and NOT EVEN A TRUE MAHOGANY. I'd forget about using it.

I don't like the tone of mahogany Strats. To heavy and not especially resonant in a body that thick.

Not a good combination with a bolt on maple neck in a Fender style guitar IMO....fine in a mahogany set-necked Les Paul though.

Go for alder or light weight swamp ash.

Lew

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Which is more resonant...

It's interesting that you should mention that Lew, because a good friend of mine has a couple of Carvin Contour 66 (?) guitars, and they are: mahog body, maple bolt on neck, and ebony fingerboard. He loves 'em and hate 'em, lol.
So, I guess it's ultimately a matter of taste, or lack thereof, but I would tend to agree with you. And, you are the Master of the Stratocaster!!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Which is more resonant...

It's interesting that you should mention that Lew, because a good friend of mine has a couple of Carvin Contour 66 (?) guitars, and they are: mahog body, maple bolt on neck, and ebony fingerboard. He loves 'em and hate 'em, lol.

I think in a guitar with a thinner body than a Strat, that Honduras Mahogany sounds OK. Even Joe Satriani has an Ibaenz like that...but it's a humbucker guitar and it's thinner and lighter than a Strat.

I felt that the Honduras Mahongany Strat I built had to much "ping" and sounded "hard"...I just couldn't relax and enjoy playing it. That was the only mahogany bodied Strat I've owned though....maybe others have had a happier experience.

Lew

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Which is more resonant...

I agree with what Lew said. The biggest mystery to me is poplar. I've always associated it with Japanese budget guitars, and always thought it didn't have the attack that alder or swamp ash had, but now I see some big luthiers swearing by it, namely Suhr and Anderson. What gives? Does it sound better the way they're using it, with a maple veneer or cap put over it?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Which is more resonant...

Poplar is actually a very, very good tone wood. Like Basswood or Pine, it's kind of soft and screws strip easily in it if you overtighten them.

I had a conversation with Gerald Weber from Kendrick Amps about tone wood in combo amps and he told me that he had a bunch of open back speaker cabinets made up, put identical speakers in all of them, and had at it with his favorite amp head...a Kendrick of course!

Anyways, he told me that solid pine and solid poplar were the two best and sounded very similar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Which is more resonant...

My custom builder friend once made an LPS using this "mahogany". Or at least he told me it was mahogany but white. It was a VERY light piece of wood, and didn't resonate as well as more common tonewoods. My friend even had to work some kind of synthetic glass fiber into the wood to make it sustain better.

Right. But it IS a good wood to make interior trim and doors out of. :laugh2:

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Which is more resonant...

I'm currently loving my G&L Skyhawk. It has a mahogany body with an all maple neck. While it may not be as resonant as say ash or alder, it does give a nice warm tone that, with an all maple neck, actually still does the "strat sound" justice. It's unique looking (really very sharp IMHO) and it gives it slightly different tonal properties, more "earthy" than say my Grosh (which I'll be getting back from repairs within the next week and a half ).

 

[Dodger]

Re: Which is more resonant...

There both good woods no doubt but like others have said in this thread a strat made of mahogany doesnt seem to work. Id go with Alder if it were me. Poplar is an awesome tonewood that is quite cheap which is partly to do with why alot of low end guitars use it, its alot better then it gets props for.