Are there any Strictly Mahogany Guitar Lovers Here?

[William2]

I purchased a mahogany guitar a couple of days ago. I usually play dreadnoughts, but this new one is a 000. My wife commented on how small it looked compared with what I have. Several months ago, I purchased a Larrivee D-40. I was amazed at how clear and articulate the notes in chords were compared with my Larrivee D-40R. s this just my ears or does anyone else perceive more clarity with mahogany tone wood. The other this I noticed was the great sustain this new 000 has. I've been really blown away by this new 000. I wanted something different, and after doing a lot of listening, an all-hog instrument seemed to fit the bill. I wanted another dreadnought but wasn't seeing what I wanted. So, when this 000 came up, I bit and got. I love this 000 size, and this mahogany topped instrument. Does anyone just play mahogany guitars here? Does mahogany just articulate clearer than rosewood?

[unclrob]

Right now I'm using my 64 B15 Gibson small body hog top with no binding to get my fingers back in shape after medicial damage to my nerves.The guitar is also my first repair at 10 years old.

[teh]

My custom LV03 all mahogany 12 string really sounds great for fingerpicking and strumming. I added a mahogany top to provide a full 12 string sound without the twanginess I heard on most of the spruce topped 12 strings I played. I also tune it down a whole step so in reality, my theory worked.

I have an all mahogany short scale 00 on order and I believe the combination of the 24.9 inch scale length and scalloped bracing will give me the sound and volume I'm looking for. I also have a short scale 000 (spruce/mahogany) Martin that is both articulate and provides plenty of volume.

[B0WIE]

I think there' such thing as preferring clarity but I don't think someone could be all-mahogany or all rosewood in a blind test. There are other factors that contribute much more than the back wood and I have had mahogany guitars that are very boomy and rosewood that are bright and clear (though it's usually the opposite).

I've been often disappointed in east Indian rosweood but recently got an EIR guitar that sounds tight and shimmering, and nothing like the other EIR guitars I've played. So, sometimes it's just a variety of factors that need to work together.

[Queequeg]

Over the years I have had at least a half dozen all-mahogany guitars.
And I still have a few.
I only play fingerstyle and I believe that a mahogany top works really well for my style of playing.
And another thing –
I really like a 000!
Not terribly fond of dreadnoughts, myself. But that's just me.
I suppose that if I was a singer or if I Was a flatpicker/bluegrass style I would have to have a dreadnought.
I have developed a heavy thumb, so I can get all the base I need without having a big D body.

Enjoy your new 000 hogtop.

[William2]

My custom LV03 all mahogany 12 string really sounds great for fingerpicking and strumming. I added a mahogany top to provide a full 12 string sound without the twanginess I heard on most of the spruce topped 12 strings I played. I also tune it down a whole step so in reality, my theory worked.

I have an all mahogany short scale 00 on order and I believe the combination of the 24.9 inch scale length and scalloped bracing will give me the sound and volume I'm looking for. I also have a short scale 000 (spruce/mahogany) Martin that is both articulate and provides plenty of volume.

I was conside4ring a 12-string instrument for a different sound. But ultimately decided to stick with 6 strings. While listening to various model of 12-string guitars, I noticed a Taylor 500 series strung theirs in the reverse order that the double courses are usually strung (the thumb striking the fundamental and then the octave string). And it only had 6 holes for the strings with both courses going into one hole. It didn't get great reviews, so I moved on. And then the dealer I work with called and said he had a new Larrivee 000-40 that had arrived. I told him thanks, but it might be too much like the D-40 I had purchased a few months earlier.  I told him I had been looking at Taylors as something different (V bracing). He said friends don't let friends buy Taylor LOL!!!Anyway, the model I bought was the Martin 000-15SM. I had ordered the D-15 but would have had to wait 5 months. When I was this on the Sweetwater site, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm too old to wait that long. I really like this instrument and it sounds much better than it does on most o the demos that are out there. The sustain is especially what I wanted. I find how to brace a mahogany top guitar interesting. Martin on the 15 series uses non-scalloped bracing. Others use scalloped bracing. I think I went with Martin as I was curious about their A bracing their mahogany guitars use. And I'm also curious how the different materials like spruce bracing and Adirondack bracing. Does this really have a big effect on the sound? Out of curiosity, what model Martin 000 are you talking about? I do see a dreadnought all hog in my future.

[teh]

William,

I foolishly passed on a Martin 000-15S that I could have bought in 2018 when Trinity Guitars was closing up shop for retirement. I have a Larrivee all mahogany 00 on order.

My Martin 000 was designed with my specifications through the Custom Shop in 2015. Up front I was given a 6-7 month wait time and my guitar came in 5 months after I submitted the order. I also visited my guitar at the factory during the week they fitted the neck to the body. I took the best features from the 000-18, the HD-35 and the OM-35 and D-35S that are no longer in production and added a few tweaks of my own including:

12 fret, short scale (24.9") with a slotted headstock
1 & 3/4" low profile neck with old style decal
Sitka Spruce top with 3 piece Mahogany back and sides
Scalloped bracing
Herringbone trim on top border
Tortoise shell binding on body, neck, pick guard*, heel and end caps
18 style rosette, back binding and fretboard markers

* After I received the guitar, I installed a teardrop pick guard to match the one on my OM-35 instead of the large pick guard shape that Martin generally uses on the dreads and 000 models. Aesthetically, the tear drop shape looks better, at least to my eye.

Before I ordered my mahogany 12 string Larrivee in 2015, I played a bunch of different guitars and body shapes including Martin, Taylor, Yamaha, Guild and even stock Larrivees. I grew up listening to Gordon Lightfoot (12 string Gibson B45), Leo Kottke (12 string Taylor) and John Denver (12 string Guild, Yamaha or Taylor) and liked the L body better. After playing several 6 string guitars and with much deliberation and careful consideration, I made the decision to order the Larrivee LV03 at a significantly lower cost than the other guitars I tried.

[Queequeg]

The best Larrivee I ever owned was a 000-50-FSB Traditional Series.https://www.larrivee.com/products/so-50-tsb-traditional-series
I never should have sold that guitar.

[William2]

The best Larrivee I ever owned was a 000-50-FSB Traditional Series.https://www.larrivee.com/products/so-50-tsb-traditional-series
I never should have sold that guitar.

That 50 and 60 series sure are beautiful instruments!

[William2]

Teh, that has to be great custom ordering an instrument. I think last purchase will be an o3 Larrivee so I can experience that bracing system. It will probably be an L instrument if I go spruce top or a D03 if I go with a mahogany top.

[Myopic Squirrel]

the - really interested in your take on your custom 00. While "only" (no mahogany top) a 00-40 Sitka/mahogany, this new guitar sounds amazing to me. Was uncertain with the smaller body size after the OM but it doesn't seem to be a significant drop off in projection. Changed the EJ16s to Plectrum ac111's after an AGF post re: 00 strings and the flatwounds are a whole new experience tonally and physically (very low tension).

Can't help thinking your mahogany top will raise the 00 bar even further!

[teh]

I'm looking forward to an all mahogany 00 which should be ready by early to mid fall. If I am correct in my thinking, the scalloped bracing and 12 fret short scale neck should boost projection and tone.

P.S. I found a reprint of a Martin Guitar catalog dated January 1929 in my copy of The C.F. Martin Archives. The style 17 all mahogany Martin had a list price of $32.50. A spruce/rosewood 00-45 Grand Concert had a list price of $170.00 and a spruce/mahogany 00-18 was $45.00.

[Myopic Squirrel]

including bindings?

[William2]

including bindings?

That is one reason I got the 15 series Martin. No binding issues LOL!

[tuffythepug]

My 2009 Larrivee LS-03MT forum guitar is still the best sounding all-mahogany guitar I've ever played.  I also had a 000-50 all mahogany which was very special as well

[William2]

My 2009 Larrivee LS-03MT forum guitar is still the best sounding all-mahogany guitar I've ever played.  I also had a 000-50 all mahogany which was very special as well

One of the things I like about all mahogany Larrivee guitars that I've seen is how the front and back woods look the same. I did hear a Larrivee D-03 hog on video. It sounded great.  Which of the two bracing systems Larrivee uses benefits a mahogany top more since you have both?

[Gill]

One of the best ever acoustics I've ever owned ( and still have) is my used Larrivee OM-03 12- fret all Mahogany,I can hardly believe that JPL can produce such a quality piece of workmanship such as this,at such a reasonable price,its sound is priceless,playability excellent,and nobody makes Hog like Larrivee.

[William2]

"I'm looking forward to an all mahogany 00 which should be ready by early to mid-fall. If I am correct in my thinking, the scalloped bracing and 12 fret short scale neck should boost projection and tone."

Is there something to this idea about the scalloped bracing boosting projection? Does a mahogany top respond better to one of the two bracing systems? There is only one video I could find where a Larrivee OM-40 (scalloped) was compared with a Martin 000-15 (non-scalloped). The video wasn't satisfying to me in comparing these instruments.