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I was wondring if you think that Honduras Mahogany is a good tone wood for a super strat guitar.
that is on a bolt on guitar.

which do you think is a better choice?:

1)Mahogany body one piece maple neck/with vintage bridge/h/s/s
2)Mahogany body maple neck rosewood fingerboard/with vintage bridge/h/s/s
or would alder be a better wood for this type guitar?

do you think that the Mahogany would not have enough highs?

i have one but i wanted your opinion cause i am gonna build a second one and wanted another opinion.

Jackson builds a Soloist with a mahogany body. I've never heard one, but I'd imagine they sound good. I'd imagine it would tame the highs a bit, but I don't know if it would cut them too much or not.

In my opinion basswood would be better cuz it hasgreat low end and doesn't rob the high's as much as mahogany...

But I have never heard a super-strat with a mahogany body, so if you do it, i wanna hear it. I might be pleasently surprised.

Rock On!

For a bolt on, I think alder or mahogany with either neck/board choice would be good, but they sound pretty different.

When you say quot;vintagequot; bridge do you mean a Fender type vibrato? strat hardtail or a Tune-omatic?

I've played a handful of mahogany bodied bolt ons and I liked the sound, though I'm not sure I like it better than Alder. If I want a bolt on guitar, be it a quot;realquot; strat or a super strat w/ a humbucker, I'm going for that classic alder sound: Early EVH, Jake E Lee and his Charvel, Dave Murray and his modded strats, etc.

A glue in/neck through is a different story...mahogany only for me.

What kinda sounds are *you* going for?

I'm thinking about a mahogony bodied, maple/maple neck, Floyd equipped, Screamin' Demon/'59 Super Strat. Something to fit between a vintage toned Strat and a Les Paul.

If I were you, I'd get only mahogany/maple cap or solid alder. On HSS superstrats, I've had nothing but headaches with other woods, such as basswood, ash, or poplar.
There's always something that just isn't right about those woods, which is why most guitar companies stick to alder and mahogany for quality guitars.

If you use 3 single coil pickups, get alder. If you use HH or HSS, get mahogany/maple.

[/QUOTE]If I were you, I'd get only mahogany/maple cap or solid alder. On HSS superstrats, I've had nothing but headaches with other woods, such as basswood, ash, or poplar.
There's always something that just isn't right about those woods, which is why most guitar companies stick to alder and mahogany for quality guitars.

If you use 3 single coil pickups, get alder. If you use HH or HSS, get mahogany/maple.[QUOTE]
I already have a Mahogany Super Strat and for the most part is sounds really good. but it is missing a bit of high end to it. the rest though sounds incredible. it sustains forever and sustains nicely. i have a one piece maple neck on it which gets back some highs but i dont think enough of them. that is about the only thing i can say about what i would like is a bit more of highs. so i guess a thin maple cap to it would be more of what i want or just get a total alder body.

wont the alder sound a bit smaller than the Mohagany?

If I were building a super strat I'd go with a maple/rosewood neck, HSS, a Wilkinson VS-100 trem, and a baswood body with a maple top.

Hey, if it works for Anderson....

I've got a mahagony Warmoth Soloist. Sounds killer!

I already have a Mahogany Super Strat and for the most part is sounds really good. but it is missing a bit of high end to it. the rest though sounds incredible.

As Gearjoneser had pointed out, go with a mahogany/maple cap or basswood/maple cap for an HSS strat. I'd also recommend a maple and rosewood neck, but honestly, the fingerboard won't make a huge difference compared to the neck and body wood.

Those two combinations are what I've seen on a ton of Suhr, Grosh, Tyler, Melancon, Anderson and the like. The key is to get a nice balance of all of those frequencies so that either the singles or the humbucker won't sound out of place.

If you want a simple one piece body, I recommend alder. Seems good enough to cover both singles and humbuckers well.

I have a mahogany super-strat H-S-H, with a maple neck-thru.

It sounds big and mean, but it's not really stratty. Part of that is to do with the two Invader HBs that I'm stilling getting around to replacing (they were in it when I bought it). Was great when I was playing in a heavy band, but not so much now.

so is there a big difference in having a neck thru?

cause an SG is made completley of Mahogany and has a Mohogany neck as well as a rosewood fingerboard. all this should make it sound rounder and lack treble. Does it?

Mine is one-Piece Mahogany body ( Honduras) with a one piece maple neck but only lacks a bit of bite ( high end treble)

it does however have great harmonics to it and sounds huge.


Originally Posted by tone?so is there a big difference in having a neck thru?

The first thing you'll notice is access to the upper frets. Tonally, IMO, there is more sustain from a neck thru, but there are people who disagree.

I think a lot of it depends on what you think you'll be using more, the H or the SS.

In my experience mahogany gives a darker, warmer tone. This can work great for a fat humbucker tone but kind of mushy and dark for a snappy single coil tone.

Alder provides a snappier, spankier wood that really allows single coils to sing. Humbuckers may not sound as dark and quot;hugequot; but they do tend to be a little more middy and articulate.

arent certain PRS's made completely out of Mahogany for a body wood????

so how come they dont need a maple cap to get back treble??

plus those models dont even use a hint of maple anywhere.

that is what i dont get.
it is ok for PRS to use a completely Mahogany body but for Strats it isnt a good idea.
I can understand the single coils not working with all the Mahogany but i dont get the rest.

Take the a few of the ibanez s, sa, sz series type guitars as examples. These guitars are mahogany and their necks vary between each model. I think there may be some board members with these type go guitars


Originally Posted by tone?I can understand the single coils not working with all the Mahogany but i dont get the rest.

There's nothing wrong with a mahogany guitar at all. My V is all mahogany and it's great. Just not what I'd look for in a Strat with single coils.

But that's not to say it wouldn't work for someone else. In fact Fender recently did a limited run of mahogany HSS and SSS American Deluxe Strats for Musician's Friend. Cool guitars but they definitely were darker sounding than their alder counterparts.

Mahogany is a great tonewood, period.


Originally Posted by ZhangliqunMahogany is a great tonewood, period.

100000000000000000000

If you're going for a 'Strat' sound, go with Alder,
my favorite.