Ricochet Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 gibbo seem to be involved in a program of getting from green sources and we hear they have been stock pilling since time began... i just wanna know if it is "Swietenia macrophylla" if not what is it. The "problem" with Swietenia Macrophylla(Honduran Mahogany) is it tends to hybridize with family members.(Which is Mother Nature's way of helping the species to survive I suppose). The Swietenia M anyone claims to use now is not as "pure" as what they used in the '50s. Ever wonder why every luthier/manufacturer has been complaining about the availability of proper Honduran Mahogany since the '70s, why it's on the IUCN-red-list of endangered species since the '90s, but still some companies seem to have nooo problem stocking a few warehouses of the stuff? That is because the Timber-trade has no problem classing these hybrids as Swietenia M. And companies like Gibson are all to happy to stock up on these "genuine" pieces of South-American mahogany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I have no clue (and really don't care) what specie of mahomaybegany was used for my new '56 Gold Top but it weighs 1.5 lbs more than my '98 ELP plus top, and 4.1 lbs less than my old GLP. that makes the breakdown as thus: '98 ELP plus top 8.5 Lbs. '08 ELP '56 GT 10.0 Lbs '88 GLP 14.1 Lbs ( this guitar was bought from an authorized dealer as a '58 RI, but I later heard that he was bad about swapping out hardware and selling clones as the genuine article, which at that time carried a $399 premium) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Nazarenie Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 if these things be true then why won't it be said what wood it is? i do like gibson for their innovation. they do hold a lead with fender. classic designs forever i'm sure. but if i am going to go for something in their range i kinda want what is expected of the product i know. while 87 was not a special year, the reason you picked a gibson over a "cheapy" was the fact they had stocks of the proper wood and used it? all other woods were not reguarded as mahogany. i remember those days. yes it may have been all hype but it is their own hype they are stuck with. anyway i do have the choice if it's worth it to get my old sg fixed or maybe find an oldie sg or dc. i did find some online vintage guitar sellers. i like the idea that a 1970 sg is still within my grasp. i still have to know though if an 87 sg would be honduran. and what the fadeds are made of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Summerisle Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Crossover from another thread... AS90 drew my attention to Tokai guitars. Here's their top-of-the-line SG: According to Tokai's published specification, this has a "Honduras Mahogany One Piece body." Link to >>>>>>Tokai SG175 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Nazarenie Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 yeah it's nice. not the absolute gibson style on the headstock and perhaps pickups not as good, i do like the alnico 2's... but if they can do it surely gibbo should? well at least with the standard? anyway i've been looking on ebay and there are some vintage lovelies. i love the idea of a 70's gibbo. although there are few dc's. i'd settle for one a little worn or even BROWN! but i wonder how you could ever buy one and not worry on it being fake. the vintage selling shops online would have at least expert inspection but it's at a cost. gibson said they are investigating my email... another budget maker said "there's no way of knowing what's in our guitars as we use wha'ts available at the time... you'd need a luthier to inspect it." also the cheaper does only mention "mahogany." http://www.tokai-guitars.co.uk/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=86&category_id=15&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=31 i used to be a big acdc fan. here we see the conclusion that angus's tone comes from the honduran mahogany... http://www.vintageamplifiermag.com/acdc.html (somewhere in the middle of the page.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 SG175 Price per Unit (piece): £1 375.00 Whoa. That's not a trivial price. I wonder what a Gibson '61 reissue goes for over there? Looks to me like you might as well get the Gibson. All I know is that's $2,440 CDN which is the list price for the Gibby; street price is $1,850 CDN or £1 043.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarpBoy Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 well i gotta say i can't agree with any of that. gibson in 87 were built on the idea they had the best wood and that was why they were gibson and on top. now they won't tell us what wood it is? i have a genuine need here. i want to buy a dc faded and sg faded or get my 87 sg fixed. i can't make thatchoice till i know what i'm paying for etc. or i might lump "new" gibson and buy an oldie but goodie gibson. with some age and charactor. i can not make a choice till i know! i have emailed them... Sorry, but I believe the general consensus is that the late 70's/80's Gibsons were not exactly the cream of the crop. But, hey, like everyone is saying, enjoy your guitar. Don't be so anal about the wood thing. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Nazarenie Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 no! i don't have the guitar yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 How can you interpret one conditional sentence " I’m inclined to believe that Honduran mahogany is part of the reason of this" in the middle of a lengthy article from one admitted non-luthier as a "conclusion"....? It's obvious that the author didn't have your degree of certainty. They seem much more fixated on the choice of pickups. You're obviously very particular about what guitar you spend your money on. My well-meant advice is that if you really care about performance rather than "bragging rights", you can't go by written specs, you have to try them "in the flesh". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Nazarenie Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 look just respect any guys wants here! i can buy a plank and be happy but if i want to pay a good chunk of wonga on a gibson, which i won't unless i get what i want, i want what no one else has to offer because i bought a guitar for £15 and it's good and i can enjoy that!. (a basswood crafter cruiser. it has 2 gfs mean 90's in. and before you pull basswood malmstien and halen have sig basswood guitars, i believe.) i expected far less than what i got. they are less than £100 new. it's angus's (exclusive?) use of early sg's that give him his tone (at least the years i like his sound.)it goes hand in hand, anyone would conclude that, it's the wood. i remember those guitarist magazine pages telling how one gibson was so much better than another (as angus found out.) or how newer ones didn't cut it. the classic players play classic gibsons! i think jimmy page said it too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman345 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 "the classic players play classic gibsons!" Too bad Eric Clapton switched to a Strat seeing he got his "tone" from Gibson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Well, I'm not arguing for the sake of it, but if what you're trying to do is match Angus' sound, the wood used is going to be some way down the list of variables that achieve that sound. Vastly more important will be the electrical components: the right pickups, amp circuit, speakers. That interesting article you posted a link to has a lot more to say about those aspects than it does about the wood, with good reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldie Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Well' date=' I'm not arguing for the sake of it, but if what you're trying to do is match Angus' sound, the wood used is going to be some way down the list of variables that achieve that sound. Vastly more important will be the electrical components: the right pickups, amp circuit, speakers. That interesting article you posted a link to has a lot more to say about those aspects than it does about the wood, with good reason. [/quote'] Let's not forget to mention Angus' talent(or lack of it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Summerisle Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 look just respect any guys wants here! i can buy a plank and be happy but if i want to pay a good chunk of wonga on a gibson' date=' which i won't unless i get what i want, i want what no one else has to offer because i bought a guitar for £15 and it's good and i can enjoy that!. (a basswood crafter cruiser. it has 2 gfs mean 90's in. and before you pull basswood malmstien and halen have sig basswood guitars, i believe.) i expected far less than what i got. they are less than £100 new.it's angus's (exclusive?) use of early sg's that give him his tone (at least the years i like his sound.)it goes hand in hand, anyone would conclude that, it's the wood. i remember those guitarist magazine pages telling how one gibson was so much better than another (as angus found out.) or how newer ones didn't cut it. the classic players play classic gibsons! i think jimmy page said it too...[/quote'] Have you considered buying a mahogany body and then building the rest of the guitar around it? http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Vintage/SG.aspx I'm not certain which "mahogany" Warmoth uses, but perhaps they will advise you if you ask them... The disadvantage of the Warmoth kit is that you are stuck with a bolt-on neck, as I understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Yeah, and that just blows any reason for having an SG in the first place. Bolt-neck SGs just don't work IMO. No, if you want a really nice SG with a real mahogany body (African, but that's still a genuine mahogany species), try and find an Elitist on eBay. AFAIK they're still pretty reasonable pricewise and I can say from experience they are excellent SGs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Nazarenie Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 yeah i like the idea of that. i guess it's in the secondhand market only? what exactly are the pickups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Everything I've heard is that the Epi Elitist 50SR/60ST pickups are the same as Gibson's 490R/498T combo, and having compared them to a couple of Gibson Studios I have to say that I haven't heard anything to contradict that information. So, decent pickups, nothing stellar like '57 Classics or BBs, but nothing to be ashamed of either, although one of my more jaded guitar buddies finds them to be a bit strident. And all finished in nickel too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Nazarenie Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 http://www.soundsmusical.com/product.asp?productid=670 http://www.guitars.co.uk/acatalog/American_Special.html wow! "The Strat-o-Sonic DVI features a Honduran mahogany body" ahhhh! competition to gibbo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.