Dot Studio Worn Natural -- is it maple or mahogany?

[Mikerophone]

Greetings!

 

Just picked up a Dot Studio Worn Natural and was wondering what it was made of. I know the neck's mahogany. The body looks like maple, but the listings all say "laminated mahogany."Anyone know? And if it is mahogany, how did they get it to look so much like maple?

 

Also, while it was sold as new at GC, the serial number starts with 101215XXXXX; based on the serial number chart, it would have been made in December of 2010. I know China's a long way away, but that seems like a long time to be living at the store...

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[tweed2]

Greetings Mike. First welcome to the forum. Interesting place to hang around and learn or participate. A "new" guitar with a serial number that's a year or two old isn't all that uncommon. Yours was made in December of 2010, so it was literally days away of being a 2011. Last year, I bought a 2010 Korina SG that was brand new. I would think that any guitar with an uncommon finish might sit for a bit, looking for someone that appreciates it. Enjoy yours and join in. Post pictures, if you would. Here's your forum warming present. +1

[amx05462]

yeah the body is laminated . i had one i did some work on it and the very top is mahogany about 6 to 10 thousandths thick. a middle layer the same and an inner layer the same

 

 

if you look at this cross cut photo from when i put a tremelo on the guitar you can see there is very little mahogany in the body of this guitar. also the center piece of wood that your neck is glued to is very soft most likely some version of pine lamination most likely made from scraps of wood. the guitar is much lighter than my dot standard. and yes the neck is mahogany but im thinking because there are all kinds of mahogany out there that its the cheapest they could find. when i sanded the headstock overlay off the wood was almost white.

 

you have tokeep in mind that the studio versions of all there guitars are there lowest priced guitars.hence you get what you pay for.

[Mikerophone]

Thanks, guys. Appreciate the info.

 

Here are some pics. The closer I look (and the better light) makes me think this could be mahogany, but could use some expert advice. Yes, I know it's laminated (essentially, a plywood guitar!) but it plays well and looks pretty cool.

 

Thanks.

[tweed2]

Nice looking guitar, Mike.

[Mikerophone]

Short of DNA testing, it's pretty hard to be sure, but that looks like maple, not mahogany. The grain on my worn brown DS doesn't look like that. Of course, they're all laminated, as are most archtops.

 

But even if it is "mahogany", it's really fauxhogany.

 

"Fauxhogany..." love it! My earlier Epiphone venture was a bolt-neck double-cut Les Paul Jr. with a P-90...loved that guitar. When I pulled the back plate to do some wiring, I saw that it was a thick piece of laminated wood...didn't care, because it was so much fun to play!.

 

I've seen (and played) the worn browns and worn cherrys and they definitely have the mahogany-looking grain, totally different from this one here.I'm just wondering if this is a one-off, or there were other maple-grained Dot Studios, since everything i"ve read from Epi is that these are laminated mahogany. Since the top layer is just a veneer anyway, I don't think there'd be much difference in the tone, regardless of what it is. Thanks for your input!

[Red 333]

I've seen the natural Dot Studios in several shops. They certainly look maple to me. I think there are also some cherry-finished maple models, too, badged as limited editions.

 

The Worn Sunburst and (darker) Worn Cherry Dot Studios (the models that followed the original solid colored models) seem to have been made with a mahogany veneer.

 

I wouldn't give too much credence to the descriptions and specs of online retailers, as they often recycle them or fail to update them for special editions or when specs change.

 

Red 333

[Parabar]

Nope, not maple. There are several species of "Asian Mahogany" which are similar in density and grain pattern, but much lighter in color, than the various South American and African woods that are considered "true" mahogany. Many Epi Les Pauls, SG's, Firebirds and Wildkats have bodies made of these woods too (usually stained darker so they look more like their higher-end namesakes).

 

As you mentioned, these are usually lighter in weight, and if the guitar sounds good to you and feels comfortable to play --- as Miles said, "So What?"

[dporto]

"Nope, not maple. There are several species of "Asian Mahogany" which are similar in density and grain pattern, but much lighter in color, than the various South American and African woods that are considered "true" mahogany"

 

The short answer to the original question is BOTH! The Body is maple and the Neck is mahogany. The grain on the body of the guitar in those photo's looks nothing like any Mahogany I've ever seen (Asian or otherwise) color aside, Mahogany is a very straight grained wood and that body wood is not straight grained.

[amx05462]

i have to agree with deporto based on the photos defenitly maple also based on photos of my dot standard also maple. there is no question of this in my mind. as he has stated about the grain you neck is defenitly mahogany . the grain pattern is entirely different on the body. what you should do is download a few pics off the net of mahogany versions of your guitar . youll see even though its a laminate that the grain on the face and back are the same as your neck and nothing at all like the body. let alone those large patterns in it . also ive never seen mahogany that lightly colored ever even if sanded and bleached.

[Parabar]

Look closely at the close up around the f-hole. That is unmistakably Asian mahogany, not maple. I spent 7 years working in a custom furniture shop, so I have a pretty good eye for woodgrains.

[amx05462]

in this photo you can see the grain on a mahogany model is nothing at all like what you have

 

 

here is a second photo of it completely stripped of any finish

 

 

the third photo is of my dot standard maple top while you cant clearly see the grain pattern i can tell you it is similar to yours and you can see by the coloring its the same color as yours.

 

 

you clearly have a maple top there

[RobinTheHood]

Look closely at the close up around the f-hole. That is unmistakably Asian mahogany, not maple. I spent 7 years working in a custom furniture shop, so I have a pretty good eye for woodgrains.

 

I agree. The pic of the closeup of the f-hole really shows the mahogany-esque tight grains. Maple doesnt have tight, short grains like that. From a distance, though, it totally looks like maple.

 

Another thing to keep in mind, is that these "natural finish " asian mahogany guitars are really not natural at all. They are stained darker to represent what we interpret as "mahogany color". The neck, for example is probably closer to the same color as the guitar, originally. It has been stained a "mahogany" color.

[Mikerophone]

Wow, so this is actually harder than I thought! I worked for Ovation for a couple of years in the late 80s and know "traditional" mahogany well (those lovely 5-piece necks) and am certain the neck on my Dot Studio is mahogany. From afar, my Dot studio does look like maple, and I've never seen mahogany that light (always at least pinkish...). But based on what some of you are pointing out about the grain structure, the mahogany theory has legs.

 

Here are two more shots, taken even closer; one of the top and one of the side. I'm also including a close up of my Rick 360 (maple) and a friends early 60's Epi Century (also maple) for comparison; the Century looks similar.

 

Again, I like the way it looks, plays and sounds (so far); I tend to get a little geeky when it comes to what my guitars are made of.

 

Thanks, everyone.

 

PS - Is there someone from Epiphone who could answer this definitively?

[Jayyj]

I was all set to post in favour of Maple, but that F hole close up... there's a flecky, open pored look to the wood that just isn't typical of European or US Maple. On the other hand, I handle a lot of violins in my day job and a lot of the Maple that shows up in the cheaper end of the Chinese craft intruments is also noticably different in grain pattern to that which we see in European instruments - and not too far off what we're looking at here.

 

I've seen slab sawn genuine Mahogany blanks that have a swirly grain pattern not disimilar to this guitar. I also made an SG copy last year using a Korean body blank of an Asian Mahogany that was a lot lighter and swirlier than any Honduras body I've seen - but I've never seen anything close to the blonde colour of this guitar. It's certainly nothing like the ribbon grained Mahogany on the Dot AMX linked to, or the material used for the neck on this guitar.

 

I think it's highly likely that much of the timber that goes into the cheaper Far East instruments is at best an approximate match for US or European tonewoods. But then, when Gibson was in their infancy, their catalogues boasted of premium Maple as the timber for back and sides for their archtops and mandolins - yet all but the highest models were actually made of Birch. Specifying one timber whilst substituting something that more or less looks the same at half the cost is hardly a new thing for the music industry - and none of this really matters if you have a great looking, great sounding instrument in your hands.

[Jayyj]

PS looking at the two new pictures... that does look more typical of Mahogany than Maple.

[LongMan]

Wow, so this is actually harder than I thought! I worked for Ovation for a couple of years in the late 80s and know "traditional" mahogany well (those lovely 5-piece necks) and am certain the neck on my Dot Studio is mahogany. From afar, my Dot studio does look like maple, and I've never seen mahogany that light (always at least pinkish...). But based on what some of you are pointing out about the grain structure, the mahogany theory has legs.

 

Here are two more shots, taken even closer; one of the top and one of the side. I'm also including a close up of my Rick 360 (maple) and a friends early 60's Epi Century (also maple) for comparison; the Century looks similar.

 

Again, I like the way it looks, plays and sounds (so far); I tend to get a little geeky when it comes to what my guitars are made of.

 

Thanks, everyone.

 

PS - Is there someone from Epiphone who could answer this definitively?

That natural closeups look pretty much like Limba.

[Red 333]

Click on the close ups of this Ultra 339, which is described as maple. Doesn't it look look like the wood of the Dot Studio in question?

 

Link to Ultra 339

 

Red 333

[old mark]

First, congratulations on your Dot!

 

I want to tell you that when semi-hollow electric guitars came about, tops on REALLY GOOD HOLLOW body guitars were made of solid wood, with laminates used for lower end guitars... Someone found that the Semi-hollow guitars are actually better with laminate tops than with solid wood..the center block will not allow the top to resonate completely, and the semi-hollow guitar acts more like a chambered guitar than a hollow guitar.

 

 

I found this stuff when I was looking for a jazz guitar last year...

 

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/getting-started/19569-hollowbody-vs-semi-hollowbody.html

 

I have a 2011 Chinese made Dot, a Natural finish, not a studio...Mahogany neck and pretty similar looking top, but it's supposed to be maple/mahogany ply laminate...

 

Honestly, if the guitar sounds good, I don't know if it makes much difference.

 

mark

[amx05462]

when looking at the edge of the f holi the inside layer might even be mistaken for oak grain . look at the inside of the back through that same f hole shot. thats defenitly not like any mahogany grain ive ever seen . again ive also never seen a piece of mahogany that lightly colored.

[dporto]

"Close-up makes a big difference in what is seen, versus the wider shots, which kinda fool the eye, where you can't see the finer woodgrain.

 

My call: fauxhogany"

 

Hmmm, the close-ups certainly make a big difference - the grain looks almost like Luan (a type of mahogany - think doorskin or flooring undelayment) - except for those larger bands if you pull back a little wider - I've never seen that before in mahogany, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

There are many different types of wood that we're not necessarily used to seeing in/on guitars. Now that there are so many affordable guitars coming out of Asia there will be more and more of these "mystery woods" showing up.

 

My Call: Faux Maple...

[Red 333]

Sam Ash lists the gloss Dot Studios as maple, which is certainly consistent to what the ones in stores that I've seen look like, including the naturals.

 

Epiphone Dot Studio Limited Edition Gloss Electric Guitar

 

Red 333

[CheapShoes]

Sam Ash lists the gloss Dot Studios as maple, which is certainly consistent to what the ones in stores that I've seen look like, including the naturals.

 

Epiphone Dot Studio Limited Edition Gloss Electric Guitar

 

Red 333

 

I have this same guitar. At the brief time it was available, Epiphone listed it as a maple body. But shortly thereafter I could not find the original specks from Epiphone. The edge as seen in the F holes looks like maple-hardwood-maple-hardwood-maple Though the "hardwood" layer could be any one of the common Asian woods, including teak, or maple heartwood. Who knows.

[dporto]

335's and their myriad variants have always been made of "plywood" (i.e.: laminated maple) so the fact that you see a "sandwich" at the soundholes is fairly meaningless. When we say "Maple" it's not solid maple (like a carved top would be) that we speak of, but formed maple topped ply wood. All this being said, this is a fairly old thread and there was never any concensus (or facts given by Epiphone) regarding the actual wood used for the body of these guitars...

[Dennis G]

Regardless of what wood it is, that's one of the nicest looking Studio's I've ever seen.