Hey everyone. I just bought a black Epiphone G-400 (aka SG) for $200 at guitar center; which I came to think was actually a really good deal, considering the guitar is in perfect condition besides a few tiny scratches here and there..
Anyways, I was curious if anyone could explain to me the wood of the guitar. It is called mahogany, but I was reading it actually isn't a real mahogany, but "industrial mahogany" or "Indonesian mahogany". So can someone explain to me what exactly that means, how the wood compares to real mahogany, and the tonal property's, pros/cons...?
my guess is that its not much different from the real thing. maybe a bit softer and the tone probably isnt quite as full. my guess is its in the mahogany family but not "actual" mahogany.
whats funny is mahogany is a rather cheap wood. i dont see the need for substitutes
The Epiphone G-400 is made of Philippine/Indonesian mahogany (more commonly known as industrial mahogany), which is not actually related to the mahogany species.
and how do you mean by "farmed"
As in, people grown for mass consumption?
1. Mahogany is not cheap.
2. Epiphones of this period are crap and the flat out LIE about what the guitar is, there is no mahogany in a new Epi period, just some weird asian species with poor tonal qualities.
I guess its actually supposed to be "korina" which is very close to mahogany's tonal property's...not completely sure its that is fer sure the wood, but that is what I am reading.
But do you think $200 for the G-400 is a good deal either way. I know its still a budget guitar, but this thing looks brand new, and a new one is $350 and the MSRP is around $600, so I thought it was kind of a steal..(especially for a guitar center price)
idk, ive never seen mahogany go for much haha maybe not in the production world where they use a ton of it but i can find huge slabs on it in lumber yards for practically nothing
Nahh no case. But there is no blemishes at all on this thing. just little surface scratches. Perfect neck, the wiring is fine, no screws missing and the finish is still a "mirror shine" I can see my face in it perfect; you can't even hardly see the wood pattern through the paint its so glossy and thick! lol
So still what the hell is this thing made out of then?! I would really love to know the exact wood...
I have an Ibanez RG321 which supposedly is also 'mahogany', while the color of the wood is similar to a the african mahogany body i got from Warmoth, there is absolutely no comparison regarding weight and strength. The RG body is so light that the guitar is quite neck heavy. But it plays and sounds ok.
Honduras/brazilian/american mahogany is the "Desired" type. African is a close second, depending on which manufacturer is using them. The bottom of the barrel are the asian variants of the mahogany, and thats where your cheaper crap comes from. Not "bad" but not honduras mahogany either. Id imagine this is their claim of "industrial" mahogany...
fwiw gibson uses honduras mahogany, PRS uses african on most, honduras on their private stock instruments, and a lot of the cheaper guitars claiming mahogany use asian variants.
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