I was very well pleased with the result. Most of us aren’t wood experts, so what exactly do different woods have to do with the sound of an acoustic guitar? Id say the odor is pretty strong, even if its not being worked. Wood-Chip stocks the highest quality Okoume marine-grade plywood available on the market today.Each board from our South Florida lumber-yard exceeds the BS1088 and BS 6566 standard. Rot Resistance: Rated as non-durable; poor insect resistance. Our interactive gear guide, FindYour.Fender.com, matches you with the perfect model by learning about your sound & style. Weight wise this wood is pretty similar to Honduran Mahogany and African Mahogany (Khaya) with a specific gravity of .62 and weighing about 39 lbs per cubic foot (Honduran Mahogany is .54 - .64 specific gravity and 34 – 40 lbs per cubic foot, African Mahogany .54 - … For example Magogany? Pernamabuco neck in electric guitar vs. mahogany: a) The pernambuco neck guitar was by at least 30% louder than the mahogany neck guitar. Does anybody have any experience with "Okoume" or Gaboon, and is it a Mahogany? Alongside maple, mahogany is a classic ingredient in both slab and multi-wood (or laminated) bodies, and is a common neck wood, too. Plus, it is much lighter than the African exterior wood options like Sapele, Utile, and African Mahogany. True mahogany wood is still used in the manufacturing of fine furniture and musical instruments, but for environmental reasons, contemporary mahogany furniture is usually made from reddish-brown mahogany alternatives. What is the density/weight in relatio to popular resonant neck tonewood such as maple? The lumber of this tree is known by many names, among them Acoume, Gaboon wood, Uume and Zouga. A dense hardwood that, when used for guitar tops, produces solid tone, particularly at the high end, with pronounced midrange-y quality. Texture is medium, with good natural luster. My acoustic guitar made of this type of mahogany. Ironically, it's also being used in custom-shop quality guitars. As a guitar top, dense mahogany has a solid, punchy tone with low overtone content and good high-end response. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood … Be the first to know about new products, featured content, exclusive offers and giveaways. Various woods have distinct sound qualities, especially when used for the top of an acoustic guitar, which is the most important wooden tonal element of the instrument. It conforms to the specifications NFL 18-130 April 1995 (French Aircraft plywood Norm) and BS 1088-2003 (Marine plywood Norm). FYI: I receive a commission on sales generated through links to Amazon, eBay, etc. These have that gorgeous wood grain coupled with that distinct chrome plated resonator which offers one of the coolest looking ukulele options on the market. Used for back and sides, koa’s tonality resembles mahogany. Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Okoume has been reported to cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation, as well as other effects such as asthma-like symptoms, coughing, and conjunctivitis (pink eye). (This is a monthly update, and your email will be kept private.). Pricing/Availability: Most commonly sold as veneer, Okoume should be moderately priced for an imported hardwood, though highly figured pieces tend to be more expensive. You see it all the time when shopping for an acoustic guitar: Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides, rosewood bridge, this wood, that wood, another wood. Scans/Pictures: A special thanks to Steve Earis for providing the wood sample (veneer) of this wood species. Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Okoume has been reported to cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation, as well as other effects such as asthma-like symptoms, coughing, and conjunctivitis (pink eye). Sawn lumber is somewhat difficult to machine because of the silica content, but the wood glues, nails, and peels into veneer easily. Meranti vs Mahogany. This is my woodturning project, shisha mouthpiece – Okoume with resin. I’m shopping for a classical guitar and have run into okume wood as a neck construction material. Comments: Sometimes simply called Gabon (not to be confused with Gaboon Ebony), the wood is commercially important in the country of Gabon, where it’s the principle timber species. Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; solitary and radial multiples; large pores in no specific arrangement, few; parenchyma not visible; narrow rays, spacing normal. The density and grain structure are similar with a nice homogenous feel that allows it to be milled easily and hold details really well. Okoume Plywood. Strong and clear at the low end, rich and sparkly at the top end, with a reverberant quality. All very impressive, but what does it mean? Mahogany back and sides often emphasize bass and treble, with more overtone coloration and a “woody” sound (as opposed to the more metallic sound of, say, rosewood back and sides). My interest is the weight as I seek a properly balanced instrument. From what I've researched it's considered a lighter-weight alternative to mahogany. Okoume is the wood of the Okoume tree (Aucoumea klaineana), a species native to west-central Africa, in particular Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo. When used as a back/side wood to compliment a brighter sounding top wood, Mahogany is good for mellowing out the brightness and adding some warmth and a stronger mid-range plus softening the highs and reducing the overtones. Narrow heartwood is grayish white, not clearly demarcated from heartwood. Thompson Mahogany is your best source for wholesale African Mahogany, Sapele, and Utile. The Guitar Highlighted by a gloss finish, our tester’s elaborately figured brownish-yellow coloring was a conversation starter. However, I've also found that it's used in Chinese made Gibson knock offs because it's cheaper and more abundant. While Honduran Mahogany is known for its fine, straight grain, African Mahoganyenjoys more variety in graining: Bee’s Wing, Ribboned, and Ropey patterns distinguish this wood from any of its counterparts. The woods we stock at Thompson Mahogany are: African Mahogany/Khaya, Sapele and Utile/Sipo. They also sell "3/4" mahogany" plywood at really low prices, so a few … No offense, but this entire website was created to enable people to answer these exact questions for themselves.