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Mahogany colour?

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drpbierdrpbier Frets: 245
in Making & Modding
I'm currently having a guitar made by Patrick Eggle. The body and neck are mahogany, and in pictures of the build in progress this is very pale in colour. It'll get stained black anyway but I thought mahog was a dark wood...was I incorrect?
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 17495
    It varies from a pale pinks or straw colours  to more like a brownish brick colour.


    It's rarely as dark as the "mahogany" colour you see on furniture or wood stain
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 15262
    On some budget guitars, if it becomes necessary enlarge the pot and switch holes, it can be difficult to spot where the maple cap ends and the mahogany back begins. 

    Nato/nyatoh/mora is similarly pallid in the raw.
    You say, atom bomb. I say, tin of corned beef.
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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7560
    I like a nice orangey-brown mahogany. A lot of prs guitars, especially high end ones, seem to lean into this. Lovely colour!

    I've seen some very light pieces that would probably take stain slightly more predictably, especially on ebay bodies. 
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  • drpbierdrpbier Frets: 245
    Well I never. Thanks all!
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 17495
    The colour doesn't tell you much about quality.  It does sometimes hint at weight though.
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  • drpbierdrpbier Frets: 245
    WezV said:
    The colour doesn't tell you much about quality.  It does sometimes hint at weight though.
    How so?
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 17495
    It's often the case that the lighter coloured pieces are also lightweight, the denser stuff can be darker.

    But I have had identical planks with massive weight differences between them, so take it with a pinch if salt.
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  • Andyjr1515Andyjr1515 Frets: 3129
    It can also be very misleading, @drpbier , if you are looking at a build in progress because the timber colour will change as soon as any finish is applied.

     It's a bit academic if you are having it stained, but freshly cut and/or sanded timbers are almost always lighter in colour than they will be once almost any type of finish is applied.

    This is the back of one of my builds in progress:


    And this is the colour it was after I put clear varnish on it.  No stains - just the above plus the clear varnish:


    The neck is mahogany, by the way.
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  • BillDLBillDL Frets: 9013
    Bear in mind also that some people refer to sapele as mahogany.  It has many of the qualities of mahogany and is of the same family, but it is of a different genus and isn't really mahogany.  Chances are that if you see a mahogany shaded plywood-faced lightweight internal house door that has a nice mahogany like grain when varnished, it is most likely sapele faced plywood.  Most sapele is stiffer and heavier than mahogany, but it depends which part of the trunk is used, and the same goes for the shade of brown.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 17495
    edited December 2021
    even proper mahoganies (the first 2 or 3 below depending on how you feel about Khaya) have a lot of variations in colour between species, before we get on to the close mahogany type woods

     pics are raw and sealed from the wood database www.wood-database.com/

    Cuban Mahogany -Swietenia mahogani


    Honduran Mahogany - Swietenia macrophylla


    African Mahogany- Khaya


    Sapele -     Entandrophragma cylindricum


    Spanish Cedar -     Cedrela odorata


    Argos mahogany



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  • WezVWezV Frets: 17495
    edited December 2021
    Also, you can take a guess which type it is from the raw planks, but the colour can vary enough within species that it wouldn't be reliable.  The above pics are just an example of how it can vary
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  • Andyjr1515Andyjr1515 Frets: 3129
    Love the inclusion of the Argos one, @WezV ; :)  
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  • benvallbenvall Frets: 83
    I wonder what a guitar made from Argos mahogany would sound like
    My Trading Thread - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58336/
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 17495
    Andyjr1515 said:
    Love the inclusion of the Argos one, @WezV ; :)  
    Very popular in the 90's ;)
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  • drpbierdrpbier Frets: 245
    edited December 2021
    You can see the mahogany in question in these pics





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  • GoldenEraGuitarsGoldenEraGuitars Frets: 8889
    tFB Trader
    drpbier said:
    You can see the mahogany in question in these pics



    Based on my experience with mahogany this looks “normal”. 
    • website - https://goldenera-guitars.co.uk/

    • Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars


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  • drpbierdrpbier Frets: 245
    edited December 2021
    Oh how I hate embedding pics here

    https://imgur.com/dqMc92W
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