arrow icon-cart icon-email icon-facebook icon-g-plus icon-instagram No-Audio Pause icon-pin Untitled-1 icon-print icon-search icon-show-hide icon-tiktok icon-twitter Audio icon-youtube-play icon-youtube logo-mobile
Tropical Mahogany

Available in: 300 Series, 500 Series, GT Series
Shown: 324ce

taylor-features-back-woods-mahogany-324ce

 

 

Overview: Mahogany is known for its meaty midrange character, featuring a strong fundamental focus often described as “punchy,” “woody,” or “dry,” because it doesn’t produce a lot of ringing overtones. Mahogany’s earthy voice has been featured on many roots music recordings over the years.

Origin:  India/Guatemala

Sound: Mahogany is a good wood to anchor a discussion of tones, as a lot of other wood tones can be described in relation to it. Its essential sonic profile is well represented in the midrange frequencies. Acoustic guitars in general tend to live in the midrange portion of the sound spectrum, but mahogany in particular displays a lot of midrange character. That thick, present midrange sound is sometimes described in guitar circles as meaty, organic or even chewy; wherever a player digs in on the fretboard, they're tapping into the core of the harmonic content of what a guitar produces. Those great midrange frequencies produce overtones that stack up and produce bloom, giving the sound extra girth. When one hears the resulting harmonics, the chewy tone serves up a big mouthful of midrange. As a popular tonewood for many decades, mahogany has been used on scads of old school acoustic recordings, and that sonic heritage carries across various strains of roots music, from blues to folk to slack key.

Goes Well With: A broad range of players and musical styles; people who like a well-balanced tone, nice dynamic range and a healthy serving of overtones. Blues and other rootsy players tend to respond well to mahogany's midrange character. A smaller body mahogany guitar (GC or GA) might appeal to fingerstyle players, whereas more aggressive flatpickers might opt for a mahogany Dreadnought or GS. For versatility, a mahogany GA is a good bet. Because of mahogany's midrange, a player with "dark hands" will tend to sound darker on a mahogany guitar. A bright player will sound slightly less bright.

 

Tropical Mahogany Featured Models

Back and Side Woods Overview

The hardwoods used for a guitar’s back and sides (the same species is used for both) contribute rigidity and stability to an acoustic guitar body. This helps generate more sustain from notes as they ring out. The back and sides woods also emphasize certain resonant frequencies in ways that add unique sonic colors and textures to the guitar’s overall sound. 

Body Woods and Acoustic Guitar Tone

Along with body shape and top woods, the woods used for the back and sides of an acoustic guitar play a key role in coloring the guitar’s voice. Hardwoods, such as rosewood, mahogany, koa and maple, are exclusively used. They provide the supportive shell of the guitar body, and their hardness and density add the rigidity that helps generate sustain from the notes.

Explore All Acoustic Features