So whats you initial reaction to a mahogany tele?

[zanemoseley]

I decided I wanted to build a warmoth tele for blues slide. I kept looking at different woods, usually ash or alder with a premium wood top. I didn't want to pay $400 for the body but couldn't find a solid color that I really liked. Then I thought why not do a mahogany body and neck and finish with a semi-transparent heritage red finish like the old SG's. So I've decided to go with a mahogany body and neck with an ebony fretboard. Body neck and headstock will be finished in heritage red and will have a nitro clear finish. I'll be doing the finishing myself with reranch.com instructions and products.

So whats you initial reaction to this for a slide tele? Many tele guys say if its not ash or alder then its not a tele, well the body I bought from Warmoth yesterday sure looks like a tele body lol.

[jwells393]

The 69 Thinline is considered to be a Tele and many of them are done in mahogony.

[BmoreTele]

The beauty about doing it yourself is that you don't have to please anybody else.

I have a big hunk of pin oak aging out back that I might make into a guitar someday. Ever hear of a guitar made of oak?

At least folks have been using mahogany for years.

What about the Tele Jr they put out a few years back that looked like a cross between a Tele an SG and an LP Jr.? Mahogany body and neck, set neck, cherry red, cute little tortoise pickguard, 2 P90's, hard tail Strat bridge.

Check out some of the cool weirdness they come up with at the TeleModders website.

http://www.telemodders.com/

[zanemoseley]

Here's a warmoth tele with a oak cap.

LONG LINK made shorter with URL tags (so it doesn't stretch the page width)

[mrcheese]

My Warmoth Tele




It sounds great with P-90's :P
More pic's
http://medlem.spray.se/mrcheesedoodle/index.html

[Coyote]

Originally Posted by mrcheese

My Warmoth Tele




It sounds great with P-90's :P
More pic's
http://medlem.spray.se/mrcheesedoodle/index.html

Good God, man That is beautiful, how much did it cost to make that?

[Maestro]

That is a truely beautifull telecaster. Whats it laminated with? I Love how that thing looks.

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by zanemoseley

So I've decided to go with a mahogany body and neck with an ebony fretboard.

Well now there then...I KNOW I have a mahogany bodied Teleguitar around here someplace. But since all of mine are painted I can't figure out which is which without pulling off the neck or taking something else off. To make a long story even longer, if there is a difference in sound between the mahogany and the other ones I have, I can't hear it. There must be other things that make bigger differences than body wood.

I am sure that the geetar you have spec'd out will be spiffy. What kind of pickups are you putting on it?

[zanemoseley]

Probably some Fralin blues specials or some Fender Texas Specials. The only thing I can't decide is if I want a 10-16" compound radius fretboard or a 16" fretboard. The 16" would be great for slide but if I ever decided to make it a regular guitar at a later date then it may not play that well with such a flat fretboard.

[zanemoseley]

Mr.Cheese is that a 5A quilt top? My next tele will be a ash backed 5A quilt top dyed.

[red57strat]

Considering that I have a Les Paul Junior in my hands as I read this, I like the idea.

It'd be a different kind of Tele though. Smooth and mellow accoustically, with hot pickups that make it scream plugged in.

[fullerplast]

Here's my Warmoth mahogany tele, hollow body w/maple top and short scale mahog/rw neck, nitro finish. Great sounding combination!

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by red57strat

Considering that I have a Les Paul Junior in my hands as I read this, I like the idea.

It'd be a different kind of Tele though. Smooth and mellow accoustically, with hot pickups that make it scream plugged in.

WOW! Since I have my hands on my new Gibson Melody Maker while reading this, I fully agree.

[eggman]

Zanemosley,

If you want to try, go ahead! I did the same thing some 2 years ago and haven't regretted it. I ordered a Mahogany body and Maple neck from Tommy at USA custom Guitars ( I had a bad exeprience with Warmoth earlier).
For NO extra charge, Tommy found two pieces of FLAMED Mahogany! He put 'em together and bevelled the back (Strat style, to save some weight ) and it was lovely.
I Tung-oiled it and it came out looking great; sort of an Amber/Orange hue. With DiMarzio Twang Kings, it won't twang and snap like an Ash bodied Tele, but the darker tone and added sustain are unique. Don't forget to take weight inot consideration. Consider having a "tummy cut" or fore arm conour for added comfort and reduced weight. You could also ask for a light piece of Mahogany. Good luck!

Eggman

[JoeyV]

That guitar is absolutely breathtaking..wow what a flame on it...

[mellecaster]

Zane...I wouldn't worry about the 16" radius....I've got a Korean Tele clone w/ a 16" flat board..that I was concerned about at first...but after a fret dressing, and running the neck almost dead flat...it's one of my favorites....and this is coming from a 7.25 guy...or just get a real thick 16" neck for slide...and then later, if you ever want to go back to normal...just pop a mexican or Allparts neck on it....the beauty of Bolt together guitars..(Leo had his head right) :P

[Sarge]

Mahogany is my wood of choice for ANY guitar.

[Jakedog]

My main guitar is a custom made tele copy, with a mostly hollow mahogany body and a Lacewood top. I love mahogany bodied guitars, tele or otherwise. Mine also has a VERY flat fretboard, compound radiused from 16 at the nut to 22 at the other end. It plays like nothing else I have ever put my hands on. I love the flat radius.

So, in answer to your intial question, my initial reaction to what you have decribed would be:

Cool! I can't wait to see pics!


Jake

[kp8]

i have owned about 5 moohagany geetars in my life 3 of them had WICKED dead spots and one had the most lifeless dull sound on the E and A strings. Maybe i had bad luck, maybe i don't like it as a tone wood... who knows, but i generally avoid Moohagany like the plague. That said my '69 RI is pretty sweet and snappy. I have had much better luck with ash and alder and even agathis. Basewood i could live without too, i had a basswood guitar that was really soft and dented if you blew on it.

YMMV and all that.....

[DickT]

It's a body by a guy on eBAY with a beautiful flame maple cap. I finished the cap in amber and the body is a dark mahogany. The neck is paduak with an ebony board from Warmoth with no finish. The pickups are Harmonic Designs Z90's since the body was already routed for two humbuckers.

It's wonderful for slide--it can be warm, biting, or singing. All three switch positions have a great sound. It stays in open E with slightly raised action. Weighs about nine pounds though.

I've also got a G&L GbL-LE which is a semi hollow G&L ASAT in mahogany with three s-500 MFD pickups.

dick thaxter

[Ronkirn]

Very few realize that His Eminence, Sir Leo tried Mahogany in the early 60’s. By that time Buddy Holly, The Ventures and a few other musicians had helped Fender guitars become household words.

Once Leo’s babies had recognition, he wanted to up the antty, in his burgeoning competition with Gibson, so a few of the more popular Fenders were introduced with mahogany bodies. You will also recall bound necks and block position markers.

Since the marketing strategy was to target the amateur market initially with a decent and inexpensive guitar, exotics like mahogany were rejected in favor of the more common Ash and Alder. This is also why the early Fenders had blondie necks. Rosewood costs 500% more than Maple.

Since Mahogany was more expensive, the resulting guitars were more expensive, and sales were not as expected. Thus a year or two later the Mahogany bodied Fenders were dropped, and Ash and Alder once again assumed their proper position at the head of the table.

It was During the CBS years that all kind of unique things were introduced, few of them good. ‘bout the only one was the Thinline.

Today, as a luthier, I build a pot load of Mahogany Teles, and I gotta tell ya. I love em. With good pups, bad pups and everything in between, they sound sweet. My personal guitars, two Teles and a Strat, are all one piece Mahogany. I can make them from anything and I choose Mahogany. Of course it’s been a long time since I stood up for a couple of sets with a 9 pound guitar hanging around my neck. But they do sound beautiful. Plus they all have that good ‘ol Tele twang,

Gawd. . . I love this stuff.

Ron Kirn

[stevedenver]

my two cents-i have one in korina (mighty close to mahogany)(its got double tele coils in the bridge and neck...

its a great tele-heavier by a bit indeed but nice sustain, very very nice sound -to be honest while i hear some difference its really hard to attribute it to the body-that ol tele bridge IMHO is the possible the most really defining aspect of tele sound-and this tele has humbuckers and still sounds tele

i personally would love to see a LIGHT weight mahog tele in LP gold top clothing-bronze powder and natural mahog back with binding-jus cuz....

but that black bound gold sparkle buck owens is also stunning-i want that very guitar but in blue sparkle

[wenis]

If I build a Tele it will be in Rosewood. Anyone heard a solid rosewood tele yet?

[BB]

Originally Posted by Sarge

Mahogany is my wood of choice for ANY guitar.

I'm with Sarge on this one. Mahogany may not be the best option for many players, but for me, it's gold.

Not only do I love the warm, rich, organic look of the wood, the tonal properties of mahogany seem to fit me much better than other tone woods. Pickups aside, I just dig mahogany.

[Ronkirn]

Well. . . there was that lil one they gave to George Harrison..... heck though... It woodn't be worth anything today though... just an 'ol Telecaster, and a heavy one at that....


Ron Kirn

[wenis]

Originally Posted by Ronkirn

Well. . . there was that lil one they gave to George Harrison..... heck though... It woodn't be worth anything today though... just an 'ol Telecaster, and a heavy one at that....


Ron Kirn

That thing sold for almost a half mil