Rosewood vs Mahogany

[Fresh1985]

Originally Posted by Johan Madsen

I know this poll is stupid, but it's so fun to chat about tonewood, so if you only had one guitar, which tonewood for back and sides would you choose?
Personnaly, I don't like rosewood that much (though there's exceptions). Overwhelming bass, tiny metallic trebles, overtones staying in the way and so on...I love mahogany

Hi johan, I have to say im pretty much on the fence, I like both for different reasons. I recently brought a furch oom33sr, which I was very dissapointed with, far too much bass in my opinion, in the end I ended up swapping it for an OM33SR which is a totally different guitar, wonderfully versatile and just sounds incredible IMO.I notice you have a OM32SM and wonderhow they compare I was only able to try a OM guitar with cedar and mahogany which I didnt care for. I do think though that mahogany probably works better on the OO sized guitars, the smaller body of the OOM size with the rosewood is just to dark and cluttered IMO.

so in summary I would probably want one of each! a furch oom32sm is my next guitar.

[rsfanforever]

Rosewood for me, just love the overtones and tone.

[Johan Madsen]

Originally Posted by Fresh1985

Hi johan, I have to say im pretty much on the fence, I like both for different reasons. I recently brought a furch oom33sr, which I was very dissapointed with, far too much bass in my opinion, in the end I ended up swapping it for an OM33SR which is a totally different guitar, wonderfully versatile and just sounds incredible IMO.I notice you have a OM32SM and wonderhow they compare I was only able to try a OM guitar with cedar and mahogany which I didnt care for. I do think though that mahogany probably works better on the OO sized guitars, the smaller body of the OOM size with the rosewood is just to dark and cluttered IMO.

so in summary I would probably want one of each! a furch oom32sm is my next guitar.

Hi Fresh, I was precisely hesitating between the OM 32 SM and an OM 35 SR when I bought mine, I played both in the shop during at least one hour, fingerstyle, lead and strumming, and came to conclusion that the 32 SM fitted my style better. The reason was the same than those you mentioned for the 0033SR, the bass was huge, great for some stuffs, but overwhelming everything in my opinion. The other thing I didn't like was the lack of mids, characteristic of rosewood. The OM 35 SR is a great guitar, very deep and rich sounding, very responsive and with huge projection. If I had to go to rosewood this is the one I would go for, but mahogany as said before fits my style better, as it's much more balanced and dry. I haven't tried any of Furch"s 0032SM but I'm sure they're great! Congratulations for your OM33SR, soon or later I'll get an OM of their vintage SR serie for sure, but before that I'll go for a maple or Walnut Om, which seems great

[Fresh1985]

Originally Posted by Johan Madsen

Hi Fresh, I was precisely hesitating between the OM 32 SM and an OM 35 SR when I bought mine, I played both in the shop during at least one hour, fingerstyle, lead and strumming, and came to conclusion that the 32 SM fitted my style better. The reason was the same than those you mentioned for the 0033SR, the bass was huge, great for some stuffs, but overwhelming everything in my opinion. The other thing I didn't like was the lack of mids, characteristic of rosewood. The OM 35 SR is a great guitar, very deep and rich sounding, very responsive and with huge projection. If I had to go to rosewood this is the one I would go for, but mahogany as said before fits my style better, as it's much more balanced and dry. I haven't tried any of Furch"s 0032SM but I'm sure they're great! Congratulations for your OM33SR, soon or later I'll get an OM of their vintage SR serie for sure, but before that I'll go for a maple or Walnut Om, which seems great

Yes interesting I actually found the 33sr rosewood very balanced and didnt find the bass too overwhelming at all, I wander if they have a more premum wood grade on the 35sr which gives it an even richer sound? Who knows.

I dont think I would ever be content with just owning a hog guitar just like i wont owning just a rosewood. I do find however much more variation in sound with rosewoods, i could play a rosewood which I hate and then one I love, mahogany tend to all fall within the same range, but then that might just be my very limited experience.

[lizzard]

My daughter used to ask me (sons too), "Dad, what's you're favorite color?"

My response was always (much to their frustration) "My favorite color what?"

I like green grass, blue skys, purple plumbs, black plasma screens, etc...

I have one RSW, 1 HOG, 1 Myrtle, 1 Maple.

I have always HATED Maple guitars, until now. This one goes to rigamortis. Honestly, I think a builder can make most B/S sets sound like each other. Bracing, voicing, and top-wood are much more important variables.

More overtone, less overtone, reverby, dry, punchy/woody/bright/warm....


Whatever, spend the time finding the right luthier, the rest will take care of itself. If you are looking factory (eg Taylor, Martin, Gibson), look a lot. Same for small batch builders (eg Collings, H&D, etc...).

[hovishead]

I have two rosewood and two mahogany guitars so I couldn't vote. I love them more than each other depending on my mood or the song I'm playing.

[jpd]

Originally Posted by DanR

Don't worry about it. I can't remember seeing this particular type of poll in recent memory.

By the way, it's not a stupid poll at all. Being a rosewood guy the vast majority of the time, I was a bit surprised to see that mahogany has such a big lead.

Thanks for the poll, seriously!

You Michigan guys are so serious......go Spartans!