All mahogany or just back and sides

[Blueshoes]

Right now I have a Martin OM and a Guild Jumbo both sitka over rosewood. I am looking to buy a 00 size guitar and am considering an Alvarez MPA66 with top sides and back solid mahogany or the new Eastman 00-10 with an adirondac top and solid mahogany back and sides .

What I'd like is opinions on what I could expect the differences in sound would be. Either of these would be internet purchases so I won't have an opportunity to compare the two guitars. I know Eastman gets great reviews here and I believe the build quality would surpass the Alvarez but there is also a $500 difference in price.

The Alvarez is listed as a parlor but reading the specs it is more 00 size with a 1 3/4 nut. The Eastman has a 1 13/16 nut.

[GuitarDogs62]

I own a solid all Mahogany guitar and a Spruce top with Mahogany back and sides.

The all Mahogany will be warmer in sound and really will sound great. It will not have a deep bass end and will not have the volume that the Spruce top with Hog back and side will. It will have great mids and a good high end response. Great for flat picking, finger picking, moderate strumming and can have a bluesy sound when wanted.

The spruce with hog back and sides should have a good deep Bass, plenty of volume and is great for flat picking, strumming, finger picking. It will not be warm like an all hog guitar will.

[Mycroft]

I find that all-Mahogany guitars are a bit too mellow (in a nice way) and are not punchy enough or cut through other instruments. Thus they Do Not Play Well With Others.

Easy enough to dial it back when I want than to add punch that is not inherently there. YMMV.

TW

[Kip Carter]

I absolutely love my all Mahogany D15.

[SJ VanSandt]

The Eastman is going to sound more like your OM, only smaller, maybe a bit drier and woodier - but just a bit. The all hog guitar is going sound very different - much more fundamental, warmer, less shimmer (or none). It depends on how much difference you want. Personally, I would spring for the Eastman. My experience with all hog guitars is that, as cool as they sound at first, I end up missing what spruce gives me. But that's just me.

[roylor4]

HUGE tonal differences in these two combinations. They vary depending on builder. A lot of people like the little Alvarez parlors. I have yet to play one I like much. The best sounding parlor guitar i have played recently is a
Washburn WP21SNS

Loud, rich and punchy. very balanced for a parlor. I was very impressed and almost took it home (I DO NOT need another guitar).

The Eastman 00 will be loud, bright and punchy - very in your face if you need it.

The Alvarez hog will be dark, warm and woody - very mellow.

All Mahogany is not the perfect tone for every one. You should play a couple before buying one.

[blacknblues]

I agree with what most folks have said regarding all mahogany guitars. I will say that already having 'spruce top' guitars in your collection, an all mahogany guitar makes a nice compliment/alternative and is great for both recording and solo accompaniment.

[TBman]

The Mpa66 is at the top of my list of parlors to buy, but you have to keep in mind that you are going smaller and mellower. If you can play one first see if you can compare it to a Martin 000-15m. You may not want to downsize and change woods completely.

[Dominick]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

I absolutely love my all Mahogany D15.

I can relate Kip, mine is an addiction I can't find the words to describe.

[fitness1]

All mahogany is certainly an acquired taste - as a general rule they are going to lack dynamics a little more than an equally appointed spruce top guitar.

In my experience, if you like the sound of your guitar when your strings are past played in and starting to go, you may like the tone of an all mahogany instrument.

[Br1ck]

"I find that all-Mahogany guitars are a bit too mellow (in a nice way) and are not punchy enough or cut through other instruments. Thus they Do Not Play Well With Others."

I can not agree with the above statement. I went shopping for an all hog 00 because it cut through in a group situation. Many all hog guitars were being played at this year's Hardly Strictly festival. The big rosewood dreads were playing rhythm and the small all hogs were playing lead in bands with two acoustics. They cut through a mix like nothing else. It really made me think of looking at them, and the price is right for sure.

I'm finding that they can be very delicate played softly, and change character when you lean into them.

[Sixfir]

All depends on your playing style, IMO all hog guitars can easily turn muddy when you drive them hard, I think spruce top and mahogany back and sides is a very cool combination, as they balance themselves mutually

[Chordpounder]

I've recently picked up a birth year 00-17. I think the all-mahogany makes a fantastic couch guitar. I don't know if I'll play out with it much, because it has such an intimate sound to me. I have enough others in the herd to handle the times when I want a bigger sound. To me, the all-mahogany sounds cleaner than the other guitars.

Jeez, here I go again. Trying to use words to describe the verbally indescribable. If you can, play several all-mahoganies first, so you can pick up a set of words, too!

Richard

[BoneDigger]

Different animals for sure. I tend to like both, but for different reasons. The mahogany topped guitars I own are warmer in general and great for singing to, especially in the lower registers. The spruce topped mahogany guitars are great for dry and woody leads, like in bluegrass.

Todd

[devellis]

In my fairly limited experience with all-mahogany guitars (I've owned a couple and played a bunch more), they work best when built by a company that builds guitars with excellent projection and clarity. Collings is a good example.

With some other builders whose characteristic tone is already fairly warm, all-mahogany can result in a muddiness and lack of volume that I'm not fond of. That sound isn't a bad thing; it's just not what I usually want from a guitar. Unless you have a specific hankering for the tone of an all-mahogany guitar, I'm thinking that the spruce-topped Eastman might be the way to go.

I find the difference between spruce-topped guitars with mahogany versus rosewood backs and sides to be pretty obvious, with the mahogany having better projection and clarity and the rosewood having more lushness and roundness in its tone. Either can be plenty loud. All-mahogany tends to be warm in the sense of less crystalline trebles and fewer overtones but sometimes (not always) in a way that sounds kind of muffled. But these are just generalizations and the way the guitar is built makes a huge difference that can easily override the tone profiles we associate with various woods.

The best all-mahogany guitars for my tastes are from builders who have a lot of experience building that style and who have, as I said, perhaps a certain amount of brightness and plenty of volume built into their designs. Collings, Martin, and Santa Cruz are examples of all-mahogany guitars I've played that sounded great. Santa Cruz guitars aren't generally what I would call bright sounding but when they build in all mahogany, they appear to make changes that avoid the sort of muffled tone that some other builders get from their builds. If I had to guess, I'd bet that Goodall, a guitar that usually sounds very warm and loaded with overtones, also avoids muddiness in its all-mahogany builds because of changes in construction that accompany that wood choice. But a builder who just builds the same exact way but merely substitutes a mahogany top for a spruce one runs the risk of having the result not turn out as well, in my judgment.