Tapping mahogany

[Dave Bagwill]

A few years back, I bought a mahogany back and side set from a luthier you probably know, who is not represented on this Forum.
I've not worked with mahogany much; I took that wood out today for a project and tapped on the back material and was hoping for a good sound, and instead got - well, kinda like tapping on an empty sock.
The board is at .110", a little thick, but still - does mahogany usually ring out when tapped?

[ken cierp]

Genuine Mahogany can be very "Sitka like" Sapele is very hard in comparison and has a more of a Maple tap tone. I have found Arfican Mahogany a bit disappointing -- its the one that has a pinkish cast to it. Its stringy when being machined and I wonder if the cross grain structure has a damping affect?

[Kevin in California]

The Santos Mahogany I have rings like a rosewood...a very dense wood. I haven't built with honduras or african so I can't comment on those.

Kevin

[TonyinNYC]

Sometimes just moving where you hold the board will change how it taps. However, some wood just does not tap well. I built with a set of walnut that sounded like cardboard when tapped, but it made a great guitar. Didn't Torres make a guitar with papier mache' back and sides to prove it was the sound board above all else that makes the noises we hear coming from guitars? Yes. Yes it was Torres. So I wouldn't worry so much about the tap tone. Granted Brazilian will normally have a very nice, ringing tap, but like I said about the walnut, sounded awful, made a great guitar.
Less thinking, more building. Mmmkay?

[Herman]

I built one with Sapele. Made a great guitar in the end, but had a taptone like mud. Nasty crossgrained wood. Hard to plane.

[Dave Bagwill]

Less thinking, more building. Mmmkay?

[TonyinNYC]

Perfect.