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Question about a specific tonal characteristic of vintage Les Pauls

Tim

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Jul 15, 2001
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1,860
This is the best info I've found on the history of Mahogany imported into the US...

"There is much confusion as to their common names, with bigleaf mahogany often being called true mahogany, geniune mahogany, South American mahogany or Honduran mahogany."

"Swietenia mahogani, known as Caribbean, Cuban or true mahogany, is found from the tip of southern Florida and throughout the West Indies. Swietenia humilis, known as Honduran mahogany, is found on the Pacific coastal region of Central America. Both of these species are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Flaura and Fauna, known as CITES. This means that countries trading in these species need to verify that sources are legal and sustainable and all trade must come with paperwork showing origin.

The majority of the trade in mahogany is currently bigleaf, S. macrophylla. This species is now listed on Appendix II of CITES after decades of lobbying by environmental groups and counter-lobbying by industry groups."

"The US is the largest importer of mahogany by volume and by dollar value. US demand helped to decimate the populations of Caribbean and Honduran mahogany. Later, big-leafed mahogany was targeted, first mostly in Central America. US mahogany imports from around 1900 to 1960 were almost entirely from Belize and Mexico3. Mahogany in these countries has been reduced to third-rotation trees that are still being cut, often illegally, before they even mature.

US imports from 1960 to 2002 were largely from Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. Since Bolivia's change in forestry law, exports of mahogany have fallen. From 1995 to 1998, U.S. imports from Bolivia decreased by two-thirds, while U.S. imports from Peru surged nearly fourfold4. Further, with Brazil's recent crackdown on illegal mahogany logging (after decades of calls by environmental organizations) and Bolivia's shift to mostly certified logging operations, since 2002, Peru has become the largest exporter to the US. Much of the logging there is illegal, as most of it was in Brazil and much of it in Bolivia."
 
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ADP

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Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
681
My vintage Lester, which has a repaired headstock and reset neck, has unmistakable output and sustain - only a handful of guitars have ever compared in my life experience. However, I have a 2001 "Oxblood" R4 that has Pigtail Music studs and bridge and custom wound Lollars, and while it's a wraptail style it actually compares acoustically and also resonance-wise. It sounds like an early searing '57 Goldtop. Edwin Wilson told me my particular Oxblood was "very special" as he had a hand on my shoulder and peered deep into my soul, for whatever that is worth! 😂
 

EXPLRGAB

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Jul 4, 2020
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108
i just happen to have found it again and plugged it into another discussion.. TIM PIERCE AND RHETT guitar shopping ...SORT OF CONJURES UP...BATMAN AND ROBIN....what is your take.

Here is an R8, GREG KOCH DEMO....for WILDWOOD.....Since this is the SUBJECT under discussion. What do you all think. ?...what is your nuanced assessment of criteria ?...realizing that GREG KOCH can deliver the goods on any decent guitar.
 

Jumping@Shadows

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Dec 11, 2003
Messages
1,330
I’ve had a few score ‘50s carved top Les Pauls from ‘52-‘60, and probably 20 or so ‘68/early ‘69s, both Goldtop and Custom, and I would say the late ‘60s are more strident and direct than ‘50s, which for want of a better description are more ‘refined’.
I’ve had a few ‘52s which were ‘plinky’ sounding, and well suited to the early electric music they were designed for, and a couple late ‘60s which were less impressive in terms of richness and ‘3D’ quality vs ‘50s, but for a kick-ass, legit vintage feeling and sounding LP, you can’t go wrong with a ‘68, although they’re much harder to find than ‘50s!
 
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