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Hi Folks!

For your viewing pleasure, I have just published a profile on Cuban Mahogany as part of my ongoing tonewood database. As always, improvements, corrections and additional information/ your own experiences are much appreciated- I'll update the profile citing you and linking back to you! This may be a little contentious and but no means complete.

I can't link pics directly to here so do pop by to http://guitarbench.com/index.php/2008/1 ... -database/
for the full Visual presentation. As always, I present the text portion of the interview for your consideration- although I do highly recommend popping by to see the pics!

Warmest regards,
Terence
www.guitarbench.com

Swietenia Mahogani | Tonewood Profile | "Cuban Mahogany"

Tonewoods Database

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Quick Facts
Scientific name: Swietenia Mahogani
Trade names: Cuban Mahogany
Janka: 740
Uses: Back & sides, drop tops, necks
RIYL: Mahogany
Bling factor: Curl is uncommon.
Availability: Very limited from storm downed stock.
CITES status: listed in appendix 1
Note: (RIYL) Recommended If You Like


Natural History

Cuban Mahogany is a very close relative of Honduran Mahogany but has a native range from Florida to Cuba and Jamaica. The semi-evergreen green is slightly smaller than it’s mainland brother growing to 35m tall.

Status

Due to intensive logging, Cuban mahogany has been no longer commercially available since the 1950s. However, a few small well established plantations exist in its natural range and abroad.

Physical properties

Cuban Mahogany is a light pink when fresh oxidising to deep rich red. It is easy to work with hand or machine tools and takes a excellent polish. Compared to Honduran Mahogany, Cuban is even easier to work with. It has a closer, finer grain and carves beautifully.

It is seen in various figures, with curl, quilt and wavy grain although these are now rare.

Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.40 to 0.68; air- dry density 30 to 52 pcf.

Janka side hardness 740 lb for green material and 800 lb for dry.

As a tonewood...

Honduran mahogany has a long history as a tonewood for necks as well as tops and back & sides. With it’s easy workability and ability to take a beautiful finish, it is a popular tonewood for small and major manufacturers.

Subjective tone...

Cuban Mahogany tends to be denser than Honduran and hence has more rosewood like qualities, with a better developed midrange and low end.

Availability

Plantations occasionally yield logs wide enough for guitar sets, although old growth timber is now on the CITES appendix 1 and international trade is now banned.

Links/ References:
Wikipedia
Kinnaird guitars http://www.kinnairdguitars.com/

©2008 Terence Tan.

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Terence, thank you very much for the information. I have two beautiful sets of this hog and I must say I'm very excited about trying it out.

The one thing that really struck me was how light this wood is. It's very nice and stiff and has a very nice tap tone. In the same shipment, I also received a set of African Blackwood and it seemed to me that the two sets of CM were very close in weight to the single set of AB...

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Forget all the hype about Brazilian Rosewood, Cuban mahogany is the king of tonewoods.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Here, here!!

In case anyone wants to know where, where..... The Zootman aka: Uncle Bob of RC Tonewoods has Cuban and had a lot of it when I was there in February:

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Swietenia Mahogani is also known as Hispanolian Mahogany and is endemic to the Dominican Republic where, as well as in Cuba, it's known as 'caoba'.

There really fine reforestation project called Tree Bank / Hispanola in the Dominican Republic, along the Haitian border, that is replanting Swietenia Mahogani in it's native terrain - http://www.earthsangha.org/tb/tbmsn.html

john g.

I neglected to mention that there are quite a number of plantations which were planted in the 50's, now maturing..... hmmmm

I have to say that I worked a few pieces and I'd compare Cuban to silk and Honduran to cotton after that!

Terence
www.guitarbench.com