Martin Tonewood Comparison - Mahogany vs Rosewood vs Maple
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Today we have an awesome comparison between three small body custom Martin models… Rosewood vs Mahogany vs Maple. Which one sounds best to your ears?
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Once I heard one youtuber explaining these tonewoods in EQ way, it totally changed how I looked at it, especially maple, which I thought was bright as everyone says, but actually it’s the most balanced of these three. From EQ perspective it makes sense why it sounds more bright than the other two, but I don’t think it should be described as bright, it’s basically that lows, mids and highs are at pretty much same levels. With rosewood, mids are cut, so you hear more bass but also highs, and mahagony has lows and highs cut, so you hear mids the most. Maple doesn’t cut anything, so you hear everything the same, that’s all. To me it means that maple is one of three equal configurations and it goes down to taste or application for what to use the best.
Mahogany: The virtuoso guitar for mere mortals. If I was going to be buried with it, it would have to be Rosewood as the heavenly smell is as close as I will probably get. If I am to play it all day: Mahogany (stellar sound + a justifiable price point). Justifiable = "Honey, I got this great deal on, yes, another guitar." Fantastic video!
Nice arguments
The rosewood had the most projection and sounded less boxy - rosewood for me!
Beautiful comparison
I thought I was a rosewood guy, too, until I got a mahogany! I do love the smell of a rosewood when you first open the case, and yes, I may have breathed in the aroma from the sound hole! For overall sound, I would choose an 18 over a 28 any day!
these guitars only smell like glue :(
Really useful comparison! I never paid much attention to the back tonewood but learned I like the rosewood (deeper, richer) and maple (brighter, punchier) best. I now see that I need both :-)
I did enjoy them all but that maple, well I have a new appreciation for maple.
maple is sick Taylor Gibson Martin doesn’t matter need more
Thanks for the test ...very distinct differences...I liked the maple best...explains why I own a few...all great ...just, to my ear,I love that maple sound!
Mahogany and Rosewood very similar. Maple was drastically different. All beautiful, but I prefer Mahogany
I gots a D15M and the tone and aroma that comes from this beauty is Awe inspiring , Love my Martin Love my Lord and Love that He gave them “Martin company” the gumption to do what they do. Thank you Martin guitar co.
If I was just playing, maybe the mahogany but the maple has a great voice. I would choose the Rosewood to sing with for the bass tones. Thanks Quinton and Paul.
I've always played jumbos or dreads, never really ventured into the smaller body guitars other than my GSMini that I bought for travel. I have to say, I am very impressed with the tone of these. The mahogany sounds the best to me, but hard to tell via YT. Will have to get my hands on one and see how it sounds with my style of playing. You guys are the best!
I bought a Martin Custom Shop 0-15 12-fret off a guy who was retiring and thinning out his herd. The Mahogany top just sounds amazing with the mellow midrange sweetness! I really love the ebony fretboard. I much prefer the feel and look of ebony to rosewood.
The best acoustic guitar channel
Great job. Very well done. Thank you.
looking to get an all mahogany acoustic.
i have an all maple and, to me*, i think its only good for playing lead over other acoustics.
This comparison didn't really surprise me, with rosewood - for me - being the boldest, out-there sound, the maple had a very sweet tone.
My ear used to favor the richness of Rosewood. A few years and four guitars later I still have my eye on one or two others! One is never enough but it is a great place to start?
That was my earlier preference. But as one gets older, we become more accustomed to different possibilities, different sounds, develop a tonal pallet.
For Finger pick I would choose the Mable if it's strumming, then I would go for Mahogany. Yet again Quinn you were playing beautiful thank you for the show to both of you.
DEMO’S
4:51 Mahogany
5:14 Rosewood
5:38 Maple
maple 1:47
rosewood 2:04
mahogany 2:18
Mahogany please and thanks. For some reason, I always gravitate to that wood.
I loved my Taylor 324ce, but I think with Maple and some older strings, you got an amazing sounding guitar for recording.
I always thought that maple sounded "too bright" or even "brittle", but after listening to some well built guitars made out of maple it's one of the few tonewoods that I seem to prefer over rosewood when worked correctly by a builder that understands how to pair them.
The first time I tried the d-18 it was like magic, the first chord I played sounded like nothing I've ever heard. I tried more martins that day, from the affordable Mexican manufactured to the John Mayer signature and the best one was the d-18!
I had the same experience with a D-18 ☺️
Played a D 18 and 28 yesterday need them both 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤
Love your videos, love this body style for little martins. My vote is for the rosewood.
It's all about the soundboards. My tried and true statement. Oh, and it's also about the back and sides. And the neck woods.
But, what it all boils down to is how does that particular guitar sound and play to you?
This is a wonderful illustration of how the back and side woods used influence output sound.
My preference among these three guitars?
1) Rosewood.
1) Maple.
(Yes, despite clear differences, I like them both equally).
3) Mahogany.
It would be nice to own all three. Ahh, to have that amount of discretionary funding.
Singing along, maple sounds the best for my voice. Thank you for this cool video.
"Oh to live on....Sugar Mountain...." -- that's what I heard when Q played the rosewood. But I like them all.
I like 'em all. Would love to have heard a cedar top on the mahogany and the rosewood......and a spruce top on the mahogany
I liked the rosewood best. I do like maple, but on larger guitars. Mahogany sounds fine as well.
Did they ever make a maple B+S with mahogany / torrefied adirondack top ?
Rosewood gives more powerful basses without sacrificing the highs; maple is crystal clear and has like an aura; mahogany is like in between those two, but with no special feature... great video. Thanks
They all sound superb...what I hear through my Bose headphones is the rosewood has very scoop in mids, less balance string for string and lots of overtones. The maple is just the opposite, very balanced string to string with a dry bass, less volume and resonance. The hog seems to be in between both with a very good range of tones from bass to treble, positive on the mids and a huge resonance with added chime on top.
All three sounded great!! Mahogany had clear bass, even mids, less highs. Rosewood had decent lows, less mids, and clear highs. Maple had least lows, even mids, and crystal clear highs. Tough call!! Love enough bass to be heard/felt while not being boomy. Mids need to be even and absolutely require clear highs. Martin Mahogany body with Adi top or get a Mahogany Taylor with Spruce top. Between these three I choose Rosewood. Gotta have clear highs.
On this guitar size, Mahogany is the best sounding wood, Rosewood is best used on dreads.
Does the mahogany guitar also have a mahogany top?
Preferred the mahogany, sounded mellow yet a little punchy. Thats just my ear though. I also
liked the rosewood and the maple. They all have their place, just depends on what your playing.
Hey man glad you got it unboxed. Now you have had it a while what you think about the sound . Is it too bright or a good balance with good base. Thinking about pulling the trigger on one. Every review sounds different. Let me know something when you get time ? Thanks Jeff Clark from Austin Texas
Rosewood sounds fine, but for me, Mahogany has the best sound of them all
What if the body from mahogani and the neck from maple, is that ok?
I have now 2 guitars with maple sides, rosewood back and spruce top. These are my best sounding.
In my opinion, small-bodied instruments sound best with rosewood (unless it's a ukulele) and large ones sound better with mahogany. Of course, that's a generalization, but I think the extended dynamic range of rosewood helps to make the smaller body shine while the clear, crisp mahogany helps to let the top wood project and ring out in a larger body.
Maple sounds incredible, but only when done right...and when not right, it is just far too tinny for my liking.
Thanks for the excellent comparison!
Rosewood is my favorite here, but I like them all.
Mahogany to my tin ear.
I really want to like Rosewood because of it's great aesthetics but nothing beats Sitka with mahogany B&S combo. It just have that very balance, round, warm tone. & it sounds like how an acoustic guitar should sound like.
Okay well i just did a third run-through listen, this time eyes closed the whole time. Although I personally prefer the sound of the mahogany the most (for whatever reason), I will submit now that the rosewood does indeed offer a bit more in its bass response. Perhaps almost a bit too “heavy” for this size of guitar - it distorted the mic gain a few milliseconds here and there, but no I did not hear the infamously-rumored mid-range notch-down “science” says it’s supposed to. Even with eyes closed. The mids were still there, maybe even more prominent than the mahogany strangely! Really good stuff guys. Thanks again.
I've come to notice that the focus of smaller body guitars kinda gets rid of the "mid-scoop" people would expect. The manufacturer and bracing mean a lot, too...maybe not as much with Martin since so many other guitar companies have tried to copy that sound, but Gibsons are nearly on the opposite side of the spectrum.
This demo is probably the most important and revealing of any tonewood comparison we have seen on RUclips. Firstly the guitars are similar spec, spruce tops and most importantly, quality small bodied 14 fret instruments all in one shot. The small body shape is critical because there are few, if any distracting overtones, what you hear is a very clean and pure sound from each guitar.
This allows for a highly audible assessment of each back&side tonewood, and rarely will you hear it more revealing than this. It's also a great way of understanding what it is you are looking for in the tone of a guitar before buying. Each are so different, the only answer is to have an example of all three, but for solo work the clarity and articulation of maple is unbeatable in this body shape. Mahogany is the choice for an all-rounder with snap, rosewood for richness and punch essential for group acoustic sessions when you need it.
Alamo Music did a great tone wood comp. Basically, Mahogany you'll get the best mids, Rosewood Bass and treble, Maple is balanced.
I’ve been obsessed with studying tonewoods lately. Even my wife (not a player - just a music lover) has gotten into it and also finds it fascinating. Scientifically speaking, based on the charts and graphs, rosewood “should” offer us more bass response & sound warmer while notching out some of the midrange. (I just got a ‘94 Taylor 710 dread for this reason (Yes, i know, totally psyched 🎉) But your video illustrates strangely that mahogany still sounds a bit warmer and richer. I was quite surprised. Rosewood did NOT notch out the mids from what I could tell, and frankly didn’t offer more bass response as it is “scientifically” supposed to. It does make you think…. Predictably though yes maple sounded exactly as it’s supposed to, with a high-mid and high end boost, and generally crispier sound to it. Great for jumbos, which I play a lot. Perhaps not as good for smaller guitars like these. That mahogany… boy it really got me thinking. Loved it. Thanks as always guys 👍. Great video.
TranscTV Good comment, I too am fascinated by tonewoods. However it is specifically the smaller body shapes in this demo that gives us the clearest, most accurate idea of how these woods sound.
And yet most "tonewoods" was chosen because they were easy to work with, plentiful and cheap to obtain at the times(not anymore), not for their sound properties ;)
@@podfuk So Stradivarius chose to make his violins out of wood from crates and pallets? Come on, show some intelligence, either that or you're giving us a laugh!
@@maxwellfan55 I consider Bob Taylor to be intelligent, and he said he can make maple guitar sound same as mahogany one. You need to change construction a bit, different wood thickness, different bracing, etc, but he can do it. And how come some carbon guitars sound as good or better then wood ones?
I'd like to add that, apart from how we treat the wood, and the construction we use for the instruments, species of tree isn't the only factor, but which individual tree was used can also make a difference, and even what part of the tree.
To my ear, the Mahogany was very balanced, the Rosewood was rich with nice lows, the Maple, was of couse bright, but the spruce top connects the dots.
Not making a judgment call with regard the quality of the overall sound, but it sounded most like Neil Young with the rosewood.
On my iMac with internal speakers- Rosewood felt most inspiring to me, followed by mahogany. I have mahogany guitars, yet to get rosewood- D28 or HD28?.... Still lusting after CEO 7 no matter what, though. Actually had two in my hands...
I like mahogany but have to admit the rosewood shined in this comparison
Martin makes 0 sized Maple guitars with a tramp stamp now?
BTW, took delivery of a MV 0000-36 SS. It’s wonderful. Setup just to my specs. Well done all around.
Martin's custom shop will make you just about anything you'd like.
And barring any exotic (read EXPENSIVE) woods like Brazilian RW, or Guatemalan RW, they aren't much more than a standard series.
Sometimes even less!
Thanks again Joe! -Chad
It’s not just personal preference. It’s the purpose you’ll give to the guitar. For a street performer with no amplification mahogany would work. If you are in a studio recording mahogany it’s the worst of the worst. Too much midrange, dull, unclear, sounds too hollow and the list of cons is literally endless. But if you are new you’ll love mahogany.
Demo starts at 4:51.
Torn between maple and mahogany. I wonder how the blend would be with mahogany back and maple sides or vice versa.
surprised at how much I liked the maple
It's all about mahogany for this guy.
It all boils down to preference & application.
Mahogany = Low Mids
Rosewood = Mids
Maple = Upper Mids/Presence
An ear opening experience. Martin is probably is best known for for it's rosewood guitars, but to my ears, mahogany was my favorite followed by the maple with the rosewood trailing. YMMV.
Love maple, It's like mahogany on steroids
Maple for me
Maple is just too bright and punchy, personally not my style but I can see why some people like it, maybe with time the wood will break in and sound the best, just like Koa backside. Rosewood is best for fingerpicking since its high and low ends are very distinctive. Mahagony has a very balance sound and is all about the mid range, suitable if you're into many styles of play and music. I'll choose Rosewood tho for its look and picking sounds, even tho I've only had Mahagony backs for my guitars.
These are smaller guitars as well so do take that into consideration. Rosewood back is typically used for smaller guitar because it brightens up the sound, whereas Mahogany is not so great and sounds a little dull on a smaller guitar.
I think using small-bodied guitars for this comparison adds another variable into the mix, but all three guitars sound like they could fill the room. I was surprised at how warm the mahogany sounded. The rosewood showed more presence and note separation to my ear. The maple was certainly brightest -- no surprise -- but I found the charm wore off the more I heard it played. Still, if you want to fill an auditorium with a small-bodied guitar, choose maple.
I always choose mahogany. Today though, the rosewood calls my ear.
Mohagany is the stuff
Mahogany, the warm tones always grab me, Maple 2nd.
As accompaniment for voice, IMHO it's Maple.
I think the gloss finish might be a bigger factor.
Mahogany all the way. The maple looks great.
Rosewood sounded the best to me on this video.
Got hog rosewood ovangkol (has a built in reverb kind of ); Got classical rosewood y euro spruce y I am happier but need more like Santa Cruz( hog rocks)
I didn’t like the rosewood one in this comparison the maple sounded better to me than the mahogany.
Gorgeous parlors or 00👍. I guess it's unaffordable though...
All 3 are single 0. 😁👍🏼
@@kellyc2425 and unaffordable! LOL
@@kellyc2425 Ok. Thanks, I forgot about the 0.✌
Certainly rosewood is the winner here. But there are various types of rose wood.
maple needs bigger body for bass, mahogany doesn't need bigger body because it has enough bass. if you can see taylor 518e or j-200 mahogany, martin super d with mahogany, please pass it.the sound is dumbfounded.
rosewood won
You can take 2 identical guitars they wont sound exactly a like so this is subjective at best
Stop use this Guy to stiff liké captain Hook horfull
i dont hear much of a difference to be honest
mahogany is best
brazilian rosewood is best, but that sure is not it...