I think he’s talking about necks, flattop back&sides, etc. Correct me if I’m wrong. Which would be Honduran mahogany, which is not always from Honduras, but in that region.
Right, Swietenia Macrophylla's range extends from Mexico to Brazil:
From the
usual source:
Honduran or big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), with a range from Mexico to southern Amazonia in Brazil, the most widespread species of mahogany and the only true mahogany species commercially grown today.[1]Illegal logging of S. macrophylla, and its highly destructive environmental effects,[2] led to the species' placement in 2003 on Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the first time that a high-volume, high-value tree was listed on Appendix II.[3]
In 1907 the total of mahogany from all sources imported into Europe was 159,830 tons,
of which 121,743 tons were from West Africa.[37] By this time mahogany from Cuba, Haiti and other West Indian sources had become increasingly difficult to obtain in commercial sizes, and by the late 20th century Central American and even South American mahogany was heading in a similar direction. In 1975 S. humilis was placed on CITES Appendix II followed by S. mahagoni in 1992.
The most abundant species, S. macrophylla, was placed on Appendix III in 1995 and moved to Appendix II in 2003.
I don’t think the various African mahoganies (khaya, sapele, etc) were common until later.
I thought that as well but now think perhaps the qualifier should be "
in North America".
Previously it's gotten by me that 3/4 of Europe's tonnage was coming from Africa in the early 1900's, perhaps not in-coincidentally during the still-extant period of Colonial Rule preceding WW I.
I do believe that the majority of tonnage in North America was from South America, though, and that builders here only started looking for alternatives in '95 when Honduran was placed on CITES sched II, and
that was further motivated when it was bumped up from sched II to sched III in '03.
Note that would have coincided with the F30 Koa Avalon Island Limited Edition out of Corona, and other builders' early experiments with Koa and Sapele..
Don't think Westerly ever used Koa.
I believe the Guild Mark III's were Peruvian Mahogany.
Don't know if this is new or I just never "retained it" before, but the same Wiki link says:
The leading importer of mahogany is the United States, followed by Britain;[1] while the largest exporter today is Peru, which surpassed Brazil after that country banned mahogany exports in 2001.
So while that doesn't "prove" it's Peruvian, it proves it's been a significant source for some time, at least.
IIRC at New Hartford (which is not what was asked) wood was stored for at least 6 months. They had a drying "oven" and a humidity controlled storage room. I think those were for consistency when the wood was used rather than because it was greenish when purchased.
Reference to a kiln was made in Guild Gallery #1, as well, and it's not uncommon.
It provides a more controlled and consistent curing of green wood.
Another question; how long did Guild typically own the wood before using it? Did they have to do any curing or aging of their woods? But I'm assuming they didn't buy their wood green.
This article from one of the Guild Gallerys gives some insight:
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/articles/woodselection.pdf
It explains that Willie Fritscher used to go directly to lumber suppliers and select the
logs, although I'm pretty darn sure he let the mills cut 'em, but drying
is normally part of that process, and I'm sure the "raw" slabs were further dried at Westerly to optimum moisture content for guitar making.
How long did they own it?
Don't think I ever saw an answer to that, but would be kind of surprised if they intentionally stored it strictly to "Age" it.
Only ever heard of a stash of Brazilian that was conserved for special uses, and it occurs to me that even this may have been "topped off" over the years.
Example the 50th Anni D55's (Corona '03) were supposed to have been built with Braz from the "Stash", IIRC.
And there was even some Braz sighted at New Hartford although I don't recall if it was ID'd as having been from "the" long-standing stash or not.
