I build electric guitars and use Sapele quite often. I find that it works just as easily as Mahogany and if you were using a particular dense piece of Mahogany you wouldn't tell the difference between the 2 species as pertains to workability. I love the rich color of Sapele and it smells amazing, I think the only drawback for myself is that it is usually very heavy unlike Mahogany where some pieces may be heavy and dense and some much lighter and loosely grained. Because of this I only use Sapele on semi hollow or thin bodied guitars. Overall its an amazing wood, beautiful, easy to work, easy to get, and at a fraction of the cost of true Mahogany.
Hey, thanks a lot for this video. As a wood novice in all regards, I found it extremely helpful. What do you say to the prospect of flattening sapele with a handplane on my balcony? I don't have a workshop nor do I have a planer or beltsander. I was thinking about buying a really high quality handplane and to flatten strips of sapele to glue them into a cutting board, but I'm afraid of tearout :// Thanks again for the video
I have a D15 thats honduran mahogany and a D15 thats sapele. I like them both, and don't notice much difference in the way they react to the environment. Cool video man! 🐰❤️🎸🎶🤝✌️
I bent two sapele sides today for an OM and both cracked at the waist. 10 minutes for first one and 6.5 minutes for second. I am using the LMI bender and am 100% positive I got the sandwich built right. Boards are 0.083, straight grain and perfectly quartersawn. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?
Hi there I want to use sapele on the coaming of my boat to replace the teak. How do I prepare it before varnishing? Can I use an oil before the varnish to make it more vivid?
interesting video and perspective Eric i am now a retired Commercial Woodworker and in the early 90s it seemed like every Architect was specking Sapele in their jobs our Company built and installed thousands of Board feet of it and for a fact i will tell you that the Silica in the Species without excellent dust protection and extraction will make your nose bleed i also restored a Antique Wooden Mahogany Cabin Cruiser as a hobby and i had to cheat on a couple of missing or badly damaged Honduras Mahogany a substitute with a Sapele replacement after careful matching and staining and Varnish nobody could tell the difference i will note i selectively chose those areas to be a less noticeable area like it of direct natural light and not on a focus point of looking in those substitute parts it was a success and i personally didnt use Sapele on anything below the water line but instead sourced genuine Honduras Species
I like Sapele too... But a while ago I came across another really nice Mahogany substitute called Utile (youtilly) its very similar to Sapele but more often with a much nicer looking grain and appearance.
Sapele has been considered an inferior tone wood but now a lot of the premium builders are using it (the quilted stuff) In terms of the sound, it's kind of like mahogany with a little added oomph.
How well does screws hold up like trem claw screws into sepele vs mahogany?? I have a guitar coming from thoman and a few only complaints was the screws coming out of the wood in trem claw. Maybe the screw is too narrow ...idk. happend to a few out of many. But I've never really heard of this with any other guitar. Just hoping I dont have any issues. Hahaha. My T HH FNT comes tomorrow second hand.
In India, Mahogany, Sapele. Khaya , Cedar etc are not available for Guitar Neck. I can import Sapele or Khaya only , But Rosewood is easily available, can we build Guitar Neck from Rose wood only for any size like dreadnaught, OM or parlor size?
I've been working with Chinaberry wood recently, and its fantastic! also in the mahogany family (melia azederach) it resembles Burmese teak, and is buttery smooth under a router. open grain needs pore fill, but the grain is refractory and jewel-like with a gloss finish - looks about ten feet deep... makes for really competent looking tigers eye finishes (and trust me im not that competent with complicated finishes). ....exas but no one is milling/kilning it - I got my meager supply (which is almost gone now) from a place called greenwood milling in San Antonio - it was salvaged from a Chinaberry tree at the San Antonio zoo that was cut down during a recent renovation... I've seriously begun thinking about improvising some sort of mill and kiln operation in my garage just to get my hands on more... oh and the wood contains Neem oil, so its insect resistant, and it smells like cake baking in the oven.. great stuff!
And Chinaberry is everywhere - In the southern USA! ....Chinaberry is a vile invasive species that dumps toxic yellow berries all over everything... my neighbor has one 60 ft tall that craps up my backyard every year... they grow in Texas without even being watered... I can drive down my street and spot 5 of them...
I just got my first Eastman with Sapele sided and back...They definitely use the best woods. Handmade guitar. Model E100-LTD (31 OF 130). Great video...
Have you tried Myrtle (California)? I have a piece that's flamed and it's beautiful! But looking at the numbers on the Wood Database, and Myrtle is lower in elasticity, lower in janky than Sapele. Being a California wood it's not on any endangered lists. I wonder why I haven't seen any guitars made with it other than drop-tops on electrics.
No I've never worked with it. I assume you are talking about Umbellularia californica, which yes, on wood database the numbers look pretty good, except for the indicators of dimensional stability (T/R Ratio and volumetric shrinkage) which look sort of high, so maybe not for necks or fretboards, but based on the numbers seems alright for back and sides, although side bending qualities are hard to predict from the numbers. You'd have to test out the willingness to bend with a piece of scrap first. If you go through with using it, let us know how it goes!
Hi, how difficult is it for an old man to learn, serve an apprenticeship, on guitar making? Please give me your opinion seriously. Kind regards, Franco
Hey Franklin, in my experience through teaching a variety of age groups, the biggest impediments to this kind of work that I've seen from older individuals is honestly poor eyesight and unsteady hands, which are both really difficult physical issues to teach around. Psychologically, though, I'd say older individuals might even be better off, having patience and a work ethic. Young people, of course, have their own issues; lack of patience, hubris, naivete, and all the other things that come with maturity. However, they more often have a stronger desire to learn, but I'm sure that's confounded a little bit by the fact that older people are more secure financially. So I'm sure an older person can summon up the ambition if they really desire it. But if you have poor eyesight, specifically farsightedness, just outfitting yourself with some good aids in your shop, like magnifiers, great lighting, proper glasses, can fix that. I've seen people with farsightedness do really well with those headsight magnifiers, like what Dan Erlewine wears all the time in his videos. I'm not sure what can be done about unsteady hands, but just to be clear, when I say unsteady hands, I don't mean that you have to have the steadiness of a fighter pilot here! I've just noticed that some people, usually over 70, have exceptionally unsteady hands, which I guess would be due to arthritis or something like that. I don't know. I'm not a physician. And I don't know your situation or how old you are. So that's all I can say about that. I hope that helps!
For an acoustic top? It's all about how you use it. Thickness, bracing pattern, brace height/thickness... but, no, sapele doesn't lend itself especially well to being a soundboard wood. Bit too dense. Although I have used it as a top. It's not the worst thing you can use I suppose lol
Sapele, does not hav the same sound a true Mahogany. Some may like it more, or the same but it’s not the same tonally. And Honduran Mahogany, sounds different than African Mahogany.
I build electric guitars and use Sapele quite often. I find that it works just as easily as Mahogany and if you were using a particular dense piece of Mahogany you wouldn't tell the difference between the 2 species as pertains to workability. I love the rich color of Sapele and it smells amazing, I think the only drawback for myself is that it is usually very heavy unlike Mahogany where some pieces may be heavy and dense and some much lighter and loosely grained. Because of this I only use Sapele on semi hollow or thin bodied guitars. Overall its an amazing wood, beautiful, easy to work, easy to get, and at a fraction of the cost of true Mahogany.
Its true it smells very good xd
Amazing I've been watching your demonstrations most of the day. Thank you.
The Wood Database - what a great resource ! Thanks Eric!
but what about tone?
I have an OMP martin made of sapelle with a spruce top. I like it
Hey, thanks a lot for this video.
As a wood novice in all regards, I found it extremely helpful.
What do you say to the prospect of flattening sapele with a handplane on my balcony?
I don't have a workshop nor do I have a planer or beltsander.
I was thinking about buying a really high quality handplane and to flatten strips of sapele to glue them into a cutting board, but I'm afraid of tearout ://
Thanks again for the video
Interesting. Is sapele cheaper than mahogany? Is it more sustainable?
Enjoyed the video. What guitar is playung in the back?
I have a D15 thats honduran mahogany and a D15 thats sapele. I like them both, and don't notice much difference in the way they react to the environment. Cool video man! 🐰❤️🎸🎶🤝✌️
I was wanting to know the difference of sound.
I bent two sapele sides today for an OM and both cracked at the waist. 10 minutes for first one and 6.5 minutes for second. I am using the LMI bender and am 100% positive I got the sandwich built right. Boards are 0.083, straight grain and perfectly quartersawn. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?
Hi there I want to use sapele on the coaming of my boat to replace the teak. How do I prepare it before varnishing? Can I use an oil before the varnish to make it more vivid?
What would be the correct thickness in sapele for each part? I mean, sound board, sides and back of an acustic guitar body.
Hey Eric, Thank you very much for doing this video.
My favorite wood tone
Thoughts on more obscure woods for guitars? Like teak, bamboo or ironwood?
interesting video and perspective Eric i am now a retired Commercial Woodworker and in the early 90s it seemed like every Architect was specking Sapele in their jobs our Company built and installed thousands of Board feet of it and for a fact i will tell you that the Silica in the Species without excellent dust protection and extraction will make your nose bleed i also restored a Antique Wooden Mahogany Cabin Cruiser as a hobby and i had to cheat on a couple of missing or badly damaged Honduras Mahogany a substitute with a Sapele replacement after careful matching and staining and Varnish nobody could tell the difference i will note i selectively chose those areas to be a less noticeable area like it of direct natural light and not on a focus point of looking in those substitute parts it was a success and i personally didnt use Sapele on anything below the water line but instead sourced genuine Honduras Species
does taylor use sapele for neck woo on there guitar
I like Sapele too... But a while ago I came across another really nice Mahogany substitute called Utile (youtilly) its very similar to Sapele but more often with a much nicer looking grain and appearance.
I've heard of this but never had any experience with it. Thanks for the input.
I dont think the camera does sapele justice. All the sapele I've worked with has had absolutely mesmerising grain structures.
Sapele has been considered an inferior tone wood but now a lot of the premium builders are using it (the quilted stuff)
In terms of the sound, it's kind of like mahogany with a little added oomph.
Thoughts on quarter-, versus plain sawn
How well does screws hold up like trem claw screws into sepele vs mahogany?? I have a guitar coming from thoman and a few only complaints was the screws coming out of the wood in trem claw. Maybe the screw is too narrow ...idk. happend to a few out of many. But I've never really heard of this with any other guitar. Just hoping I dont have any issues. Hahaha. My T HH FNT comes tomorrow second hand.
Eric hello, I need a sapele acoustic jumbo is it possible?
In India, Mahogany, Sapele. Khaya , Cedar etc are not available for Guitar Neck. I can import Sapele or Khaya only , But Rosewood is easily available, can we build Guitar Neck from Rose wood only for any size like dreadnaught, OM or parlor size?
Holy crap! Bernville? You're close.
I've been working with Chinaberry wood recently, and its fantastic! also in the mahogany family (melia azederach) it resembles Burmese teak, and is buttery smooth under a router. open grain needs pore fill, but the grain is refractory and jewel-like with a gloss finish - looks about ten feet deep... makes for really competent looking tigers eye finishes (and trust me im not that competent with complicated finishes). ....exas
but no one is milling/kilning it - I got my meager supply (which is almost gone now) from a place called greenwood milling in San Antonio - it was salvaged from a Chinaberry tree at the San Antonio zoo that was cut down during a recent renovation...
I've seriously begun thinking about improvising some sort of mill and kiln operation in my garage just to get my hands on more...
oh and the wood contains Neem oil, so its insect resistant, and it smells like cake baking in the oven.. great stuff!
And Chinaberry is everywhere - In the southern USA! ....Chinaberry is a vile invasive species that dumps toxic yellow berries all over everything... my neighbor has one 60 ft tall that craps up my backyard every year... they grow in Texas without even being watered... I can drive down my street and spot 5 of them...
I just got my first Eastman with Sapele sided and back...They definitely use the best woods. Handmade guitar. Model E100-LTD (31 OF 130). Great video...
how does it sound?
love the quilted
Would be sapele good for a 7 string electric guitar body ?
Absolutely ...
Is there a source for downloading guitar patterns?
Great question! I'll be answering your question in depth in an upcoming video: ua-cam.com/video/dpiqBqrU5ig/v-deo.html
Have you tried Myrtle (California)? I have a piece that's flamed and it's beautiful! But looking at the numbers on the Wood Database, and Myrtle is lower in elasticity, lower in janky than Sapele. Being a California wood it's not on any endangered lists. I wonder why I haven't seen any guitars made with it other than drop-tops on electrics.
No I've never worked with it. I assume you are talking about Umbellularia californica, which yes, on wood database the numbers look pretty good, except for the indicators of dimensional stability (T/R Ratio and volumetric shrinkage) which look sort of high, so maybe not for necks or fretboards, but based on the numbers seems alright for back and sides, although side bending qualities are hard to predict from the numbers. You'd have to test out the willingness to bend with a piece of scrap first. If you go through with using it, let us know how it goes!
I think Breedlove uses Myrtle quite a bit for back and sides...
Great video. However, the wood name is pronounced "Sir-peh-leh". It got it's origin from Sapele town in South-South Nigeria.
Nope
thank you great info . how does it work as brace wood ???
Very helpfull, thanks! Wjhat about African Mahogany (khaya)? Is it good for necks?
Hi, how difficult is it for an old man to learn, serve an apprenticeship, on guitar making?
Please give me your opinion seriously.
Kind regards,
Franco
Hey Franklin, in my experience through teaching a variety of age groups, the biggest impediments to this kind of work that I've seen from older individuals is honestly poor eyesight and unsteady hands, which are both really difficult physical issues to teach around.
Psychologically, though, I'd say older individuals might even be better off, having patience and a work ethic.
Young people, of course, have their own issues; lack of patience, hubris, naivete, and all the other things that come with maturity. However, they more often have a stronger desire to learn, but I'm sure that's confounded a little bit by the fact that older people are more secure financially. So I'm sure an older person can summon up the ambition if they really desire it.
But if you have poor eyesight, specifically farsightedness, just outfitting yourself with some good aids in your shop, like magnifiers, great lighting, proper glasses, can fix that. I've seen people with farsightedness do really well with those headsight magnifiers, like what Dan Erlewine wears all the time in his videos.
I'm not sure what can be done about unsteady hands, but just to be clear, when I say unsteady hands, I don't mean that you have to have the steadiness of a fighter pilot here! I've just noticed that some people, usually over 70, have exceptionally unsteady hands, which I guess would be due to arthritis or something like that. I don't know. I'm not a physician. And I don't know your situation or how old you are.
So that's all I can say about that. I hope that helps!
Can i use it to make a workbench?
Yea, I'm sure it would make a great bench top for the same reasons genuine mahogany does.
Thank you...
Is sapele good for top body wood?
For an acoustic top? It's all about how you use it. Thickness, bracing pattern, brace height/thickness... but, no, sapele doesn't lend itself especially well to being a soundboard wood. Bit too dense. Although I have used it as a top. It's not the worst thing you can use I suppose lol
Takamine has made a sapele top guitar but laminated I think
I pronounce it "say-peel-E" haha
"Mahogany" is kind of a generic term. Phillipine, Honduras, African, or from the southern the US? etc, all varying quite a bit in all qualities
Sapele, does not hav the same sound a true Mahogany. Some may like it more, or the same but it’s not the same tonally. And Honduran Mahogany, sounds different than African Mahogany.
Pound force, not foot-pounds
Can u give me 1 guitar acostic 😁😁😁🤗