5 Best Mahogany Top and Body Dreadnought Guitars

Author:
Wesman Todd Shaw
Updated:
Jun 1, 2023

Mahogany in Guitars

Mahogany has always been one of the preferred tonewoods in acoustic guitars. Especially steel string acoustic guitars. Mahogany provides a velocity of sound, unlike what rosewood can do. Most mahogany guitars are just mahogany bodies and not mahogany topped guitars.

Mahogany has been used as a soundboard or acoustic guitar top since at least the 1920s. You know one when you see one, as the mahogany top gives the guitar a deep brown color from the top and all the way around. All mahogany top guitars you will see are also mahogany body guitars.

Mahogany as a Soundboard

All mahogany guitars are often much less expensive than mahogany guitars with spruce tops. Why? Spruce soundboards are very pricey. Mahogany is much more available and is also easier to shape into a guitar.

Mahogany is a heavier wood than spruce. So when a mahogany top or soundboard is used on a guitar instead of a spruce one, the guitar will not be as loud as a spruce top guitar. The projection of notes from a guitar with a mahogany top will have less complexity and more sustain. People say mahogany tops can make you sound like a better player, as your mistakes will be less obvious.

Because mahogany is a heavier wood than spruce, your brand new mahogany top guitar will take longer to get broken in than a spruce top guitar. You can get it all nice and broke in quicker and easier by using a heavy pick or otherwise heavy attack on the strings. Mahogany top guitars excel as rhythmic instruments. You can get a terrific sound with a mahogany top guitar playing an aggressive rhythm style.

Mahogany top guitars are excellent for the person who loves to play chordal rhythms behind their own singing or someone else's. But mahogany top guitars sound terrific when finger-picked or flat-picked too. They provide less volume than spruce tops, but one can always use medium gauge strings for increased volume. Many mahogany top acoustics are built with a pre-amp and pickup system onboard.

Many mahogany top acoustics are built with a pre-amp and pickup system onboard.

The All Solid Mahogany Martin D-15M

The all solid mahogany Martin D-15 is as good as it gets. Whether you believe it or not, it is true—when these guitars were first manufactured, they sold for just $500. Well, these guitars caught on quickly, and the price rose and kept rising. They cost more than twice what they did in their debut today.

The Martin D-15 is beautiful in its understatement. As an all-solid wood construction dreadnought, the thing is a true Martin in every way. I've played a dozen or more of these guitars at guitar stores, and every single last one was perfect. I so wish I had bought one when they were a brand new design and sold for so little.

Because of the deep overtones an all-mahogany guitar provides, the guitar gives a great counterpoint to a spruce guitar. So if you play with someone, the contrast can make the music more whole in a tonal manner.

I just can't say enough how impeccably these guitars are put together and what a great deal someone is getting when they purchase a Martin D-15M. Here are your bullet point specifications for this all-solid wood construction, total heirloom quality Martin dreadnought:

Martin D-15M Guitar specifications:

Construction: Mortise/Tenon neck joint
Body size: D-14 fret
Top: solid genuine mahogany
Rosette: single ring
Top bracing pattern: A-frame ''X''
Top braces: solid sitka spruce 5/16''
Back and sides: solid genuine mahogany
Neck: solid genuine mahogany
Neck shape: modified low oval
Nut material: bone
Headstock: solid/square taper
Headplate: solid East Indian rosewood
Fingerboard material: solid East Indian rosewood
Scale length: 25.4''
Number of frets clear: 14
Number of frets total: 20
Fingerboard width at nut: 1-11/16''
Fingerboard width at 12th fret: 2-1/8''
Fingerboard position inlays: diamonds & squares - short pattern
Finish: satin
Bridge material: solid East Indian rosewood
Bridge style: belly
Bridge string spacing: 2-1/8''
Saddle: 16'' radius/compensated/bone
Tuning machines: nickel open-geared with butterbean knobs
Recommended strings: Martin Studio Performance Phosphor Bronze Medium Gauge (MSP4200)
Bridge & end pins: solid black ebony
Pickguard: delmar tortoise color

5-best-mahogany-top-and-body-dreadnought-guitars

The Guild GAD-125 or D-125

The Guild GAD-125 will often also be referred to as the Guild D-125. We're talking about the same guitar here whichever you see it labeled as. This guitar is built to compete against the Martin D-15 in every single way.

This Guild guitar is all solid wood construction. So it is of all solid mahogany. The fingerboard and bridge, of course, are of Indian rosewood, just like the Martin. So what is the deal here? The Guild is built in China. This allows Guild to sell this guitar to you for less than what Martin sells the D-15 for. The D-15 is made in the USA.

Straight up, if you are not doing so well in the income department, but you want a top notch mahogany top and body guitar, then I'm going to head you over to the music store to buy this Guild every day of the week. I'm spotting these guitars used for $500 bucks and even less all day long. But by all means, play the Martin and the Guild, and do what seems best for you and your situation and fingers. You can get this Guild guitar in the natural finish like the D-15, or you can also choose the cherry red finish.Here are your bullet point specifications:

Guild GAD-125 Guitar specifications:

Scroll to Continue

a-red-ranger-journeys-to-another-world-in-january

synth-single-review-where-tigers-are-said-to-roam-by-color-theory

Shape: Dreadnought
Back: Solid Mahogany
Sides: Solid Mahogany
Top: Solid Mahogany
Bracing: Scalloped Spruce
Rosette: Mother-Of-Pearl Rosette
Purfling: Cream/Black/Cream/Black
Body Binding: Black
Number Of Frets: 20
Position Inlays: Pearl Dot Inlays
Fretboard Radius: 16" (40.64 cm)
Fretboard Material: Rosewood
Neck Material: Mahogany
Neck Finish: Satin
Nut Width: 1.6875" (43 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Hardware: Chrome
Bridge: Rosewood
Bridge Pins: Ivory Colored Plastic
Tuning Machines: Chrome, Die-Cast
String Nut: Nu-Bone
Saddle: Nu-Bone

The Taylor 520 Dreadnought

You can always count on Taylor guitars to offer another take on anyone's theme. Sure as the sun rises, Taylor will offer an instrument of a similar recipe to what Martin or Gibson or Guild offers, but Taylor never copies anyone. They build their guitars differently. They brace the insides of the guitars differently, and so their guitars always sound like Taylor guitars.

While finding a Martin dreadnought which came from the factory with a pre-amp and pickup installed is a very rare thing, the opposite is true with Taylor guitars. Almost every Taylor acoustic guitar made will have a pre-amp and pickup installed from the factory. They do also make some without those things, but not so many. Taylor electronics are always first rate, and as good as you will find. Voiced differently from Martin, the Taylor 520 excels in mid-range punch.

The specifications listed below are for a Taylor 520. This guitar, without the electronics, sells for around $1500. But much more frequently you will see a Taylor 520ce, which has a Venetian cutaway and the electronics. With those features, the Taylor 520ce cost around twenty five hundred dollars.

The people at Taylor are very proud of their electronics, and they should be. Should you decide to purchase one of their acoustic/electric guitars, you will have a fine thing indeed. The Taylor Expression System 2 (ES2) is a revolutionary pickup design that delivers the latest in Taylor's ongoing innovation in acoustic guitar amplification. The heart of the Expression System 2 is Taylor's proprietary behind-the-saddle pickup (patent pending), which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors.

The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before. Together with Taylor's custom-designed "professional audio"-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. On stage through a PA, plugged into your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar.

Shape: Dreadnought
Back/Side Wood: Solid Tropical Mahogany
Scale length: 25-1/2"
Top Wood: Solid Tropical Mahogany
Body Length: 20"
Body Width: 16"
Body Depth: 4 5/8"
Nut & Saddle: Tusq
Neck Width: 1-3/4"
Neck/Heel: Tropical Mahogany
Bracing: Forward Shifted Pattern with Relief Rout
Fretboard Wood: Ebony
Fretboard Inlay: Century
Headstock Overlay: Ebony
Binding: Ivoroid
Bridge Pins: Ebony
Tuners: Taylor Chrome
Truss Rod Cover: Ebony
Back/Side Finish: Gloss
Top Finish: Gloss
Neck Finish: Satin
Pickguard: Black
Case: Taylor Deluxe Hardshell Brown
Number of Frets: 20
Back Config: 2-piece No Wedge
Buttons: Chrome
Filler: (Body) Brown
Fretboard Binding: Ivoroid
Heel Cap Binding: Ivoroid
Heel length: 3-1/2"
Peghead Finish: Satin
Peghead Binding: Ivoroid
Peghead Logo: Ivoroid
Rosette: Material Ivoroid
Rosette Size: Single Ring
Stain/Sunburst: Medium Brown Stain
Type of Neck Joint: Scarf

Alvarez MDA66SHB Masterworks

Alvarez has long been a personal favorite guitar for me. You don't see so many Alvarez guitars as you should. They do make instruments from very cheap beginner's guitars all the way up to instruments as good as can be made. And Alvarez guitars have a certain classiness to them. They aren't making copies of anyone else's guitar.

So this particular Alvarez guitar isn't so easy to find. But you may well find one. And if you do, you will find a gem. I'm seeing used ones online for $500. But I'm not seeing very many of them. These are all solid wood construction guitars. They're made in Japan. And Alvarez is going the extra mile here with the use of bone nuts and saddles. These guitars will be every bit as good as the Martin and the Taylor.

Koa binding is catching on as an upscale appointment, and that is what Alvarez is using here.The Masterworks bracing system is forward shifted with scalloped, hand finished X braces that allow these guitars to project incredibly well. There’s lots of sustain and dynamic response. Either strummed or picked, the separation and balance across the strings is unprecedented in this price range. These all solid and seasoned mahogany guitars are a professional or serious amateur's dream.

Dreadnought Acoustic
Solid African Mahogany Top
Solid African Mahogany Back and Sides
Hand Finished, Scalloped Bracing System
One Piece Mahogany Neck + Heel, 50/50 Semi Gloss
Premium Die-Cast Gold Tuners withEbony Buttons
Rosewood Bi-Level Bridge
Rosewood Fingerboard
Paua Abalone Inlays
Acacia Koa Binding
1.5mm Paua Abalone Purfling
Ebony Bridge Pins
Real Bone Nut and Saddle
High Gloss Finish
Includes Case
Top: Solid African Mahogany
Top Finish: Gloss
Back and Sides: Solid African Mahogany
Neck Joint: Dovetail
Neck meets body: 14th Fret
Overall Length (mm) : 1042
Body Width (mm) : 395
Body Depth at Heel (mm) : 100
Scale (inches) : 25 1/2"
Number of frets: 21
Case: Included
Nut Width (inches) : 1 3/4"

Seagull Guitars S6 Mahogany Deluxe - Natural

Seagull guitars out of Canada make some of the most bang for the buck value guitars on the North American continent. For $500, you can own one of these all mahogany Seagull S6 Mahogany Deluxe guitars

These guitars come with a solid mahogany soundboard, but the backs and sides are laminated mahogany. But the guitar is acoustic/electric. So if you are someone who performs live often, this is one outstanding guitar to have for your shows. It'll be loud enough for you to practice with alone, and when you plug it in on stage, it's got top notch electronics on-board.

Seagull's S6 Mahogany Deluxe acoustic guitar offers smooth playability and great tone at an exceptional value. Its pressure tested solid mahogany top and laminated mahogany back and sides give you a warm, fat tone. Seagull's modified dreadnought body shape harnesses unwanted boominess and gives you a full-range tone that's great for all styles of music. The integrated set neck and compound curved top offer increased tuning stability, resonance, and projection

The only real drawback to this guitar is the thing does not come with a case. A guitar like this one literally deserves a hard shell case, but you'll have to buy yourself one of those separately. At just five hundred dollars new, you can get one of these used for probably around three hundred dollars. Here are your very basic bullet points:

Features

Pressure tested solid mahogany top offers superior tone, projection, and response
Laminated mahogany back and sides deliver a detailed, warm tone
Modified dreadnought body shape cuts unwanted boominess making it great for recording and live shows
Silver Leaf maple integrated set neck offers tuning and playing stability and eliminates twisting and warping
Tapered headstock gives you a straighter string pull, better tuning, and less stress, especially when using altered tunings
Tusq nut and compensated saddle offer a sound similar to bone but with more harmonics
Fishman Sonitone electronics deliver great plugged-in tone via an undersaddle pickup
Thin, custom polish finish lets the guitar vibrate more freely
Dual-function truss rods assure the perfect neck alignment and relief
Handcrafted in Canada

Comments

David on January 29, 2017:

I would take an Ibanez AC240 over the Seagull any day of the week.

Wesman Todd Shaw (author) from Kaufman, Texas on August 23, 2016:

Thanks a lot! I also get a lot of pleasure from the videos. And I always listen to several, if possible, for each guitar to find the one I like the best.

Judy Specht from California on May 25, 2016:

Nice comparisons article. Loved listening to the music as I read.