Dreaming up a mango tango...

[ragamuffin]

Around a year ago I thought that I had I built my last build for a long time... But then I built another one. Turns out that the desire to build guitars is a chronic illness!

Anyways, here's my current dream: a (possibly Dinkycaster shaped?) body with two p90s, a nice hardtail bridge, and a FIGURED MANGO TOP!!

From a young age I've been quite passionate about mangos. Delicious, tropical, messy, and most importantly delicious! Recently I've learned that the same tree also produces a gorgeous hardwood with figure that can rival just about any wood you can think of! Kind of like maple and koa had baby. And so, my next build will almost certainly involve a lovely figured mango top. (that is unless Warmoth happens to make a showcase body right up my alley before I get around to it)

I'm not ready to buy anything yet, but look at this lovely piece (and it's far from the loveliest) from Hawaii Tropical Hardwoods! (they sell on ebay and on their own site)



If I were to build it now it would be:

-Roughly Dinkycaster shaped (I'd have to make my own templates), mango top, maybe korina core?, Tru-Oil (or similar clear-ish finish)
-Two p90s (maybe from Wolfetone, I hear good things about their p90s), volume, tone, bass cut
-Hardtail bridge; maybe Hipshot, maybe something like a Van Dyke chopped tele bridge
-Warmoth Warhead neck; maybe all rosewood? roasted maple/ebony could be nice too. 59' round back for sure, SS frets

But I'm currently somewhat strapped for cash, and time, and tools, so it's not going to happen any time soon.

A man can dream...

 

[casper100]

I actually just bought a mango top, from Australian Guitar timbers. Not sure what I will use it for yet. This is what I purchased

 

[Spud]

 

[Hodgo]

Fun fact, cutting mangos is one of the top contributors to home knife injuries. Slippery little buggers.

 

[ghostrider]

I used to live on the Big Island of Hawaii. There was tons of stuff made out of mango wood there. It's a very, very underrated wood IMO. Like your example shows, it can be stunning.

 

[Hagwood]

Around ago I thought that I had I built my last build for a long time... But then I built another one. Turns out that the desire to build guitars is a chronic illness!

Anyways, here's my current dream: a (possibly Dinkycaster shaped?) body with two p90s, a nice hardtail bridge, and a FIGURED MANGO TOP!!

From a young age I've been quite passionate about mangos. Delicious, tropical, messy, and most importantly delicious! Recently I've learned that the same tree also produces a gorgeous hardwood with figure that can rival just about any wood you can think of! Kind of like maple and koa had baby. And so, my next build will almost certainly involve a lovely figured mango top. (that is unless Warmoth happens to make a showcase body right up my alley before I get around to it)

I'm not ready to buy anything yet, but look at this lovely piece (and it's far from the loveliest) from Hawaii Tropical Hardwoods! (they sell on ebay and on their own site)

View attachment 64880

If I were to build it now it would be:

-Roughly Dinkycaster shaped (I'd have to make my own templates), mango top, maybe korina core?, Tru-Oil (or similar clear-ish finish)
-Two p90s (maybe from Wolfetone, I hear good things about their p90s), volume, tone, bass cut
-Hardtail bridge; maybe Hipshot, maybe something like a Van Dyke chopped tele bridge
-Warmoth Warhead neck; maybe all rosewood? roasted maple/ebony could be nice too. 59' round back for sure, SS frets

But I'm currently somewhat strapped for cash, and time, and tools, so it's not going to happen any time soon.

A man can dream...

That would be a cool build for sure, beautiful wood. Never hurts to plan ahead, I’m already thinking 5 builds down the road……

---

 

[rauchman]

Very cool using the Mango Wood.

An experiment I've become interested in is using Olive Wood for a guitar. Aesthetically, a very beautiful wood

 

[ragamuffin]

I actually just bought a mango top, from Australian Guitar timbers. Not sure what I will use it for yet. This is what I purchased

That's a great looking piece! Can't wait to see what you build with it

 

[ragamuffin]

I am learning how to do the Shopping of the Photos! There is... definitely a learning curve, but I managed to make a scale body template as well as a mockup.

 

[Spud]

I am learning how to do the Shopping of the Photos! There is... definitely a learning curve, but I managed to make a scale body template as well as a mockup.

View attachment 64913

View attachment 64914

I dunno what kind of magic voodoo you are using, but you better proceed with caution!

 

[ragamuffin]

I dunno what kind of magic voodoo you are using, but you better proceed with caution!

Well first I laid out a six hundred and sixty six by six hundred and sixty six pixel grid, then in the middle I sacrificed the digital essence of a free range, non-GMO baby goat to our high master Adobe! Too finish it off the ritual I poured one out in remembrance the old gods, Inkscape and Gimp.

 

[stratamania]

Perhaps also check out Affinity Photo, a suitable alternative to Adobe and more cost-effective.

 

[aarontunes]

Perhaps also check out Affinity Photo, a suitable alternative to Adobe and more cost-effective.

1,000 times yes.

Photoshop is dead to me now. Affinity Photo forever.

I mean....I still use PS at work and such, but as the Flying Spaghetti Monster is my witness, Adobe will never get another dime of my money.

 

[ragamuffin]

Perhaps also check out Affinity Photo, a suitable alternative to Adobe and more cost-effective.

1,000 times yes.

Photoshop is dead to me now. Affinity Photo forever.

I mean....I still use PS at work and such, but as the Flying Spaghetti Monster is my witness, Adobe will never get another dime of my money.

Ooh neat, I hadn't heard of Affinity Photo before. I have free access to most Adobe products at the moment, but that sounds like a great option for when I don't!

 

[ragamuffin]

Added a bit of 3-dimensional-ness.

 

[casper100]

Added a bit of 3-dimensional-ness.

View attachment 64946

Cool! I used to be a big photoshopper. I’ll have to try this before I do my next builds.

 

[burst]

Hello. So here's my ramblings about Mango. I built a Super Strat with a Mango top about 15 years ago that I could never get to sound good. I've built dozens of guitars from scratch or partscasters and many with uncommon woods. It was the only one which was such a tonal disappointment.

I had a woodworking teacher who raved about Mango. Like many people he'd discovered it visiting Hawaii. I had wanted to build a Koa top guitar after seeing a, gulp, Ed Roman Koa Strat at a show. Koa was really, really, really hard to find. Then I stumbled on a gorgeous Mango top similar to the OP.

At the time I didn't give a lot of thought to hey will this make a good top tonally? I just knew it looked great and had a similar hardness and weight as maple. So I built the super strat alder body, mango top, maple neck, and 3 humbuckers (lol). I tried everything from vintage PAF clones to modern output pickups, different tremolos, springs, tuners, blocking. No matter what it always sounded lifeless. You know that one guitar that you can't EQ your amps nearly the same for? This was that guitar for me. It's in storage somewhere. The Mango is also deceptively porous. It needed lots of pore filling like mahogany to get a flat finish.

Anyway, I got it in my head that Alder and Mango maybe just didn't complement each other so I'd give Mango another try with mahogany neck and body and ebony board. I searched for a couple of years until I found two more Mango sets I liked. These were much coarser, softer, and lighter weight than the first one. I didn't want a repeat of building a guitar that I had no confidence it would sound good so I never used them.

This sent me down a rabbit hole to learn more about Mango. Because of the seller I got it from I had confused Mango with Acacias from Australia region, thinking Mango was related to Koa when its not. Maybe this is obvious but Mango is much more common in South Asia. There are several related but different species sold under the common name of Mango, unlike more common domestic woods which are usually marketed more distinctly by species - Black Walnut vs Claro Wanut, Sugar Maple vs Big Leaf Maple, and so on.

So with that long wind, anyone wanting to build a guitar of Mango, I'd give a lot of thought to the specific piece in hand and how all the woods will complement each other.

 

[ragamuffin]

Hello. So here's my ramblings about Mango. I built a Super Strat with a Mango top about 15 years ago that I could never get to sound good. I've built dozens of guitars from scratch or partscasters and many with uncommon woods. It was the only one which was such a tonal disappointment.

I had a woodworking teacher who raved about Mango. Like many people he'd discovered it visiting Hawaii. I had wanted to build a Koa top guitar after seeing a, gulp, Ed Roman Koa Strat at a show. Koa was really, really, really hard to find. Then I stumbled on a gorgeous Mango top similar to the OP.

At the time I didn't give a lot of thought to hey will this make a good top tonally? I just knew it looked great and had a similar hardness and weight as maple. So I built the super strat alder body, mango top, maple neck, and 3 humbuckers (lol). I tried everything from vintage PAF clones to modern output pickups, different tremolos, springs, tuners, blocking. No matter what it always sounded lifeless. You know that one guitar that you can't EQ your amps nearly the same for? This was that guitar for me. It's in storage somewhere. The Mango is also deceptively porous. It needed lots of pore filling like mahogany to get a flat finish.

Anyway, I got it in my head that Alder and Mango maybe just didn't complement each other so I'd give Mango another try with mahogany neck and body and ebony board. I searched for a couple of years until I found two more Mango sets I liked. These were much coarser, softer, and lighter weight than the first one. I didn't want a repeat of building a guitar that I had no confidence it would sound good so I never used them.

This sent me down a rabbit hole to learn more about Mango. Because of the seller I got it from I had confused Mango with Acacias from Australia region, thinking Mango was related to Koa when its not. Maybe this is obvious but Mango is much more common in South Asia. There are several related but different species sold under the common name of Mango, unlike more common domestic woods which are usually marketed more distinctly by species - Black Walnut vs Claro Wanut, Sugar Maple vs Big Leaf Maple, and so on.

So with that long wind, anyone wanting to build a guitar of Mango, I'd give a lot of thought to the specific piece in hand and how all the woods will complement each other.

Very interesting, I definitely don't envy your experience! It's strange, the sources I've read claim that mango (as a broad term) has a similar density and hardness to mahoganies. I did expect to have to grain fill, but I definitely don't want to end up with a dud guitar.

 

[burst]

Right on with the mahogany comparison. Not trying to dissuade but I would design a guitar with a Mango top like one with a Mahogany top. The thing is I can't think of a well known solidbody with a separate Mahogany top as a point of reference. The closest is one model Thinline Tele which is a different animal entirely. Thinking back to my guitar, in hindsight, I never heard anyone build or suggest a Mahogany top on an alder body. Maybe because figured mahogany is rare and there's no benefit to laminating an unfigured piece to another wood...

Although Mahogany is another example of the what species of wood are we really really talking about problem. I refer to Wood Database a lot which has a great article on the history of marketing Mahogany and its imitators.

 

[ragamuffin]

This top would like to be friends with @Hagwood 's rosewood "onion bulb" top!