Uses Mahogany Wood

Mahogany has a generally straight grain and is usually free of voids and pockets. It has a reddish-brown color, which darkens over time, and displays a beautiful reddish sheen when polished. It has excellent workability, and is very durable. The size of the trees meant that wide boards were once available. These properties make it a favorable wood for crafting furniture.
Much of the first-quality furniture made in the American colonies from the mid 1700s, when the wood first became available to American furniture makers, was made of mahogany. Mahogany is widely used for fine furniture; the rarity of Cuban mahogany restricts its use. Mahogany resists wood rot, which makes it suitable for boat construction. It is also often used for musical instruments, particularly the backs of guitars.

Mahogany is used for drum making, because of its integrity and capability to produce a very dark, warm tone. Today, several drum manufacturers have rediscovered the features of mahogany shells, resulting in several high end series offering shells made in this wood.

A wide variety of electric guitars are also made from mahogany, like Gibson's Les Paul line and most of the PRS guitars among others. It is noted, again, for its dark properties, as well as its weight, the combination of which produces a warm, rounded tone with huge sustain, for which the guitar is famous.

Mahogany is also commonly used in acoustic guitars. The wood is most often used to make the back, sides, or neck of a guitar, but it is sometimes used to make the top as well. Guitars with mahogany soundboards tend to have a softer, darker tone than those made from spruce.

Mahogany is now being used for the bodies of high-end stereo phonographic record cartridges and for stereo headphones, where it is noted for “warm” or “musical” sound.