African Mahogany

Family: Meliaceae - Order: Sapindales - Class: Magnoliopsida
Scientific name: Khaya (anthotheca, grandifoliola, ivorensis, madagascariensis and senegalensis)

Trade name: Acajou / African Mahogany

Also known as Undianunu, Red mahogany, Acajou d`Afrique and Caoba del Galon.

Origin: West tropical and Central Africa

Instrumental uses:
Guitar back and sides, electric guitar bodies, guitar necks, head plates and bindings.

Tonal properties:

As a tonal wood it is a reference for other tone woods.

Is a very organic and dynamic wood. It has a wide mid range of rich harmonics. General good body sound from the basses till the mid highs, slightly less bright than the true Honduran Mahogany but with a big presence by the prominence of their mid range frequencies.

When used in guitar necks, a big sound transmission to the body is expected. As an acoustic guitar back and sides set, it provides a very good base to use in combination with the different types of soundboard coloration.

On solid electric guitar bodies a very rich presence is more than expected. Very easy to work, very stable and provide a very good finish.

Medium density at nearly 640 kg/m^3.

African mahogany trees reach a height of more than 50 m. The bole is usually straight, clear and cylindrical to 30 m in length, buttressed. The trunk diameter attains 100 to 150 cm.

The heartwood is pink when freshly cut, darkening to a reddish-brown, with pale goldern-brown zones, on exposure the sapwood is yellowish-brown in colorand it is not always distinctly demarcated from the heartwood. The grain is sometimes straight, but generally interlocked, giving a characteristic stripe figure in quarter sawn stock. The texture is medium to coarse, but even.

CITES status is still unrestricted but is on the IUCN Red List, Khaya madagascariensis is reported as endangered, all others reported as vulnerable

In Cameroon’s case, Logs are banned for international trading.