I have managed to establish a relationship with a US supplier that is willing to export one-off body blanks of genuine, premium-grade...

If you have any familiarity with the history of Gaskell Guitars you know that from the very beginning I have condemned Gibson and...

Originally written 2009. Updated 2025. NOTE: There are many other well-known tone woods used in the making of acoustic guitars. This...

All Gaskell Custom Shop guitars are 100% made in Australia using the highest quality tonewoods, hardware and electronics sourced from all...

Is there such a thing? Do you have to think about this when buying or upgrading a lefty guitar? Electric guitars have two types of...

Melia is a Mahogany family tree with three species, one of which yields high-quality timber but has no commercial or export interest. This species yields timber that is reddish-brown with a straight but coarse grain. ​

Guarea is a Mahogany family genus with 71 species native to Africa and Central and Latin America. Two species in Africa have timber uses and two species in Latin America have timber uses.

Cedrela is a Mahogany family genus with 13 accepted species native to the Carribbean and the Americas. Botanically Cedrela is the equivalent of Australasian Toona except that it is native to the neo-tropics. Collectively it is usually traded as "Cedro" or "Spanish Cedar." There are four main commercial species.

Toona is a Mahogany family tree native throughout eastern Europe, northern Asia, South East Asia, and Australia. Botanically it is the equivalent of Cedrela which is otherwise native to Central and South America. There are four Toona species (some sources say five), each with their own trade names. Timber from the Asian species are often just called TOON or SURIAN no matter the species. The Australian species is almost always called RED CEDAR.

Khaya is a Mahogany family genus that naturally occurs in tropical and sub-tropical Madagascar, the Comoros and continental Africa. It has five species, four of which are endemic to Africa and the other endemic to Madagascar. All species are collectively traded under the name AFRICAN MAHOGANY. In trade circles, Khaya is the most accepted Mahogany family timber other than Swietenia to be called "mahogany" without qualification.

Just an update on the builds going in the shop. I have finished just about all the Christmas builds and we are still on target for our...

Firebird guitars have been around since the late 1950’s. There are two distinct and unique characteristics about Firebird guitars: they...