Official Luthiers Forum!

I know they are radically different, but wanted to see if anyone had experience with both. I'm planning on building a J-45ish guitar for my next build. I have a decent set of sinker mahogany for the back and sides. For the top, I have a very nice set of Carpathian Spruce and a perfectly quartered mahogany board with some ribbon figure. The Carpathian is slightly narrower than it needs to be, so I would have to glue on 3/4" wings to the widest points of the lower bout. I love the look of the Martin 00-15m, so that was the inspiration behind using the mahogany top, but the Carpathian Spruce set is very nice. Any thoughts from the intelligentsia? Thx!

My vote is the mahogany. The prospect of it looking beautiful with your sinker mahogany, the warmth and sweet tone of all mahogany guitars is very appealing. Besides, as you said, the spruce is too narrow without wings. Save it for a nice smaller bodied guitar.