Sink Or Swim?

Scott Sasser, head of Martin’s Custom Shop, explains why sinker mahogany is taking its place alongside some of the world’s premium tonewoods

- David Mead

When the brace of sinker mahogany powered triple-0s arrived in the Guitarist offices, we were struck by the additional pep in the step that this rare and slightly unusual bodywood delivered. Living up to Martin’s promise of a huge voice and enhanced responsiveness, it’s difficult to believe that – for much of its life – this timber has been submerged in the alien environment of a middle American river. From a 300-year leftover from the logging industry, how do we connect the dots that lead us to the point where this timber would even be considered for musical instruments?

“Our relationship with sinker began several years ago,” director of Martin’s Custom Shop, Scott Sasser, begins. “In [various] countries around the world, material reclamation has become part of local economies and our vendor presented us with an opportunity – some unique mahogany that had been reclaimed, having been under water in Belize for generations and generations. When we began investigating this material, we learned a little bit about the time of its harvest and about its relative age, and the sinker presented itself to us as being among the oldest materials that we would have the opportunity to work with.

“When these trees were first harvested, they were anywhere in the neighbourhood of 150 to 300 years old, then introduced int the rivers and floated down towards the port where they would be further processe and shipped all around the world. Some of the logs that were heaviest and more dense would have been on the bottom of this floating mass and they would just get pushed further and further towards the riverbed until a number would just get stuck in the mud. They would be stuck in this cold, dark river environment and not see the light of day for another 300 years. So we’re talking material that would have been cut during the early colonial expansion times.”