[gratefuljay]

Anyone familiar or have an instrument made of agathis. the best description i have so far is commercial grade maghogany

[alcorelectric]

Agathis is a conifer (softwood) similar to pine or fir.from what I know it is from asia, south pacific region.
T

[gratefuljay]

i'm thinkin softer wood wouldn't hold vibration as well, hmm

[alcorelectric]

by softwood I am referring to wood coming from a needle bearing tree verses a leaf bearing tree, which is considered a hardwood.As far as softwood being able to handle vibration, most of your acoustics tops are softwood (spruce). Mahogany on the other hand is not considered a softwood, but is very soft and easy to work with. From what i gathered for neck wood a straight grain wood (mahogany, maple, etc) is required as it would have less tendancy to bend. The body can be almost anything, depending on the sound charecteristics desired, especially on an electric.
T

[StringCheeseSector9]

Yeah Alco knows his shit, but perceptions are all over the place on agathis.

Mine come down to:
With the factories overseas, various woods previously not associated with guitars in the states decades ago are being used. Agathis one of them.
Inexpensive in this particular case doesn't mean lousy across the board.
Can get a dud in expensive wood.
Can get a dud in plentiful inexpensive wood from a neck of the woods (as in area of world, pun intended) that is really putting out some great sounding git fiddles.

My experience with agathis has been great.
That a great sounding guitar can be had in it at a low cost is sign of the time. If you find an agathis wood guitar you will probably be surprised by the sound. My favorite guitar to date is agathis.

[gratefuljay]

Thanks for the info. I knew ya'll would come through. The reason for my query is ,Squier has what they call the SE Special made of agathis. I wasn't familiar with it, and was wondering if it would be worth upgrading it with better pickups, more vintage hardware nothin too fancy as it is one of their lower end models

[StringCheeseSector9]

Yeah agathis is a plentiful wood in asia or southwest pacific places, so the guitars are usually on the lower end of the spectrum but not always a bad thing. If i were you i would do it.

[gratefuljay]

Yeah, I was actually sold when i saw the tortoiseshell pickguard. Can't wait to report back