Cocobolo Tops....

[Moreau]

What kind of finishes look best on Cocobolo tops? I was thinking of using watco oils on my whole bass. but i was curious how the figure would look. I know alembics use a gloss, and its drop dead sexy, but is there a good way to keep the grain and colour like the alembics, by using an oil?

Alembic

Heres a sweet pic of a nice coco top. Anyone have any ideas? experiences? they wanna share?

thanks.

[JackyB]

What kind of finishes look best on Cocobolo tops? I was thinking of using watco oils on my whole bass. but i was curious how the figure would look. I know alembics use a gloss, and its drop dead sexy, but is there a good way to keep the grain and colour like the alembics, by using an oil?

Alembic

Heres a sweet pic of a nice coco top. Anyone have any ideas? experiences? they wanna share?

thanks.

Sorry I can't answer your question, but damn that is a nice guitar.

[darren wilson]

You could probably build up a nice deep sheen with lots of layers of Tru-Oil. Just follow the instructions.

[Moreau]

Im not too picky about my guitars... I like alot, but i gotta say alembic makes some of the nicest, priciest guitars ive seen. Not to say they are the best, but they definitely get heavy consideration. But im finding alot of thin pieces on the net.... like not thin. but narrow. and theyre nice figure, might do a striped laminate top

coco/maple/coco/maple... or something Ps... i might be using watco oils a la carl thompson.... simple n good looking

Edited December 17, 2004 by Moreau

[Daniel Sorbera]

wow I just changed my mind. I'm going to put a cocobolo top on my guitar. The heck with maple

[Moreau]

A convert... Use cocobolo and ye shall be saved.. via the use of breathing protection... heard its some bad stuff to inhale. will it be ok if i do it in a shop? you only need to wear protection while ur working right? afterwards theres no risk eh?

[Jivin]

Drak did an awesome Flying V with a cocobolo top on, and from memory that was some sort of high gloss finish - it looked sexy

- Dan

[www]

A convert... Use cocobolo and ye shall be saved.. via the use of breathing protection... heard its some bad stuff to inhale. will it be ok if i do it in a shop? you only need to wear protection while ur working right? afterwards theres no risk eh?

Wear breathing protection as long as their is dust in the shop!

BTW< Cocobolo is fun to sand on. It sands easy and makes a nice gold dust.

[asm]

Drak did an awesome Flying V with a cocobolo top on, and from memory that was some sort of high gloss finish - it looked sexy

- Dan

im pretty sure he used just Veneer on the top and headstock.

finding a thick enough piece will be difficult, and even more difficult to find one to to a drop top or carved top to.

and if you do find one, gluing it will be a problem. ive seen a whole top pop off while using titebond during unclamping it. its one of the most oily woods you can choose.

[Drak]

Thanks!

That was catalyzed lacquer first, then regular nitro over top.

Took me 5 -YEARS- to finish that guitar. And probably 7-8 strip-and-refinishes before I finally found a recipe that worked for me. I started that guitar before I really knew what I was doing, and I just wouldn't give up on it until I had figured out a way that worked for me.

I was going to comment here, but my comment was going to be that I don't recommend Coco-Bolo for a first timer at ALL, there's way too much stuff to learn about it when you're still trying to learn how to build the guitar itself. It's like learning to drive for the first time in an overloaded 18-wheel semi- instead of a little Honda hatchback 5-banger. You're bound to have many more accidents in the big rig than in the Honda.

But I didn't want to be the fly in the ointment so I was keeping my mouth shut.

Catalyzed lacquer can kill you, I will say that.

And other people do it other ways, I'll say that too.

And lastly, I'll say, like I always do, that I think guys who buy expensive AAAAA type of wood for their first guitar are making a big mistake, but I'm sort of tired of going against the tide on that one, so do what you wanna do, I hope you pull it out.

PS, none of my Coco-Bolo guitars are veneer, it's all the real deal, split and booked.

I did do a Waterfall Bubinga V in veneer tho, maybe asm is thinking of that one.

Here's a shot of both the Coco-Bolo and Bubinga V's together.

[asm]

wow. i thought that cocobolo V was a veneer top. sorry.

even nicer. do you have any bigger pics of it? all i saw was on the GOTM frontpage.

also, can you tell me a little more about your finish, like what brand, ect.

did you shoot it yourself? how long did the actual process take of doing the lacq then nitro take (not counting trial and error of finding what you wanted).

im really trying to find a finish for mine. need some pics of yours to refrest my memory. thx.

[Daniel Sorbera]

hey drak what does you coco guitar sound like? My mext guitar I wanna make the whole thing out of it. but i'm wondering about it's tonal properties.

[asm]

nice pics drak.

couple more questions...

what did you final sand with before you shot?

was that body around about 300?

[Drak]

wow. i thought that cocobolo V was a veneer top. sorry.

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No biggie.

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even nicer. do you have any bigger pics of it? all i saw was on the GOTM frontpage.

_____

Yeah, I have plenty of pics of it, but not hosted up on the net, just these I took with the Bubinga V beside it.

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also, can you tell me a little more about your finish, like what brand,

_____

Danspeed catalyzed lacquer, then my regular nitro. I don't even know what brand of nitro I use, been using it for so long, I just pick up 'nuther gallon when it's time.

_____

did you shoot it yourself?

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Yes. For five freakin' years. Over. And over. And over again. And again....

_____

how long did the actual process take of doing the lacq then nitro take (not counting trial and error of finding what you wanted).

_____

I let my guitars dry for several months before rubbing out, so it was probably 4-5 months before I finished it up, but I don't honestly remember anymore.

_____

im really trying to find a finish for mine. need some pics of yours to refrest my memory. thx.

_____

I do have some nice close-ups of it, I'll see if I can uplink 'em this weekend, fullserve seems to be down tonight, I was already trying to upload something else a short while ago. No go.

As long as you've finished a few guitars before, and you already have knowledge of finishes and finishing, I'll tell you anything you want to know, but if you've never done any finishing before, I think you're in for an uphill battle. I don't say the things I said for no reason. As I said, it took me 5 years to do mine, and I was asking advice thruout the whole episode over at the MIMF, and it STILL took me 5 years and many refinishes to get it the way I wanted it and the way it deserved to be.

So don't expect it to be at all easy, no matter how much advice you get. That's why I said what I said.

But I know, it IS beautiful wood, and I can't blame anyone for wanting to use it, but you better have a LOT of determination inside ya, or find a better and easier and faster way than I did.

_______________

hey drak what does you coco guitar sound like? My mext guitar I wanna make the whole thing out of it. but i'm wondering about it's tonal properties.

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Believe me, you don't want me to give you an honest answer out here on the open forums on that one, it would sting.

[VanKirk]

Took me 5 -YEARS- to finish that guitar. And probably 7-8 strip-and-refinishes before I finally found a recipe that worked for me. I started that guitar before I really knew what I was doing, and I just wouldn't give up on it until I had figured out a way that worked for me.

That's got to be the luckiest guitar on the planet.

I'm sure it was probably the most nervous one too after witnessing it's share of potential guitars sail into the "wall-of-death" at high velocities becoming a twisted pile of splinters.

[spirit]

Took me 5 -YEARS- to finish that guitar. And probably 7-8 strip-and-refinishes before I finally found a recipe that worked for me. I started that guitar before I really knew what I was doing, and I just wouldn't give up on it until I had figured out a way that worked for me.

That's got to be the luckiest guitar on the planet.

I'm sure it was probably the most nervous one too after witnessing it's share of potential guitars sail into the "wall-of-death" at high velocities becoming a twisted pile of splinters.

[erikbojerik]

Be warned if you try to put cocobolo & maple right next to each other...the coco is really (REALLY) oily and when you sand, you'll dirty up the maple real quick.

It can be avoided by putting some sanding sealer on just the maple first, and then sanding flat and watching to make sure you don't sand through the sealer (e.g. reapply as needed).

[whoofnagle]

Here is a link to a discussion on another site. About 2/3rds the way down the thread there is a description of weight and sound of a cocobolo guitar.

http://p213.ezboard.com/fthornnewsanddiscu...opicID=88.topic

Bill