Jim's Dreadnought Build

[Jim_H]

So this Dread I'm building is basically from a bunch of spare stuff I've picked up over the last few years... Stuff from kits, stuff I bought... some I don't even remember where I got it.

The back and sides, and bindings came from LMI. The back came serviced with a cocobolo/maple seam, and I have matching bindings to go with it.

What I didn't have was a wedge for the tail. So I started going through my stash of Cocobolo looking for a similar colored piece to cut.

I had a couple of headplates I bought from LMI a few years ago which are too orange. I also had some 'turning blanks' from the local woodworking stores that have deep purple hues almost like EIR, mixed with orange, and some of it is just brown and purple much like EIR (but generates that typical oily orange dust when sanded).

I sliced a bunch of it up so I could compare it to the bindings. Unfortunately, nothing is really close. My bindings are a very dark orange to dark brick red color.

The picture doesn't really show the colors very well. I guess I should get a real camera. The wedge I have cut in this picture looks pretty close, but it really isn't. It's much more rust/orange than the bindings, which are dark brick red with a splash of orange here and there.

Kinda frustrating.

cocobolo-samples.jpg

[darren]

Jim I was kind of concerned about matching an end wedge with my binding -both were eir and drastically different browns. suprisingly under finish they are much more similar in color. You might try wiping your samples down with naptha or some shellac and compare colors then. Just a thought.

[Ken Hundley]

Some of the old stuff may look different if you sand or scrape it first.....try that, and the naptha trick, and you'll get a more accurate view of the wood as it will look freshly assembled, scraped, and finished.

[Jim_H]

All of those samples (except the headplates from LMI) are freshly sawn, and the wedge that is cut and purfled, which is one of the 'rust' colored LMI headplates is freshly sanded.

I also wetted everything with naptha, but it dried before I took the picture.

The strangest piece in there is the one on upper left. It's got a wavy grain pattern, adn the wood colors range from light gray to purple. There is no hint of orange to my eye, even when wetted with naptha. There is no way I would guess this was cocobolo by looking at it, but strangly, when sawn or sanded, it still produces that strange oily orange dust.

Because none of my scraps were any more suitable than the wedge I already cut, I went ahead and glued in that wedge last night. Once I got it scraped back it matches fairly well, but there is still a definite difference in the color between the bindings and the wedge, whether they are wetted with naptha or not. I plan to glue in the bindings tonight. I'll take pics once I get it all cleaned up.

I have very little experience with cocobolo in guitars, and I was just surprised at how much variation there. The finished cocobolo I've seen has always been in the chocolate brown to dark orange range for color. This stuff is all over the spectrum. There is one piece, on the right side that has a dark purple center and bright rust orange color around the edges. I was pretty surprised when this came off of the saw!

Anyway, I'm not too worried about it. This guitar is just one I'm building to get back into it after a long break. I'm not worried about anyone being offended by the slight variation in color. If I were building this for someone else, I probably wouldn't accept it this way, but in that case I would have been more careful about the wood selection in the first place.

[Darryl Young]

I'll bet it works out nicely Jim.

This is the first time I've worked with Cocobolo as well. The other night I wiped a couple Cocobolo headplates down with mineral spirits to see how they would look under finish. I was shocked at the red "oil" (I guess that's what it is) that came out of the wood. Also, the oil spread over the Cocobolo and gave it a different tint......and the intense color variation in the wood didn't quite have the contrast it had before.

So now I'm thinking I will have to be very careful wiping the guitar down with mineral spirits etc. after the binding, end graft, headplates, etc. are glued to the mahogany guitar for fear the oils will wipe onto the mahogany or spruce discoloring it. Has that been the case for you guys that have experience woking with Cocobolo? If so, how did you work around this? I'm sure I'll have to keep a coat of shellac on the soundboard but I hadn't thought of protecting the mahogany body/neck. Do you just avoid wiping the guitar with anything before finishing starts? Best I recall I would always wipe the body/neck down with something to help remove dust before I started porefilling.

[Jim_H]

Most definitely be careful. The oily orange dust can easily get smeared and stain a top or light colored bindings.

I put some CA on it using a pipette and afterwards the tip of the pipette was tinted orange.

[Darryl Young]

I guess I'll seal the binding channels with shellac before gluing in the Cocobolo. Seems I'll have to do this to protect the spruce but now I'm thinking I'll have to be just as concerned about the mahogany.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Jim
I think you should have chosen some one of the Coco pieces that is totally contrasting, I think it would look pretty cool, and make a statement. But alas, you already glued it up, and from the pic the wedge you cut looks pretty close to your binding.

Kevin

[Jim_H]

You are probably right Kevin.

Although, there is already a lot going on in terms if mish mash parts here.

The top is Sitka, back and sides a medium brown EIR (not much purple). The bindings a dark red/brown cocobolo with a single maple purfle.

Fretboard and bridge are almost black Ebony.

The rosette is a fairly traditional Martin design but I basically replaced the inner herringbone with a circle of cocobolo that turned veeeerrrrrryyy orange after I sanded the top down.

I still have options for a headstock front and back laminate. I'm thinking I could could cover some more ground with quilted mahogany on the front and maybe some quilted mahogany on the back, and some purpleheart of paduak tuner buttons, and then maybe some snakewood bridge pins.

I could call the guitar "Samples" :D

(yes, I'm kidding :p )

[Jim_H]

Hey, this thread is giving me ideas!

I have another generic set of EIR and a plain set of Mahogany. I could build two guitars.. each one half mahogany and half EIR!! Best and Worst of both woods?

Hmm!! :-D