Brazilian RW Trim with Mahogany?

[Darryl Young]

I may go with all Cocobolo trim. I checked and I have a few BRW bridge blanks that have strong orange and could pass for Cocobolo so it shouldn't clash. The African Blackwood fretboard should be all black and fade into the background and show off the fretboard inlay well.

[Darryl Young]

well personally I like the heelcap and endgraft to be the same material as the binding, and the headplate to match the fretboard. that's just me though...

Well, I could almost do this.......with a twist. I could do the binding, heel cap, and end graft in Cocobolo......and do the headplate and bridge in BRW. If I use a solid black African Fretboard, it would sort of fade into the background.

[Darryl Young]

FYI, for an idea what the Cocobolo looks like at Hibdon Hardwood, here is a cell phone shot of the back I bought from them in the spring (Jumbo sized set):

CocoboloBack.JPG

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Oh that is really nice..nice, nice......

[David L]

A little late here but here goes, Bois de Rose which translates to "wood that is red" which is really mis-leading because it is almost always deep purple when freshly cut then turns almost pure black in a short period of time is indeed a true rosewood (Dalbergia Maritima) from Madagascar and is sometimes reffered to as Madagascar Rosewood. Cocobolo, also a true Rosewood (Dalbergia Retusa) comes out of Central and South America, and finally African Blackwood, yet another true Rosewood (Dalbergia Melanoxylon) and comes from, well duh, western Africa.
Of the three, I really like African Blackwood, this wood is supposed to have great potential as a tonewood. I have an awesome set (B&S) of African Blackwood that I spent a small fortune on and am waiting until guitar no. 4 or 5 until I use it, want to get a little experience first. I will match it with African Blackwood headplate, FB, and bridge.
Now, as a rule I don't normally give free shout outs to non-sponsors of this forum but I will make a one time exception to my rule. Gilmer woods right now has many FB blanks of all three of these woods, they also have matching headplates and bridge blanks. I have done lots and lots of business with them and thier stuff is top notch
A guy by the name of Marc Culbertson is the head of the musical instument woods dept. I have spoke with him on several occasions and he is very liberal with his time, he is knowlegable, concise, and is an instrument builder himself. You can contact him directly through email (marc@gilmerwood.com) or you can call the toll free number and ask Ann to have him give you a call. He "will" call you back and will put together anything that you want. Don't be afraid to pick his brain, I think it's worth picking.

David L

Considering your condition, are you allowed to be doing all this strenuous keyboarding, huh???

[Darryl Young]

Jerry Hibdon (of Hibdon Hardwoods) personally picked out Cocobolo headstocks for this guitar that he thought would go well with mahogany. I asked if he would send me Cocobolo bindings that matched the headstock and when he checked and didn't find bindings that matched his choiced headstock veneer, he setup and cut new Cocobolo bindings this morning so they would match! Can you ask for better service than that? Bindings, headstock veneers, and African Blackwood fretboard are being shipped to me today. I am havind Andy Birko cut the fret slots in the fretboard and it will have the faux binding so I won't use Cocobolo binding on the fretboard.

I'm thinking of using a single thin stipe down the neck. Would you use Cocobolo or solid black? The black would be double dyed, Braz. Tulip wood if I choose that option.

[David L]

Darryl, are you going to bind the FB? That would inlfuence the choice of center stripe down the neck.

David L

[Darryl Young]

No, it will be faux binding......meaning the slots aren't cut all the way through the sides of the fretboard. Does that help?

[David L]

Yes it sure does. Here's what I think, Coco would look good, it would pick up the bindings, nothing wrong with that. I really think a black stripe would look best, it would pick up the edge of the African Blackwood fretboard, I'm liking how that visions out in my head. Definitely lose the tulipwood notion, it goes with absolutely nothing else on your guitar. See, I'm pretty good at being a pest, I'm off to a good start!

David L