New custom build

[CraigB]

body:  alder with curly redwood droptop, plastic binding, finished in Behlen's nitro lacquer

neck:  cherry with 9.5" radius cocobolo fretboard, medium fretwire, Bitteroot double-action trussrod heel adjust, bone nut, finished with TruOil

hardware:  homemade steel bridge, barrel saddles, neck plate and tone bar, nickel plated with a Caswell Plating kit, Gotoh tuners, antique radio knobs

electronics:  three-way switch, master tone & two volume all CTS 500KA, Golden Age Parsons St. P90s, Switchcraft jack mounted with Electrosocket

[Willabe]

That's beautiful!     

But what's a tone bar?


                 Brad     

[Madison]

Fantastic!
Bet it sounds better than it looks.
Play us a tune on it!

You forgot to tell us about the Jimi water mark on the back :)

[CraigB]

That's beautiful!     

But what's a tone bar?


                 Brad     

Thanks Brad!  I've been working on it for several months, a really really fun project.  

Tonebar = piece on the back where the strings go through the body.  Instead of a single ferrule for each string, like on a Tele, it's a single piece for all six strings.  I think "Tonebar" might be a trademarked name, so maybe I should avoid calling it that.  From now on, I think I'll just call it a BFF (big frickin' ferrule)  

[CraigB]

Fantastic!
Bet it sounds better than it looks.
Play us a tune on it!

You forgot to tell us about the Jimi water mark on the back :)

Heh, Jimi mysteriously appeared - Spooky.

I gotta get going here and do some recording.  It's time -- been way way too long, and I've got a couple new amp builds that I'd like to throw a mike in front of as well.

[TIMBO]

NICE

[smackoj]

that top is gorgeous! how do you like the coco on the fret brd? how does it compare to rosewood which I am familiar with?

thx, smakin' jack

[CraigB]

that top is gorgeous! how do you like the coco on the fret brd? how does it compare to rosewood which I am familiar with?

thx, smakin' jack

THanks!  Cocobolo is very dense, hard and oily wood.  I believe I read somewhere that it is a relative species of Honduran RW, so is considered a true rosewood. 

Clogs sandpaper with a few swipes and same with the pull saw when cutting the fret slots.  But it does machine well. 

Maybe like a cross between ebony and rosewood, if that makes sense.  Seems brighter and snappier than Honduran or pao ferro.

[G._Hoffman]

THanks!  Cocobolo is very dense, hard and oily wood.  I believe I read somewhere that it is a relative species of Honduran RW, so is considered a true rosewood.  

Clogs sandpaper with a few swipes and same with the pull saw when cutting the fret slots.  But it does machine well.  

Yeah, it's a Dlabergia, so yes, a "true" rosewood.  It mostly comes from the south of Mexico, and as you say, it is hard and dense as hell, and very oily.  It also has dust that causes some people to have pretty severe alergic reactions.  Me, for instance.  I can barely be in the shop if dad is working with it, and I just can't use it.  beautiful stuff, and on the acoustic side of the world, it is generally considered to get you 90% of the way to Brazilian rosewood for 5% of the cost.  As a fingerboard, it's going to be pretty similar in feel to a rosewood board, though the color is redder, but that will oxidize over time and get browner.


Gabriel

[CraigB]

THanks!  Cocobolo is very dense, hard and oily wood.  I believe I read somewhere that it is a relative species of Honduran RW, so is considered a true rosewood.  

Clogs sandpaper with a few swipes and same with the pull saw when cutting the fret slots.  But it does machine well.  

Yeah, it's a Dlabergia, so yes, a "true" rosewood.  It mostly comes from the south of Mexico, and as you say, it is hard and dense as hell, and very oily.  It also has dust that causes some people to have pretty severe alergic reactions.  Me, for instance.  I can barely be in the shop if dad is working with it, and I just can't use it.  beautiful stuff, and on the acoustic side of the world, it is generally considered to get you 90% of the way to Brazilian rosewood for 5% of the cost.  As a fingerboard, it's going to be pretty similar in feel to a rosewood board, though the color is redder, but that will oxidize over time and get browner.


Gabriel

After hearing all the horror stories, I was really careful about getting the dust on my skin and I wore a respirator when sanding/cutting.

The cocobolo fretboard on the guitar I finished last year has actually gotten practically black in color.  The freshly sanded/cut wood has lots of color, reds, browns, purples.  It seems that while it just sat around while I was finishing the build it did darken a little bit, but after assembly and playing it a lot, that really seemed to accelerate the darkening.  I haven't used any oil or cleaners on it, just wipe it clean with a cloth during and after playing it. 

[tubenit]

That is an absolutely beautiful guitar!  Magnificently done! Bravo.

Very cool. I like it.

How do you like the StewMac pickups?  Much noise at idle like most single coils?

With respect, Tubenit

[CraigB]

That is an absolutely beautiful guitar!  Magnificently done! Bravo.

Very cool. I like it.

How do you like the StewMac pickups?  Much noise at idle like most single coils?

With respect, Tubenit

Well, thanks Jeff!  I am stoked it turned out this good.  Really plays nice.  I've gotta get some recording done, it has been way too long.

I like the pickups a lot.  Seems quiet.  These are unpotted, so when I play REAL loud with high gain, I get the expected resonant feedback squeak on certain notes when faced in close proximity to the speakers.  It's not a usual thing for me to play with such high gain, though, so it's all good 

[Ritchie200]

Wow, that is a beautiful guitar!  The sun on that top makes it look 2" deep!

See Tubenit - this is what a REAL single cutaway guitar should look like!  Sheesh, you can lead a horse to water......

Jim

[TubeGeek]

Wow what a great looking guitar! Congrats.  Very nice!

[pullshocks]

Hats off, that is a nice looking guitar.   Phenomenal book match, and the look really hangs together.  I really like how you did something a little different with the headstock.  Hope you can post up some sound clips, been kind of wondering about the stew-mac p-90s.

[CraigB]

Hats off, that is a nice looking guitar.   Phenomenal book match, and the look really hangs together.  I really like how you did something a little different with the headstock.  Hope you can post up some sound clips, been kind of wondering about the stew-mac p-90s.

As a matter of fact, I plan to do some recording this weekend.  Thanks for the kind words!  The headstock works well functionally with a lightweight body.  I really wanted to avoid neck-dive, and I think that compact little headstock was just the ticket - I'm happy to say it's not an issue at all