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Anybody tried cocobolo for the neck? I was thinking a cocobolo body and neck, kinda like maple and mahagony

It's gonna be a really heavy guitar! Hope it's an electric!

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Waddy

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Oh right! I forgot that those wood choices were for the strenght and how light they are, just got carried away with a thought without really thinking about it too much . But still, maybe laminate it, that'll take a good chunck of the coco out. Just curious. I just think that it will look pretty sweet

You could do laminated with some cocobolo and some lighter wood. Especially if you put it as the center piece, a lot will be routed away for the truss rod anyway.

There was a thread on another forum a while back where a guy made an African blackwood neck Said it was heavy, but felt good (and ate his tools trying to carve it).

Solid coco would be good if you prefer the feel of a slim electric neck, as it is stronger than the usual mahogany/Spanish cedar. Carving it thinner would reduce the weight as well.

Do you make your backs/sides on the thick or thin side? Light or heavy headblock structure? Maybe give it a heavy tail block and light weight tuners? Lots of ways to shift the balance point. Also, keep in mind that neck heavy is better than tail heavy, since it's easier to counter neckward tipping with your fretting hand and picking arm, than it is to counter tailward tipping with your chest. Although if you play in classical position, balance is less of an issue.

I have a couple builds planned with rosewood necks. It'll be a while before I get to them though.

Yeah Filippo, looks nice on electrics, but I was wondering on a steel string.

[quote="Filippo Morelli"]
p.s. Cocobolo is used all the time on classical guitars ... and most I've handled (not all) are heavy

Well, my Coco classical was certainly heavy, and it has a 5 pc Spanish Cedar(with Maple and EIR) neck with no truss rod. Back at just over 2 mm and sides at about 1.8 mm.

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Waddy

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It sounds like my question was misunderstood. I understand that cocobolo is heavy, my first build was a coco/sitka, and it Doesn't feel too heavy, actually felt lighter than my older takamine, but I haven't weighed it. I was just wondering about making a cocobolo neck for the future. Filipo, kind of like that electrical coco neck that you showed, except for a steel string acoustic guitar. Not worried about the weight of the body, just wanted to get some thoughts to get a matching cocobolo neck for a cocobolo back and sides build.

I see what your saying Filippo. I think that it is deffinately worth trying, might come out with some pretty slick stuff

I believe that Boaz Elkayam makes one or more of his models with rosewood necks. To reduce the weight he actually hollows the neck. Not something I'm looking to do but he is a very well respected luthier and does make some beatiful and unique instruments.

Be careful laminating cocobolo - there many more ways to glue it up incorrectly than correctly. The oils can be a serious issue with the glue joint.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

The real question is one of balance point from head to endblock, not of weight per se.
It's an easily-measured and significant factor esp in CGs.

It is my main concern when using dense wood for the neck on an acoustic. I play sitting down, and it is uncomfortable for me to play a guitar that is neck heavy.
I believe Smallman actually put weights in the tail block to avoid this issue.

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John

Which is also a strategy that the player could adopt in such circumstances

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Dave White
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