Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all. I like Bocote's appearance a lot. I have a board leftover from my miniature clockmaking days. How's it for tonewood, fingerboards, or bridges?

Please post pix with your reply if you got em. Thanks!

Terry,
Haven't used it for an acoustic but have used it for fingerboards and a neck. Excellent results. Looks realy beautiful. Can't say much about the sound as it didn't stay around long enough!

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

I played one. Grant Goltz ("whitespruce" on the luthierforum) has one that he built, and I got a chance to play it.

I have built furniture with Bocote, and it works beautifully. The amount of oils/resins in the wood is just right to keep the wood from chipping, but not too much to make gluing difficult. I never thought of Bocote as a luthier wood, because the pieces I have held went *thump* and not *pingggggg* when I have bumped them. (Can't say I was tapping.)

The guitar that Grant Goltz made was one of his earliest guitars, and he said he knew he had overbuilt it, considerably. Indeed, it was heavy. But, the good news is that the instrument had an immense punch, lots of power, and plenty of sustain. Now, I think that really came from the White Spruce top on the guitar (a very underappreciated soundboard tonewood), but at least the Bocote did not dampen the sound.

And, the Bocote was stunning under a finish! Really gorgeous wood.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

I've got a quartered piece that I found at Johnson's Workbench in Grand Rapids. Really beautiful, and it does have an appropriate ring when tapped. It should be good for fingerboards/bridges, headstock overlays, or neck laminations, but it's only large enough to do one of the above, once I make a cut. Decisions, decisions! Hope I can find (and afford) more, as this piece was only accidently quartersawn, 'cause they, of course, don't think about that for general woodworking.

The stuff is really pretty used for accent work. I've seen it used a number of times for bindings, and it consistently looks great. It really oxidizes to a dark shade, so when using it, spray on a sealer when the depth of color you prefer is reached.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com