Last week, Mica said she had some more Coco Bolo for me to look at, and here it is. This board is a staggeringly fine example of old Coco Bolo, clearly something special. It was pulled out of a private collection of REALLY old wood. Most photographed examples of Coco Bolo can’t adequately convey the mesmerizing qualities of the wood, and this is no exception – but you can still see from these pictures just how much is going on with this piece… massive swirls, bold figuring, and nice contrast that I think will really pop when sealed. The top two pictures are from the new board. The bottom picture shows the new board (‘E’) with my previous top picks, ‘C’ and ‘D’.
This is going to be one difficult choice to make!
Does the pattern that is used or the shape of the guitar make a difference in the sound?
The wood pattern has no effect on the tonal qualities of the guitar. The section of wood to be used is chosen for beauty and uniqueness alone.
The shape of the guitar likewise does not significantly contribute to the sound. The way Alembic builds guitars, it is really the wood type and construction technique that determines the tonal characteristics.
there’s actually several debates about these topics. i”m REALLY into coffee table looking basses and there are many claims that the overall mass/shape of the body affects the tone of the instrument (including the sustain), but i’m not sure if this is as prevalent with guitars as with bass since the fundamentals and harmonics of the notes are pretty different (as is the scale length). wood pattern has more of an effect if the wood is figured in some way. figuring such as a burl or flame in the wood is actually a disease that the tree had (as i understand it) which makes for stunning results. i’ve also heard plenty of luthiers claim that even one piece of maple can sound drastically than another…even if it came from the same tree…but with so many variables in an instrument it is really hard to pin down what really makes it sound so alive or not. i guess that’s why stradivarius’ work is so highly sought after…he seemed to have the magic touch in selecting the perfect pieces of wood. alembic is certainly on the ball with selecting some of that magic wood too. can’t wait to hear this thing in your hands!