Elkhorn Cocobolo F-5 finally complete!

[Kip Carter]

Purdy!
Kip...

[Justus True Waldron]

Oooh sounds nice, that back is one sweet piece of wood too!

[mtucker]

Toxic is right, but beautiful, deep and dark...i know it works well on flattops and certainly the Wickersham's have built their share of solid bodied guitars but dunno much about arch tops...whats the neck wood? more pics..? really a beaut there Mr Elkhorn1.

[Bill James]

Schwinggg!

[red7flag]

The Cocobolo and Redwood really work well together. As all have said that back is simply gorgeous. The color of the redwood makes the cocobola less stark. Beautiful work. The tone of the instrument is haunting, deep and resonant. Everything works together. Truly a work of art/music.

[pjlama]

Wow! Beautiful, great job. Is it sold or available?

[pjlama]

Toxic is right, but beautiful, deep and dark...i know it works well on flattops and certainly the Wickersham's have built their share of solid bodied guitars but dunno much about arch tops...whats the neck wood? more pics..? really a beaut there Mr Elkhorn1.

Mark, I see you've hit 666 posts to match your Gil so I guess you'll be quite to relish alignment. Sorry for the hijack, back to the drool fest...

[Trey Young]

Sounds fantastic! Very mellow but still with plenty of clarity, great work again Robb.

[tburcham]

Robb,

Absolutely gorgeous! I'm a fan of your work!

[Tavy]

Fantastic workmanship - sorry to hear about the toxicity, it would be great to see some more of those!

[trevor]

Sounds and looks as good as it does on guitars. One of my favourite woods. Great job.

[usqebach]

Robb,

Sounds great, and the wood looks drop-dead gorgeous. Same can be said for the craftsmanship. However, if I can go out on a limb, and say that, after the fact, I think a lighter color binding might have given me better visual cues for my eyes to follow the shape of the outline. I think classic white might have been a bit too bright, but perhaps some kind of "antiqued" yellowed binding might have worked and also better separated out the similar coloration of the top and back.

But all in all, gorgeous work!

Jim

[Elkhorn1]

Thanks to everyone for all the great feedback on the Cocobolo mandolin. It really did turn out to be a special instrument; so bummed that I can't work it any more. I personally think it's one of the most amazing and beautiful woods available! So, since I can't do the Cocobolo any more I've got some unbelievable Koa and Mango stuff in the works; stay tuned. Lastly, I just want to say to everyone how lucky I feel to have this incredible resoure available for all of us to use. What a great community this is. Thanks Scott!!!

[Grommet]

I am loving the shade of the top and the dark binding too. The back and sides are outrageous! Nice soundclip too.

Scott

[Ivan Kelsall]

Robb's Cocobolo Mandolin back has to be the most stunning that i've ever seen. In fact it's one of the most beautifully figured & coloured pieces of wood i've seen in my life.
Robb - What is it about Cocobolo that's so bad ?.Is it harder to work than other woods, or is it just the toxicity of the dust ?.If it's just the toxic dust,would wearing a dust mask & rigging up an extraction system prevent any dust entering your system ?. I ask because if somebody else wished you to make a similar instrument,would you refuse to build one simply because of the dust ?,
Ivan

[Skip Kelley]

Robb, just had achance to listen to the sound clip. It sounds amazing! Perfect sounding mandolin!!

[Chris Biorkman]

Gorgeous.

[Bill Snyder]

If it's just the toxic dust,would wearing a dust mask & rigging up an extraction system prevent any dust entering your system ?. I ask because if somebody else wished you to make a similar instrument,would you refuse to build one simply because of the dust ?,
Ivan

Ivan, if you do a bit of research on Cocobolo you will find that for just about all people it is nasty stuff and some have horrific reactions to it. Also the more you are exposed to it the more you react.

[Elkhorn1]

What Bill just posted is very true. The first build with the Cocobolo didn't bother me much at all; the second build took me two years to complete because I couldn't bring my self to do the finish sanding because the dust bothered me so horribly. I had to wear my resporator the whole time I worked on it (which is not really too fun); then it started to affect my eyes (they would get all watery a puffy). So.... I'm thinking I'll let someone else handle Cocobolo for here on in. There are plenty of other great woods out there that I'm looking forward to working with in the future.

[Tim Anderson]

Beautiful, or as cousin Eddie would say on Christmas Vacation, "What a surprise, what A surprise, that's just real nice Clark!"

[Ben Milne]

Dat back!

Congratulations on creating such a looker

[Steve-o]

There's an amazing 3-D effect going on in the back, as if there are these deep chasms. Absolutely stunning.

I was thinking the same thing. It reminds me of a topo map. Beautiful wood figure, some real eye candy. Nice sound clip too. I'd love to play it.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thanks for the info.Bill. Working with that wood sounds like a runner up to rubbing yourself all over with a handful of Poison Ivy !. Maybe a full body wetsuit & Scuba mask are in order,but forget the flippers,
Ivan

[billhay4]

Beautifully resonant instrument.
Bill

[Mock Schimock]

What's the sound of Cocbolo? Rosewood-y? And, just for giggles but in all seriousness, how come mandolins aren't made with mahagony back and sides anymore??? I've thoroughly enjoyed EVERY Kalamazoo KM-21 I've ever played, and everyone of them but two had a mahagony back!