Our next raffle guitar is an F-14, DeLuxe Grade, of truly magnificent seventy-five year old cocobolo and Adirondack spruce. With a moderate scale length of 25.25”, it’s easy on the left hand, yet still has a lot of power and is extremely versatile. The overtones and sparkle of the Adirondack top are well balanced by the hardness of the cocobolo back and sides, so the quietest bare fingers work is as remarkable as driving leads or powerful rhythm playing.
Decoratively, this is a quietly elegant guitar from which the natural beauty of the wood speaks most clearly.
For years I have balked at guitar people insisting that Cocobolo is “just like Brazilian rosewood.” Cocobolo is a harder wood, much more oily, and most of it looks NOTHING like Brazilian rosewood. If there is any confusion about which species a particular piece of wood may be, a quick sniff of the material will identify which it is in a moment.
But every once in a great while, I come across a set of cocobolo which looks and sounds EXACTLY like Brazilian rosewood. Back in 1975 I obtained a couple planks of Cocobolo like that. This F-14 Deluxe is made of this wood; it will require your nose to tell you with any certainty that the back and sides of this guitar are NOT actually prime quality Brazilian wood.