Cases of allergic reactions to unfinished necks

LarsXI

Junior Member
Messages
49
This may sound a bit bizarre, but has anyone ever had a problem with an unfinished neck that irritated them? It would be unfortunate to have a neck that caused one to get a rash. I'm curious if anyone's ever tried to return a neck on that basis.
 
i heard this about goncalo alves, 10-15% of the people could develop allergy du to direct contact. no idea if it is true just for contact, but sanding these woods can irritate, and once your sensiilized it can become delicate. many woods are involved see here on basstalk http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157059
 
Sir SchmoopY said:
my wallet shriveled

actually, the incredible thing is how paying for a warmoth finish on something that needs it might put you back further.


I'm more or less thinking a straight paddle headstock and a purpleheart neck. It should be fine so long as I keep the dust at bay when I'm carving the thing, but it would be a drag to put work into it and then start reacting to the neck back while playing it.
 
From the perspective of taking every problem call for multiple years for one of the largest retailers of exotic necks, I can tell you that I have never had someone call in that had an allergic reaction to one of them. 
 
Gregg said:
From the perspective of taking every problem call for multiple years for one of the largest retailers of exotic necks, I can tell you that I have never had someone call in that had an allergic reaction to one of them. 

Gregg, Just checked the Warmoth website on Neck Woods.

I could recall an allergy warning previously and now I've checked, yep, it's still there for: Cocobolo.

Toxic and irritating dust and allergic reactions. Maybe some of the guys in the workshop have had (or seen someone) take badly to this wood?

The reason I recalled this is because Alembic use the wood for their Tribute Guitar body carved tops (very yummy guitars and way too pricey for me) and that's a heap of wood.
 
OzziePete said:
Gregg said:
From the perspective of taking every problem call for multiple years for one of the largest retailers of exotic necks, I can tell you that I have never had someone call in that had an allergic reaction to one of them. 

Gregg, Just checked the Warmoth website on Neck Woods.

I could recall an allergy warning previously and now I've checked, yep, it's still there for: Cocobolo.

Toxic and irritating dust and allergic reactions. Maybe some of the guys in the workshop have had (or seen someone) take badly to this wood?

The reason I recalled this is because Alembic use the wood for their Tribute Guitar body carved tops (very yummy guitars and way too pricey for me) and that's a heap of wood.

The ipe now offered for finger boards is the same, toxic and irritating dust/allergic reactions.  I've built several decks from ipe, it can be very irritating... but if you're not exposed to the dust I don't see building up a sensitivity to it...
 
I have cut 100's of 1000's of board feet of hard and soft woods in a mill shop, back almost 25 years go now.

There are things that seem to get to folks, some worse than others, some not at all.

Most folks didn't mind the wet cypress that was resawn from whole logs, but it got to me, instant headache.
Red oak, even white oak can be an irritant.
Walnut never got to me.
Cedar is pleasant!
Cut a lot of mahogany, no issues at all (think mahogany doors, tables, door frames.. big arch top cathedral doors.. 200+lbs each).
Redwood irritated me.
Maple never got to me
Ash could be irritating (we did a lot of hard ash)
Poplar never got to me.
Teak could sometimes be irritating (and fun as sparks flew off the knives... )
Ebony - did a lot of ebony trim and stuff... never got to me.

We didn't do much cocobolo that I recall.... but I remember it basically smelled like horse piss when you cut it, though it didn't bother me at all.  I'm thinking we did bar trim and table trim out of it.  Most of the exotics were for bars in private residences, boats, and private clubs (country clubs).

 
We need to distinguish working the wood (ie cutting & sanding) where there can be significant dust particles and playing a finished neck.  I believe the OP was asking about reactions from playing a neck.

I can speak from a background similar to Gregg (I took over for him for a period of time) and have never spoken to anyone that has had a reaction from playing an exotic neck.
 
Wyliee said:
We need to distinguish working the wood (ie cutting & sanding) where there can be significant dust particles and playing a finished neck. 

Oh definitely, and I did not mean to imply otherwise.
 
If anything, upon hearing said exotic wood as hands apply pressure to strings, as instrument is plugged in, I would presume that these would would cause an artistic addiction that would require thousands of countless hours of playing in order to get under control. 

The only real remedy would be to play more, which is actually feeding the addiction.

The real thing that needs to be pointed out is, that this is an addiction worthy of falling prey to, as it improves the playing of the owner, and delights those within earshot of exotic tones.
 
Wyliee said:
We need to distinguish working the wood (ie cutting & sanding) where there can be significant dust particles and playing a finished neck.  I believe the OP was asking about reactions from playing a neck.

I can speak from a background similar to Gregg (I took over for him for a period of time) and have never spoken to anyone that has had a reaction from playing an exotic neck.

I get your point there, Wylie, and I guess I got a little too literal in reading the notes about Cocobolo.

The OP mentioned an unfinished neck, and that pricked my ears up too. Not even a clear finish to separate the hand from the raw wood. I'm inexperienced with exotic woods, and I thought - even if a reaction was ever so remote from such a dried out and sanded product  - that some folks would have some sort of dermatitis-like reaction to touching bare woods of certain kinds.

I certainly did not mean to imply that Warmoth would make and sell products that could cause health problems to it's customers. :doh:
 
OzziePete said:
Wyliee said:
We need to distinguish working the wood (ie cutting & sanding) where there can be significant dust particles and playing a finished neck.  I believe the OP was asking about reactions from playing a neck.

I can speak from a background similar to Gregg (I took over for him for a period of time) and have never spoken to anyone that has had a reaction from playing an exotic neck.

I get your point there, Wylie, and I guess I got a little too literal in reading the notes about Cocobolo.

The OP mentioned an unfinished neck, and that pricked my ears up too. Not even a clear finish to separate the hand from the raw wood. I'm inexperienced with exotic woods, and I thought - even if a reaction was ever so remote from such a dried out and sanded product  - that some folks would have some sort of dermatitis-like reaction to touching bare woods of certain kinds.

I certainly did not mean to imply that Warmoth would make and sell products that could cause health problems to it's customers. :doh:

Nope, never received a neck with a Surgeon General's warning.  "Note:  Playing this neck may be harmful to your health."  :icon_jokercolor:
 
Offhand, I would say the odds of having an allergic reaction to a completed unfinished hardwood neck would probably be rougly equal to those of reacting to a thoroughly cured finish. Wood dust can be highly irritating (and also pretty unealthy) but then so are paint fumes. If I remember correctly, the majority of contact allergies are related to metals, specifically nickle.
 
i can attest to that.  my first pair of glasses was made of a nickel alloy.
not the funnest month.
 
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