raymeedc Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Were/are fretboards on Gibson & Epiphone solid bodies/electrics in the sixties of Brazilian Rosewood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmis Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I´m no expert but as i have understood, Gibson went away from Braz sometime 65-66, Epi, i do´nt know but should be the same since Gibson already owned Epi at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 i'd have said into the 80's if not the 90's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hello! In the late 70s they were still using it. That's all I know about the subject. Brazilian (1978): Indian (2010): Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I'm sure that top photo is your Les Paul Recording Bence. It appears every now and again on here just to make me drool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Were/are fretboards on Gibson & Epiphone solid bodies/electrics in the sixties of Brazilian Rosewood? Probably. It wasn't on the CITIES list until 1992. Does it matter in the slightest degree? Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Wait...so, the new "True Historic's" aren't...if they use Indian, instead of Brazilian Rosewood fingerboards?! Even what you read, about "Brazilian" Rosewood, and it's availability, or "illegal" status, is confusing! I think guitar makers can/could still get limited quantities, legally, but large stockpiles at one time, seems to be a big No No=impossible, legally. And, manufacturers can/could use Brazilian Rosewood, if it was cut down, and imported prior the CITE ruling, years ago. Who knows, for sure??? And, or...does it really matter, that much, which "Rosewood" is on the current fingerboards?! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymeedc Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Probably. It wasn't on the CITIES list until 1992. Does it matter in the slightest degree? Pip. ..... just an idle passing curiosity brought on by my recent interest in sixties Gibson "classical" C-1/C-2 guitars and the varied neck patterns/coloration on the three I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Who knows, for sure??? And, or...does it really matter, that much, which "Rosewood" is on the current fingerboards?! CB I suspect the grade would make a difference, but as to species? I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 They don't really grade rosewood, they dye them to all look as similar as possible. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 ..... just an idle passing curiosity brought on by my recent interest in sixties Gibson "classical" C-1/C-2 guitars and the varied neck patterns/coloration on the three I have. Fair enough! My guess would be 'Yes'. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 They don't really grade rosewood, they dye them to all look as similar as possible. rct I imagined that grading was about more than appearance. Eg: heartwood is going to be denser than newer growth isnt it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I imagined that grading was about more than appearance. Eg: heartwood is going to be denser than newer growth isnt it? Yer way overthinking how guitar makers work. Pallets full of fretboard blanks arrive, needing minimum amounts of finish. They don't know or care where in the tree they came from. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 They don't really grade rosewood, they dye them to all look as similar as possible. rct The only guitar of mine which came with dyed rosewood has been my Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. I removed that stuff, and it revealed the wood had been in no need of any coloration. It looked indeed same as before, but I didn't have that brownish rub-off on fingers and strings. I imagined that grading was about more than appearance. Eg: heartwood is going to be denser than newer growth isnt it? Similar to ebony the heartwood is dark, the sapwood yellowish-white with dark streaks. I guess the sapwood is less dense than the heartwood after drying, but I didn't find reliable numbers. Other than for fretboards where the heartwood has the desired sonic properties, the sapwood has always been used for making furniture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 i'd have said into the 80's if not the 90's. Yer way overthinking how guitar makers work. Pallets full of fretboard blanks arrive, needing minimum amounts of finish. They don't know or care where in the tree they came from. rct I tend to agree. I don't know, and don't think anybody really does. Up until a certain time, it just wasn't important if the fretbaord was Brazilian. I have seen a lot of 80's and 90's guitars that look so much like Brazilian you can ALMOST be sure it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Probably. It wasn't on the CITIES list until 1992. Does it matter in the slightest degree? Pip. Wait...so, the new "True Historic's" aren't...if they use Indian, instead of Brazilian Rosewood fingerboards?! Even what you read, about "Brazilian" Rosewood, and it's availability, or "illegal" status, is confusing! I think guitar makers can/could still get limited quantities, legally, but large stockpiles at one time, seems to be a big No No=impossible, legally. And, manufacturers can/could use Brazilian Rosewood, if it was cut down, and imported prior the CITE ruling, years ago. Who knows, for sure??? And, or...does it really matter, that much, which "Rosewood" is on the current fingerboards?! CB I don't think it matters when you compare the SOUND of one guitar to another. Fretbaord materiel DOES make a difference in tone, but I don't think Brazilian vs Indian is going to matter on a fretbaord, not as much as density or such from individual samples. And if it DID matter, as cool as it would be to say "This is a Brazilian Fretbaord", it's far outweighed by the stigma and crap you might have to put up with if you could say it WAS Brazilian...being as banning woods seems to be a political trend as much as a conservation effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I tend to agree. I don't know, and don't think anybody really does. Up until a certain time, it just wasn't important if the fretbaord was Brazilian. I have seen a lot of 80's and 90's guitars that look so much like Brazilian you can ALMOST be sure it is. Every reference I see says the only way to tell if a board is Brazilian or not is to DNA test it so I find this interesting. You may well know better and I'm not arguing but what is the visual difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Every reference I see says the only way to tell if a board is Brazilian or not is to DNA test it so I find this interesting. You may well know better and I'm not arguing but what is the visual difference? Indeed. Wish I could tell. The fretboard on my old Recording is smoother, but it is likely due to decades of use. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Every reference I see says the only way to tell if a board is Brazilian or not is to DNA test it so I find this interesting. You may well know better and I'm not arguing but what is the visual difference? Color. Brazilian is generally very red, or has a reddish hue. Compared to Indian, which to me seems like orangy-yellow at times. And it seems to me the brown part of the wood in Brazilian is more reddish than the brown part of others, like the Indian being more a black. The photos by Bence above show pretty good. It also kinda seems Brazilian has less pores, or less deep pores. Even though you couldn't tell from Bence's pics above, many times it seems that way. I can't be sure of that. Come to think of it, the size and nature of the color streaks, too. Brazilian often has more and shorter streaks, or maybe wider. For me, usually I can't tell, but sometimes, you see one and it's like, come on dude, That's Brazilian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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