Rosewood 'boards.

[pippy]

I nicked these dates from a post by Joe Yoshida on the Historic page. It was part of an answer to a question by Jamman.

 

With regard Historic Re-issue LP's :

 

1993-2002/indian rosewood.

2003/brazillian rosewood.

2003-2010/madagascar rosewood.

 

Does anyone know what wood was used for the fretboards of the '1960 Classic' range (I know they weren't Brazillian, thanks!) from 1990 until the range was discontinued a few years ago?

 

Just curious.

[pippy]

Hmmm.....

 

Can I take it that's a "No." then?

[rockstar232007]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe all USA Gibsons (especially the Classics) have Indian Rosewood FBs, and the CS guitars get Madagascar RW.

[pippy]

Thanks for that, Rockstar.

 

The only reason I'm curious is the two 1995 LP's I have (a '1960 Classic' and an R0) have a very different slab of wood when compared with my 1991 'Classic'. The '95s are nearly identical which would tie in with both your and Joe Yoshida's posts. The '91, on the other hand, is (colour excepted) nothing like the other two in terms of it's grain structure - and nowhere near as nice to play. I had thought it just needed to be played-in more but I'm still waiting for it to become 'broken-in'.

 

I know no two bits of timber will ever be identical but the difference seems way more than that and I wondered if they used stuff from somewhere else. I've read hereabouts of 'Rosewood' coming from all over the Pacific......usually to end up on Epi's...

 

:D

[rockstar232007]

Thanks for that' date=' Rockstar.

 

The only reason I'm curious is the two 1995 LP's I have (a '1960 Classic' and an R0) have a very different slab of wood when compared with my 1991 'Classic'. The '95s are nearly identical which would tie in with both your and Joe Yoshida's posts. The '91, on the other hand, is (colour excepted) nothing like the other two in terms of it's grain structure - and nowhere near as nice to play. I had thought it just needed to be played-in more but I'm still waiting for it to become 'broken-in'.

 

I know no two bits of timber will ever be identical but the difference seems way more than that and I wondered if they used stuff from somewhere else. I've read hereabouts of 'Rosewood' coming from all over the Pacific......usually to end up on Epi's...

 

:D [/quote']The rosewood used for Epis is also Indian, but of a much lower quality. In fact, I've compared the boards on both my '02 Epi LP Standard Plus and my '01 Gibson LP Classic, and though they look VERY similar (the grain patterns are almost completly identical), the difference in quality is really noticible. The grain on the Gibson is really tight and alot smoother than that of the Epi, which is very porus and is a little on the rough side.

[pippy]

The rosewood used for Epis is also Indian' date=' but of a much lower quality. In fact, I've compared the boards on both my '02 Epi LP Standard Plus and my '01 Gibson LP Classic, and though they look VERY similar (the grain patterns are almost completly identical), but the difference in quality is really noticible. The grain on the Gibson is really tight and alot smoother than that of the Epi, which is very porus and is a little on the rough side.

[/quote']

 

Thanks again, rockstar.

 

My '91 seems to be a bit of a mixture of the two. It has a less porous, almost ebony-like, structure but is - like you say of your Epi - a little rough. It's like infinitessimally fine sandpaper, if that makes any sense! I know that the Classics from this time were actually at a 40% price premium over the Standard so I doubt the board would have been made from inferior quality wood.

 

Here's a snap, actual size.

 

 

I was (and still am) hoping that it will 'polish-up' with playing. Even although it's twenty years old this year it was actually bought NOS (it had never been sold by the original dealer - he kept it in his store-room. Long story!) and had that brand-new - never-been-played feel that is so horrible!

 

If the worst comes to the worst I'll have to fine-polish it manually, I suppose.

[rockstar232007]

Thanks again' date=' rockstar.

 

My '91 seems to be a bit of a mixture of the two. It has a [i']less[/i] porous, almost ebony-like, structure but is - like you say of your Epi - a little rough. It's like infinitessimally fine sandpaper, if that makes any sense! I know that the Classics from this time were actually at a 40% price premium over the Standard so I doubt the board would have been made from inferior quality wood.

 

Here's a snap, actual size.

 

 

I was (and still am) hoping that it will 'polish-up' with playing. Even although it's twenty years old this year it was actually bought NOS (it had never been sold by the original dealer - he kept it in his store-room. Long story!) and had that brand-new - never-been-played feel that is so horrible!

 

If the worst comes to the worst I'll have to fine-polish it manually, I suppose.

It does look kind of rough. The best thing to do would be to polish it with some very fine 0000 steel wool, and then give it a good rub down with lemon oil. That should do it.

[pippy]

It does look kind of rough. The best thing to do would be to polish it with some very fine 0000 steel wool' date=' and then give it a good rub down with lemon oil. That should do it.[/quote']

 

Thanks. I'll try that (I did the lemon-oil bit in the hope that it would suffice...).

 

Time to get the steel-wool out!

[Tim Plains]

pippy, I really don't get worked up about what types of rosewoods were used and when. I know some of the '01 - 03 historics had Brazilian but if I recall correctly, all other historics, since they first came out in '93, have Madagascar rosewood. They may have switched over to Indian rosewood now, I'm not sure.

 

You can't just look at two pieces of rosewood and conclude they're different species just based on how different they look. Not directing this at you but nobody can tell just by looking at a picture. If they say they can, they're honestly full of sh*t and just because a guitar may sound slightly different than what they're used to, doesn't mean it has a Brazilian fretboard. There are so many factors to a guitar sounding different but these fools automatically assume their guitar may have Brazilian rosewood because it sounds slightly different. Play enough different guitars of the same model and you'll realize that a lot of them sound different. Still to this day, my 2007 R9 still sounds like no other and I've played a countless number of historics - does that mean Gibson used Brazilian or some did anything differently with it? No - it's just a lucky combination of all the right parts creating the whole.

 

The only time a Les Paul has Brazilian rosewood is when Gibson says it does - plain and simple.

 

I've posted this several times - can you tell me what type of woods are here? The guy who took this picture is a member at the LPF and every piece in this picture is Brazilian rosewood.

 

[pippy]

Are Nine; I agree with you on all points - especially the bit about all parts coming together to make some instruments better than all the other identical ones! I think you might have misunderstood my reason for asking.

 

I really was just curious to know whether they were different species as they (the '91 and '95 Classics) seem to be so dissimilar. As I've said before on similar threads I couldn't care less - and I really really mean that - what wood my boards are made from. But I am curious...probably in my subconscious I want to know whether my '91 will 'get there in the end' on it's own or whether it'll need a bit of a leg-up from me in the fashion suggested by rockstar.

 

I was wondering why it was that I didn't play the '91 as much as the others and concluded it was because I didn't like the feel of the board as much. It's a bit of a Catch-22 situation;

 

1) I don't play it because I don't like the board as much as the other ones (see point 2).

2) This is because the 'board is not as smooth to play (see point 3).

3) The reason the 'board is not as smooth? Probably because I don't play it as much as the other ones (see point 1).

 

I remember all the nonsense talked about the wonderful difference to be heard playing a Brazillian board and believe 100% that it's all a crock of poo. I recall someone (here, I think) spending serious money swapping for a Braz. board and waxing lyrical about how much better it was than the original. They even said that just by tapping the 'board prior to it being fitted he could hear how it 'rang' where his old 'board was 'dead'.

 

Bollocks.

 

And as far as being able to tell what type it is just by looking; so much variation in one type of wood - how can anyone but a real expert be able to answer that one!

 

I'm just curious (and glad I'm not a cat).

[jamman]

I agree completely. i was just looking for some input for everybody out there. My wife pushed the idea more than myself . i only thought it was a very different looking board than i have ever seen . where it comes from really makes no difference. the total sum of the guitar is a very nice Axe.

[pippy]

Hey Jamman;

 

I was certainly not having a dig at you!

 

As for the people with Braz boards; good for them. Their instruments will be more valuable if they ever decide to sell up.

 

Hope you didn't take it personally.

[jamman]

Not at all ,it's all cool.