peiplayer Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 On other forums posts appear from time to time discussing various guitars made from Brazilian rosewood which I understand is highly coveted by some. Does Gibson have a history of using Brazilian in some of their models? Which ones? I never seem to see or hear it talked about…..is mahogany the traditional wood of choice for Gibson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarstrummer Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Gibson hasn't built with Brazilian since May of 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 They used it years ago. Martin stopped around 1969 and I thought Gibson did as well, but according to the answers to the 2008 Homecoming questions, they used it much later than that (in small quantities I'm sure, not just on production-run boards for example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 i believe that brazilian RW is no longer used widely due to world-wide rainforest conservation movements and i think most high-end manufacturers are using indian now. it makes sense, for this reason, that it would be coveted due to it dissappearance. but the good news is...a buyer has 'contacted' some locals tradesmen and it seems they are ready to make a deal. note specimen on the right in their 'showroom'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blind Lemon Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 LMAO "but the good news is...a buyer has 'contacted' some locals tradesmen and it seems they are ready to make a deal. note specimen on the right in their 'showroom'" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 On other forums posts appear from time to time discussing various guitars made from Brazilian rosewood which I understand is highly coveted by some. Does Gibson have a history of using Brazilian in some of their models? Which ones? Recent research, mainly by Willi Henkes, has shown that Gibson standardly used Brazilian rosewood for the sides and backs of their rosewood guitars until ~1937, when they switched to East Indian. So it turns out that almost all of the original AJs and all the original rosewood J-200s were made from Indian, not Brazilian, rosewood. (Excepting custom orders, of course.) However, Brazilian continued to be standardly used for rosewood fretboards and bridges until the late '60s. After that, Brazilian was was used on "custom" guitars through 2003, when CEO Henry Juszkiewicz decreed that Gibson would not use any more Brazilian rosewood, period, no exceptions. (Ren Ferguson told me once that if Henry found a Braz back-and-sides set in the Bozeman Custom Shop, no matter what the reason, he'd be fired on the spot.) -- Bob R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 The two original AJs I played were definitely Brazilian rosewood. I have never encountered a post-war Gibson made of Brazilian, however, and it is my understanding that in 1967 the import of Brazilian rosewood was banned to the US and here in Canada. An interesting story about later use of Brazilian rosewood: In 1969 Martin launched a D-41 model. The first 31 of these guitars were made with Brazilian rosewood - the rest Indian. Needless to say, some of these few Brazilian rosewood D-41s are now approaching $30,000 in value - but the reality is that these guitars were made with wood that Martin had set aside prior to 1967 as not good enough to make a guitar. I had one of these D-41s. It was actually a pretty lousy guitar, and had many repairs - all done by Martin - because it was poorly built. The point I am trying to make here is that not all Brazilian rosewood guitars are amazing. I believe the reason pre-war Martins sound so amazing is the combination of good straight Brazilian rosewood WITH Adirondack spruce and a lot of age, playing and life experience. I have played some luthier built and custom manufactured guitars made with Brazilian rosewood, and my feeling is that they are very tight, will probably take ten years of playing to start coming to life and are deathly expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 The guitar on the left is Indian Rosewood. Anyone want to take a guess as to what kind of rosewood is on the guitar on the right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Yes, KSD, I will take rosewoods for $1000 please. Tough test though. The classical guitar on the right has the wide open grain and to some extent the orange nature of Brazilian, but the tortoise binding on what appears to be a classical guitar leads me to think it might be a Guild - who, to my knowledge, did not make a Brazilian rosewood guitar. You can see that the colour and grain on the right side guitar is quite similar to my old buffet cabinet - which is made from solid Brazilian rosewood - but I am still going to venture a guess that the guitar on the right is not Brazilian rosewood, but Cambodian rosewood. If I am way off, I would ask you to re-post the picture with a sheet of white paper somewhere in the frame. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 It's a 1958 Gibson C-6 Richard Pick model classical. I had George Gruhn appraise it and according to him it's Brazilian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Well, then it is. I was hoping it was a trick question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearbasher Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 ksdaddy, is the one on the left a Guild? Maybe a D-55? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It's a 1981 Martin M-38 that my father bought new. He handed it to me in 1994 saying, "You're going to get this anyway, you might as well have it now!". In 2005 I sent it to Johnny Rushing for a neck reset and new snowflake board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It's a 1981 Martin M-38 I played an M-35 for a few days. Very nice guitar - wonderful tone and presence. They aren't well known outside the tightest Martin circles and that is perhaps a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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