Granadillo? Whats Up?

[charlie brown]

Ok...let's start over, here. There's, no harm done, as far as I'm concerned, eyerish.

I never said YOU were a "troll," specifically...just that, in the past, there have been

folks that like to stir things up, for a short time, and then disappear. They are often

"Newbies," with no intent on contributing anything but chaos, or ill will. THEY are "trolls!"

If you're coming back, and want to contribute, in a meaningful, and fun way...Great!

The more the merrier!

 

And, just so you know, I don't try to upset, condescend to, or otherwise piss people off, ever!

I do try to be respectful, and answer questions, or give any information, I can, that's helpful.

I also, appreciate being treated the same way, that's all.

 

As far as 11,000+ posts, in 4 years...GUILTY, but that's on 2 forums...this one, and the Epiphone forum.

The first year, was mostly on the Epiphone forum, which was (at that time) a bit less of a "mine field!"

But, things here, are a LOT better, and have been, for some time, now. Good folks, truly!

 

Welcome...or, welcome back, as the case may be.

 

Cheers,

CB

[charlie brown]

Oops, never mind, double post!

 

CB

[Thunderchild]

Ok...let's start over, here. There's, no harm done, as far as I'm concerned, eyerish.

I never said YOU were a "troll," specifically...just that, in the past, there have been

folks that like to stir things up, for a short time, and then disappear. They are often

"Newbies," with no intent on contributing anything but chaos, or ill will. THEY are "trolls!"

If you're coming back, and want to contribute, in a meaningful, and fun way...Great!

The more the merrier!

 

And, just so you know, I don't try to upset, condescend to, or otherwise piss people off, ever!

I do try to be respectful, and answer questions, or give any information, I can, that's helpful.

I also, appreciate being treated the same way, that's all.

 

As far as 11,000+ posts, in 4 years...GUILTY, but that's on 2 forums...this one, and the Epiphone forum.

The first year, was mostly on the Epiphone forum, which was (at that time) a bit less of a "mine field!"

But, things here, are a LOT better, and have been, for some time, now. Good folks, truly!

 

Welcome...or, welcome back, as the case may be.

 

Cheers,

CB

What he said

TC

[bluefire98]

sorry to bump on a year old topic, but apparently the current gibson explorers also have a granadillo fingerboard. Since i don't have the money to get a gibson right now, i'm thinking about getting an epiphone explorer. but the epi has rosewood instead of granadillo. is the granadillo better which is why its being used on the more expensive gibsons or does it have to do with gibson's depleting supply of rosewood and since epiphone is a part of gibson, wouldn't their supply of rosewood almost be gone too?

[Zeppeholic]

I rolled over 59 last week and in those yrs I have found out that life is to short to take seriously and I could care less about a bunch of bull***t. I saw nothing wrong with any response on this topic today, given by you or anyone else. The gentleman seemed to be itching for an arguement and I'm glad no one rose to the bait must be some nasty kool-aid floating around Anyway, I think we should play our Classic Customs with the beautiful Baked Maple fretboards in his honor tonight Rock on CB

TC

 

 

I honestly want things to go back the real Rosewood and REAL ebony.

I don't care what the U.S. government thinks it's honestly none of their concern if they're not cutting down trees in the U.S. Gibson replants the trees anyways don't they? it's stupid.

 

I want REAL ebony for my LPC fret board, not richlite or whatever that crap is. I might as well make Gibson do a one-off with real a ebony fret board so I don't have to deal with the other junk

[kidblast]

well Zep... I can't say I disagree, But apparently depending on who or what you can believe, some of these resources are getting scarce, and there's probably a lot of waste.. there was a video that Bob Taylor put out regarding ebony and how much is cut down and wasted because of minor cosmetic flaws in the wood (lighter colored streaks). in the video he's communicating to players that Taylor is going to use this stuff. "We either adapt, or there is no more ebony to use"

 

So, for the bigger picture, (ecology and all) I suppose some of the old ways need to change as do our expectations to some degree.

 

I was very skeptical about baked maple... till I tried a guitar that had a baked maple fret board. Took me about 20 seconds to realize I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. I think Richlite is a whole different ball game tho.

[Zeppeholic]

well Zep... I can't say I disagree, But apparently depending on who or what you can believe, some of these resources are getting scarce, and there's probably a lot of waste.. there was a video that Bob Taylor put out regarding ebony and how much is cut down and wasted because of minor cosmetic flaws in the wood (lighter colored streaks). in the video he's communicating to players that Taylor is going to use this stuff. "We either adapt, or there is no more ebony to use"

 

So, for the bigger picture, (ecology and all) I suppose some of the old ways need to change as do our expectations to some degree.

 

I was very skeptical about baked maple... till I tried a guitar that had a baked maple fret board. Took me about 20 seconds to realize I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. I think Richlite is a whole different ball game tho.

 

 

 

 

What is richlite exactly? I don't think it's real wood is it? I like Ebony, it's my favorite wood for a guitar, especially a Les Paul, and DEFIANTLY a Les Paul Custom

[bluefire98]

"I was very skeptical about baked maple... till I tried a guitar that had a baked maple fret board. Took me about 20 seconds to realize I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. I think Richlite is a whole different ball game tho."

 

Richlite? what the f*** is that? Ever since the government messed with gibson's rosewood, gibson decided to put drugs in their guitars (does richlite not sound like a drug?). now next time a politician wants a band to play for them at the white house, more than just their ego's will be high!!!

[moparguy]

Wow I ask a question,state my situation and now I am a troll.

 

Well first off I am sorry. I said I wasn't coming back,yet I did.

 

I received some info from both Gibson and ZZounds. I thought I would share. Never mind,I would hate to subject you to the mutterings of a troll. (well except the mutterings to follow,teehee)

 

I can assure you I am not a troll. I do not live under bridges nor do I require you to answer a riddle to cross one.

 

Here is a photbucket site of mine with a few pics of a few of my gits. A few of me and even my youngest kid,I think.

 

http://s664.photobucket.com/albums/vv8/rnormile/

 

I am blessed with many many guitars. The photobucket account only shows a few at the apartment I have been in for 2 years now. Like many others,this last 3 years has been a difficult one for me. I lost my house 2 and a half years ago,so many of my really expensive guitars and amps are in storage and I keep only a few at the apartment with me.(yes an apartment not a bridge or swamp)

 

 

I think I had posted that I have not had a Paul for 20 or more years. I therefore thought coming to the Gibson Paul forum might help...silly me.

 

I turn 55 next friday(03/23) and this paul was both a shot at nostalgia and a birthday gift. I realize how silly that seems now as who ever heard of a troll having a birthday let alone getting gifts.

 

 

Well again I am sorry I bothered you good folks. I didn't chastise anyone but "TC" may think I did. Not my intention I assure you. I was only hoping for some info on a Les Paul from a Les Paul forum..yeah I know,what a nut.

 

Yes eraser I did say what you quoted with highlights,yet you again left out the "FEEL" part. Thats a very important bit of verbage in helping to comprehend what I said,in total.

 

Charlie brown having over 11 thousand posts in 4 years,believe me I was hoping for some great info. Thats why I thanked him for the links but needed other info. I guess that means I was being disrespectful.

 

Shame on me for asking questions or posting my mind.

 

I will then keep this new info to myself. I wont ask any more questions of you Les Paul types about...Les Pauls. You folks thinking me horrible for wanting to know something about an instrument of which the new ones I know nothing about.

 

At my age I am still learning something new everyday. I found a couple years ago that asking questions on guitar forums is dodgy at best. I hope I remember it now. I don't want you Paulites thinking me a troll again.

 

Well have a good one y'all.

You have some really cool gear eyerish. I like the white Tele that's nice, the Danelectro is cool also. Hope ya hang around. You have enough posts to post in the Gibson Lounge, lots to talk about in there. Post some pics of the guitar when you get it, I bet your gonna love it

[capmaster]

Baked Maple is OK for fretboard use IMHO. Both my SG basses and my 2011 L6S in Silverburst do have it.

 

Richlite is a compound of phenolic resin and cellulose. The basic plastic is known best as Bakelite. We all know it from wall sockets, wall plugs, working table surfaces in kitchens, and heat-resistive plastic parts near car engines. However, for reinforcement is cellulose used here instead of glass fibre. This makes the otherwise glossy surface a silky one and gives it a feel close to that of ebony. My SG Supra is featuring a Richlite fretboard. It feels, plays and sounds great. It is absolutely flawless, I don't have any complaints.

 

I checked out several guitars featuring granadillo fretboards in the past, and it felt similar to rosewood, perhaps a little harder, but still not as hard as ebony. It never has been the reason to make me not to buy a particular guitar, there always have been others.

[RUSHian]

Both the Ganadillo and Baked Maple are fine. I've had both and was very happy.

[Hont]

I've got Granadillo on my 2013 Studio and to the touch it feels just like Rosewood. It looks a little bit lighter is all.

[badbluesplayer]

I honestly want things to go back the real Rosewood and REAL ebony.

I don't care what the U.S. government thinks it's honestly none of their concern if they're not cutting down trees in the U.S. Gibson replants the trees anyways don't they? it's stupid.

 

I want REAL ebony for my LPC fret board, not richlite or whatever that crap is. I might as well make Gibson do a one-off with real a ebony fret board so I don't have to deal with the other junk

 

Gibson will probably be back to normal with their fretboard woods sometime soon. They need to get through whatever agreements they've made with the Gov't so they can get back to using normal materials. It appears that Gibson had to agree to restrict their use of certain woods for some time period during which they have to "pay a competitive price" in order to avoid being prosecuted. They likely have a memorandum of understanding or something similar with the Gov't that is not public that spells out the terms of Gibson's agreement with the Gov't.

 

[Aymara]

I think I like the Granadillo the best of any fretboard I ever had. You need to oil them soon as you get them, they are to dry. Once you do they spring to life.

 

That's exactly MY experience too.

 

 

Granadillo belongs to the rosewood family of trees, so it feels, plays and sounds like e.g. Brasilian rosewood. The only difference between Grenadillo and other rosewoods is, that the color of Grenadillo varies from the standard rosewood brown up to lighter more orange colors tones. The fretboard of my Signature T has the standard rosewood color.

 

Regarding oiling the fingerboard ... I also highly recommend it. Both the fingerboards of my Signature T and my Gretsch Panther were pretty dry out of the box and feel and play much better after oiling them. I used Duesenberg Fretboard Lotion, which also darkens the wood a bit and improves the saturation of the wood's color. The rosewood of my Gretsch now looks nearly like ebony.

 

Oh ... ebony ... I can tell a story for the "it must be ebony" guys:

 

When I bought my Gretsch Panther, I compared it to the new Gretsch Falcon double cut ... both being hollow-bodies. And this was a very interesting experience, that needs further explanations. Both of these Gretsches are pretty similar, have the same body design including the center block, we also know from the ES-335 too. The pickups are also the same, as are the used woods, with one exception: fingerboard and bridge. The Falcon has ebony and the Panther rosewood.

 

And now comes the astonishing conclusion: The Panther tops the Falcon, be it playability or sound, both acoustically and electric.

 

And there is one further aspect, we shouldn't forget: Though it starts with a "G", it's spelled Gibson and not Greenpeace !!! So thinking, that Gibson, Gretsch or Fender replant trees is simply naive, sorry.

 

For me it's a bit like walking close to the edge ... I don't want the Earth's lungs to be distroyed, but I also hate this Ritchlite plastic junk.

 

We should think about what we want and which consequences it has ... especially for our own children ... think about it !!!

[badbluesplayer]

I just looked at the Gibson website and all the guitars on there seem to be spec'd with rosewood or ebony boards. I'll bet that they're through with the alternative materials and are now going back to normal.

 

They're probably just selling out the older models at most of the big retailers.

 

The Midtown seems to be gone off the Gibson site and isn't being sold by the big US retailers. The Gibson Countertop Series is a thing of the past. Now I can take a shower and maybe I'll feel better about it.

 

Yuck!

 

[deeman]

What is richlite exactly? I don't think it's real wood is it? I like Ebony, it's my favorite wood for a guitar, especially a Les Paul, and DEFIANTLY a Les Paul Custom

 

Just felt i should quote this.

[Aymara]

Hey check out new Strat :)

Congrats!

 

 

 

[capmaster]

I really like my Granadillo I played it last night at the show it just wailed!

 

Hey check out new Strat :)

 

American Standard Body with Ultra Tremolo 09 American Special Neck with Locking Tuners Fender Hot Rod Humbucker and Hot Alnico 5 Singles

 

 

"D's" Custom Shop Model :)

for the Granadillo.

 

Another for and congrats on your new Strat.

[capmaster]

What is richlite exactly? I don't think it's real wood is it? I like Ebony, it's my favorite wood for a guitar, especially a Les Paul, and DEFIANTLY a Les Paul Custom

 

 

"I was very skeptical about baked maple... till I tried a guitar that had a baked maple fret board. Took me about 20 seconds to realize I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. I think Richlite is a whole different ball game tho."

 

Richlite? what the f*** is that? Ever since the government messed with gibson's rosewood, gibson decided to put drugs in their guitars (does richlite not sound like a drug?). now next time a politician wants a band to play for them at the white house, more than just their ego's will be high!!!

 

 

Baked Maple is OK for fretboard use IMHO. Both my SG basses and my 2011 L6S in Silverburst do have it.

 

Richlite is a compound of phenolic resin and cellulose. The basic plastic is known best as Bakelite. We all know it from wall sockets, wall plugs, working table surfaces in kitchens, and heat-resistive plastic parts near car engines. However, for reinforcement is cellulose used here instead of glass fibre. This makes the otherwise glossy surface a silky one and gives it a feel close to that of ebony. My SG Supra is featuring a Richlite fretboard. It feels, plays and sounds great. It is absolutely flawless, I don't have any complaints.

 

I checked out several guitars featuring granadillo fretboards in the past, and it felt similar to rosewood, perhaps a little harder, but still not as hard as ebony. It never has been the reason to make me not to buy a particular guitar, there always have been others.

 

 

Both the Ganadillo and Baked Maple are fine. I've had both and was very happy.

 

 

I think I like the Granadillo the best of any fretboard I ever had. You need to oil them soon as you get them, they are to dry. Once you do they spring to life.

i have a baked maple on my custom and its better than ebony. I had a studio silver burst with ebony to compare it to at the time and sold the studio. I have maple on my American Standard Strat and Rosewood on my american deluxe.

I owned an 80s and a 2000 Custom with ebony and also a 70s 90s and 06 standards with Rosewood.

These current 2012 - 13 Gibsons I own are the best I ever played.

 

 

That's exactly MY experience too.

 

 

Granadillo belongs to the rosewood family of trees, so it feels, plays and sounds like e.g. Brasilian rosewood. The only difference between Grenadillo and other rosewoods is, that the color of Grenadillo varies from the standard rosewood brown up to lighter more orange colors tones. The fretboard of my Signature T has the standard rosewood color.

 

Regarding oiling the fingerboard ... I also highly recommend it. Both the fingerboards of my Signature T and my Gretsch Panther were pretty dry out of the box and feel and play much better after oiling them. I used Duesenberg Fretboard Lotion, which also darkens the wood a bit and improves the saturation of the wood's color. The rosewood of my Gretsch now looks nearly like ebony.

 

Oh ... ebony ... I can tell a story for the "it must be ebony" guys:

 

When I bought my Gretsch Panther, I compared it to the new Gretsch Falcon double cut ... both being hollow-bodies. And this was a very interesting experience, that needs further explanations. Both of these Gretsches are pretty similar, have the same body design including the center block, we also know from the ES-335 too. The pickups are also the same, as are the used woods, with one exception: fingerboard and bridge. The Falcon has ebony and the Panther rosewood.

 

And now comes the astonishing conclusion: The Panther tops the Falcon, be it playability or sound, both acoustically and electric.

 

And there is one further aspect, we shouldn't forget: Though it starts with a "G", it's spelled Gibson and not Greenpeace !!! So thinking, that Gibson, Gretsch or Fender replant trees is simply naive, sorry.

 

For me it's a bit like walking close to the edge ... I don't want the Earth's lungs to be distroyed, but I also hate this Ritchlite plastic junk.

 

We should think about what we want and which consequences it has ... especially for our own children ... think about it !!!

After trying to gain an overview, I came to the conclusion that it all depends on personal likes, opinions and experiences, and that everyone's being happy with what one's got is the very thing that remains. Just my two cents...

[the dog]

I bought my Signature T in March with a Granadillo fret board. I think it's fine.

I would have liked Rosewood but it wasn't meant to be.

I did some research on it and like I read in an earlier post it is used quite extensively in South America.

[Aymara]

I would have liked Rosewood but it wasn't meant to be.

 

As I said before, Granadillo is a rosewood tree with a different origin and color.

[slowhand15]

Granadillo is a rosewood a tropical hardwood of the tree Dalbergia retusa from Central America. Cocobolo is another name for it.

 

It's a good wood for Fretboards.

 

Richlite is a dense material made from partially recycled paper and phenolic resin. Phenolic resin is made of formaldehyde and phenol. Individually, these are potent chemicals, but create a harmless, inert substance when combined. The paper is soaked in phenolic resin, then molded and baked into net shape in a heated form or press.

[capmaster]

Granadillo is a rosewood a tropical hardwood of the tree Dalbergia retusa from Central America. Cocobolo is another name for it.

 

It's a good wood for Fretboards.

 

Richlite is a dense material made from partially recycled paper and phenolic resin. Phenolic resin is made of formaldehyde and phenol. Individually, these are potent chemicals, but create a harmless, inert substance when combined. The paper is soaked in phenolic resin, then molded and baked into net shape in a heated form or press.

Hello slowhand15,

 

for sure a well-founded first post.

 

Have fun here,

capmaster

[Aymara]

Im not interested in any fretboard thats paper and bondo.

 

I was first interested in the Budokan, but when I played this synthetic fretboard, my interest went to zero. It feels and looks cheap and doesn't play well.

 

One of the reasons, why I don't like synthetic fingerboards is, you can't oil it! I oil all my fingerboards, because it feels better and plays better.

 

Conclusion: Richlite is a no-go for me.

 

And it's a joke, that cheap Epiphones come with ebony fretboards and expensives Gibsons with this "plastic" junk. That's definitely the wrong product management.

[Aymara]

If my signatures board would have been to orange looking I would have just used brown leather dye on the board but I got lucky I guess :)

 

I'm not sure, but I have the impression, that the wine red and transluciant ebony SigTs have darker boards than most of the white and sunburst versions.

 

My wine red has one of the darker boards ... looks like rosewood similar to yours.