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Post subject: Strat Review
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:38 pm
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIK8-vHDrJI

At 4:00 min mark see if you hear this guy say anything strange. He does a really interesting review of the Strat though.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:40 am
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Just when I was starting to feel good about my progress as a guitar player, I watch this guy play.

Man, I suck! :lol:

8)

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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:31 am
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He ID'd a Richlite or Ebony fretboard as Rosewood at 4:00.
I didn't know Fender used Ebony or composite on Strats but that is definitely not Rosewood.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:59 am
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The guy said "this is a really lovely, chocolate dark piece of Rosewood".
How this translates as identifying the fingerboard as being Ebony or Richlite is beyond me.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:36 am
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stratmangler wrote:
The guy said "this is a really lovely, chocolate dark piece of Rosewood".
How this translates as identifying the fingerboard as being Ebony or Richlite is beyond me.


What is that fretboard material then? Rosewood is a reddish wood as far as I know. That clearly is a black material. Is there a wood species called Chocolate Rosewood? No.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:43 am
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Zentar wrote:
stratmangler wrote:
The guy said "this is a really lovely, chocolate dark piece of Rosewood".
How this translates as identifying the fingerboard as being Ebony or Richlite is beyond me.


What is that fretboard material then? Rosewood is a reddish wood as far as I know. That clearly is a black material. Is there a wood species called Chocolate Rosewood? No.


True, but Fender's been dying their rosewood a bit darker for years now. It used to be you would get some dark rub-off on your fingers until you conditioned the fingerboard. My last American Standard Strat, a 2013, didn't appear to be dyed but it was a fairly dark reddish-brown with a couple of lighter streaks through it.

Fender has used ebony on a few things - mostly the Strat Ultras that were made from 1990-1997ish (maybe a bit of run-out in 1998), then again on the American Deluxe maple top Strats made from 2004-2007. Plus the Custom Shop will use it on a few things, specifically those 35th Anniversary models from 1989. I can't recall Fender using Richlite like Gibson is using on the current Les Paul Customs (the maple topped ones that are also weight relieved); they are holding their limited supply of the real ebony back for the Historic LP Custom models.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:56 am
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Nice strat......the review is good; the fretboard is rosewood and yes, he only refers to the color as dark chocolate; I personally like that rosewood....better than most I see

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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:02 am
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John C wrote:
Zentar wrote:
stratmangler wrote:
The guy said "this is a really lovely, chocolate dark piece of Rosewood".
How this translates as identifying the fingerboard as being Ebony or Richlite is beyond me.


What is that fretboard material then? Rosewood is a reddish wood as far as I know. That clearly is a black material. Is there a wood species called Chocolate Rosewood? No.


True, but Fender's been dying their rosewood a bit darker for years now. It used to be you would get some dark rub-off on your fingers until you conditioned the fingerboard. My last American Standard Strat, a 2013, didn't appear to be dyed but it was a fairly dark reddish-brown with a couple of lighter streaks through it.

Fender has used ebony on a few things - mostly the Strat Ultras that were made from 1990-1997ish (maybe a bit of run-out in 1998), then again on the American Deluxe maple top Strats made from 2004-2007. Plus the Custom Shop will use it on a few things, specifically those 35th Anniversary models from 1989. I can't recall Fender using Richlite like Gibson is using on the current Les Paul Customs (the maple topped ones that are also weight relieved); they are holding their limited supply of the real ebony back for the Historic LP Custom models.


Supposedly Taylor is going to start using the less desirable multicolored Ebony since they own entire forests of multi colored Ebony. I haven't seen a single new Taylor fingerboard yet with this plentiful multicolored Ebony.
That Strat in the video looks like Ebony or Composite(Richlite).
When he says "Chocolate Rosewood" is he using a known euphemism for stained Rosewood?
You can stain any wood species. You can even stain them bright green.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:18 am
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GLPro wrote:
Nice strat......the review is good; the fretboard is rosewood and yes, he only refers to the color as dark chocolate; I personally like that rosewood....better than most I see


Rosewood is an excellent fretboard wood. I think it is one of the three best fretboard wood species.(Ebony, Rosewood and Maple). I've never seen a fret come off any fretboard using those three. The color of a fretboard means nothing as far as quality and functionality to me. I just use color to identify the different woods. When I see a black fretboard it is usually Ebony or composite. You won't see a fret peel off a composite fretboard either. Richlite really holds a fret.
It also looks to me like some companies have a longer supply of Ebony than other companies due to their low output and may figure they can continue using their Ebony until a new Ebony supply arrives in a few years. Ebony trees are a renewable resource despite what we are told.
There seems to be a current rush to find the perfect modern fretboard material that consumers will buy and whether that will turn out to be a composite or a stained common wood species like Maple remains to be seen.
Anybody know why they stain Rosewood? It is a beautiful grain in its natural state.
People go gaga over black Ebony but I think Rosewood is its equal.


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:03 am
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Zentar wrote:
When he says "Chocolate Rosewood" is he using a known euphemism for stained Rosewood?
You can stain any wood species. You can even stain them bright green.


This is a transcript of what the guy actually says ....
Quote:
A thing that I've noticed in recent years, generally, about guitars is we're not seeing so often that really dark Rosewood, but if you look on here this is a really lovely chocolate dark piece of Rosewood, so really really nice quality.


He doesn't mention Richlite or Ebony, and he's not talking euphemistically about the fingerboard being stained.
There's no hint in his comments.
For all anyone knows it might be a dark stained bit of Rosewood, but he doesn't call it dark stained Rosewood, he uses the term "chocolate dark" adjectively to describe the fingerboard wood.

If the fingerboard were not Rosewood, I think the guy would have said so - he's been around a long time as a full time professional musician, and as he say, has loads of Strats from all eras, so will be more than familiar with the Rosewood he's seen on Strats over the years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Casswell

Now I agree that there doesn't seem to be much open grain on the fingerboard of the guitar being reviewed, but I would not use a Youtube video to form a definitive opinion.
It does appear in the video to be more like Ebony to me too.
The bit that swings it for me is that Fender have stated in the description of the guitar as the fingerboard being Rosewood http://www.fender.com/guitars/stratocas ... ml#start=1


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:59 am
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Your link clearly states it is Rosewood and it is soot black so it has to be stained black. Rosewood is not naturally a solid colored grain of any one color. It is predominately reddish.

Looks like Fender is leaning toward stained Rosewood and Gibson is leaning towards Richlite.
That guy in the video calls the stained Rosewood "chocolate" Rosewood. He may have a degree in marketing as well. Companies seem to avoid saying the word "stained" but personally I'd prefer stained Rosewood over Richlite on a Custom les Paul.
You can stain Rosewood all you want but it's still genuine Rosewood.
The fact that Gibson likes the Richlite over stained Rosewood must mean Richlite has some advantages over stained wood. Im sure neither Gibson or Fender is going to sell a crappy fretboard so what they are using must work.

The first I saw of color wood staining was years ago in rifle stocks. I have a laminate stock on a 22 target stock that has alternating bright red and brown . It has maintained these colors for 40 years. Rifle stocks use purple, red, green, blue, grey, yellow etc stained laminates however, laminated wood won't hold a fret. it's basically plywood.http://rifle-stocks.com/laminated_woods.htm


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:47 pm
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I have a few rosewood necks that look almost black when freshly oiled but lighten up as they dry out again. I have a black Strat with rosewood and it just doesn't seem right. Hoping to get an ebony neck from Warmoth or somewhere. Black should have maple or ebony boards or they just don't look right to me!


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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:47 pm
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Thanks for the link to the review- it was some awesome playing and good sound demo's there :D

Yesterday I picked up a new Am Strat dlx with rosewood fretboard. The shop did not have it in their shelves, so I had to order it from another of their warehouses, that took a week. So I had not seen it except in pictures , and I was a bit surprised of how black the rosewood was. It also seemed to be rather ''dry'' compared to other RW fingerboards. Anyway- I love it. And I am a bit excited to see how it will look after giving the first oil treatment ! Here's a couple of pics of her:

Image
Image

And, yes - she's got a shawbucker

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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:09 pm
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asgeirman wrote:
Thanks for the link to the review- it was some awesome playing and good sound demo's there :D

Yesterday I picked up a new Am Strat dlx with rosewood fretboard. The shop did not have it in their shelves, so I had to order it from another of their warehouses, that took a week. So I had not seen it except in pictures , and I was a bit surprised of how black the rosewood was. It also seemed to be rather ''dry'' compared to other RW fingerboards. Anyway- I love it. And I am a bit excited to see how it will look after giving the first oil treatment ! Here's a couple of pics of her:

Image
Image

And, yes - she's got a shawbucker

What a beautiful guitar, Asgeir....congratulations!
Alex

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Post subject: Re: Strat Review
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:25 pm
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John C wrote:
Zentar wrote:
stratmangler wrote:
The guy said "this is a really lovely, chocolate dark piece of Rosewood".
How this translates as identifying the fingerboard as being Ebony or Richlite is beyond me.


What is that fretboard material then? Rosewood is a reddish wood as far as I know. That clearly is a black material. Is there a wood species called Chocolate Rosewood? No.


True, but Fender's been dying their rosewood a bit darker for years now. It used to be you would get some dark rub-off on your fingers until you conditioned the fingerboard. My last American Standard Strat, a 2013, didn't appear to be dyed but it was a fairly dark reddish-brown with a couple of lighter streaks through it.

Fender has used ebony on a few things - mostly the Strat Ultras that were made from 1990-1997ish (maybe a bit of run-out in 1998), then again on the American Deluxe maple top Strats made from 2004-2007. Plus the Custom Shop will use it on a few things, specifically those 35th Anniversary models from 1989. I can't recall Fender using Richlite like Gibson is using on the current Les Paul Customs (the maple topped ones that are also weight relieved); they are holding their limited supply of the real ebony back for the Historic LP Custom models.

Hasn't Martin been using Richlite for years?


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