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Post subject: what ia Round Laminate Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:50 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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i saw this on a fender custom 67tele closet closet classic and was wondering what it meant because i always thought that laminated wood was always really cheap and bad is this a high quality laminate or something



http://www.wildwoodguitars.com/electric ... r28891.php


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Post subject: Re: what ia Round Laminate Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:05 pm
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Professional Musician
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Location: North of Pittsburgh PA
Laminate refers not to how the wood is manufactured in this case, rather how it is assembled on the fingerboard. A slab neck was just a slab o' wood glued to the neck while the laminate was more like a veneer, thinner and rounded.
Slab:
Image
Laminate:
Image

I'm pretty sure of this since a) Custom shop wouldn't use laminate would and b) Nobody would want to waste Madagascar Rosewood in making a laminate, that stuff is too expensive ^^

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Post subject: Re: what ia Round Laminate Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:49 pm
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That "round laminate" style of fingerboard was likely more expensive to make than the "slab" fingerboards back in the day because they would have to essentially carve the radius on both sides of the fingerboard.

Here's what I have read in several sources (old Guitar Player magazines on the Stratocaster, old interviews with Leo Fender himself, and repeated again in "The Stratocaster Chronicles") - Fender had problems with the "slab" style rosewood fingerboard essentially de-laminating over time because the rosewood used on the fingerboard would expand and contract in reaction to humidity changes differently than the maple used on the main neck. Baically the type of glue available and used by Fender back in that era (1959-1962) would come apart when the wood expanded and contracted. Since Leo didn't want to keep replacing necks under warranty Fender switched to this "round laminate" style fingerboard sometime in 1962 to help minimize the differences in wood contraction. By 1963 all Fender necks used the round laminate construction, and that style was used up until the reissues came out in 1982. Of course, the 1982 "Smith" Strats (i.e. "standard" non-reissue 1982 Strats) and "regular" Telecasters still used the "round laminate" rosewood fingerboards. I'm also fairly certain that a maple fingerboard Strat or Tele in that era with a bullet truss rod adjuster will also have a "round laminate" fingerboard - which means not the "regular" Tele, just the Deluxe and Custom models. I believe the "regular" Tele only had a "round laminate maple fingerboard neck for a few years in the 1960s - from say from 1965/66 when the maple fingerboard came back as an option until say 1969 when Fender brought back the 1-piece maple neck/fingerboard (and the 1982 "Smith" Strat also had a 1-piece maple neck/fingerboard).

In fact, that is why CBS/Fender chose "1962" for the rosewood fingerboard reissue model Strat because if they started having the same issues Leo had with the "slab" fingerboards then they could change them to "round laminate" and still have them be accurate. Of course since the glue technology had advanced neither CBS/Fender nor FMIC/Fender has had that de-lamination problem with the "slab" fingerboards. FMIC/Fender does use the "round laminate" style fingerboard where it would be historically accurate - i.e. the CS Time Machine '65 Strat, '66 Strat, and '67 Tele. The Cs '69 Strat will have a round laminate rosewood fingerboard but could have either a 1-piece maple neck/fingerboard or a round laminate fingerboard (both were historically accurate for 1969). I haven't seen a USA '70s Strat in quite a while; if Fender was being accurate it should also have a round laminate fingerboard but they may be making them with a slab board these days.


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Post subject: Re: what ia Round Laminate Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 12:32 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Correct! The round-lam fingerboard starts off as a solid board like the slab, but is machined on both sides to the radius the fretboard will have. It is not a veneer either. There is nothing really wrong or cheap about this design, just one of the many things Fender experimented with over the years. The only drawback ( if you can even count this ) is if your neck develops a twist or bow or hump, you cannot really sand or file the fretboard to correct the problem like you usually would, because you would go through the fretboard most likely!


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Post subject: Re: what ia Round Laminate Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:26 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Steve-oh-no wrote:
Correct! The round-lam fingerboard starts off as a solid board like the slab, but is machined on both sides to the radius the fretboard will have. It is not a veneer either. There is nothing really wrong or cheap about this design, just one of the many things Fender experimented with over the years. The only drawback ( if you can even count this ) is if your neck develops a twist or bow or hump, you cannot really sand or file the fretboard to correct the problem like you usually would, because you would go through the fretboard most likely!


Or if you want to, let's say, modify the radius to 10"-12". Prolly not a good idea. Though I don't think someone will do that to an actual vintage guitar, of course :shock:


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