Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

When I bought the guitar new a few years back, the company specs called the fret board and bridge material Micarta. Currently they are calling it Richlite. Maybe they are sourcing it from a different manufacturer? I read that was the same material with two different trade names. I'll have to try a brand new one and see.

Micarta and Richlite have been incorrectly used as interchangeable terms, but they are different materials. It's entirely possible they used Micarta at some point or still do, I didn't want to imply that you were incorrect.

The ZON basses I used to own have fingerboards made of phenowood.

kiramdear wrote:My Martin has a fret board and bridge made of Black Richlite which looks and feels like black ebony. Very nice material, really. I don't know what it's made of.

At Frankfurt Musikmesse the average Joe did not even notice LP Customs had richlite on it - even when pointing it out they had to put their noses right up to the fingerboard before they got it was indeed richlite. Dealers even get confused... the people who complain about richlite, it's all in their heads

Mine really feels like wood, like ebony to be precise. But you can see it when you look very closely. It's too consistent, like the most perfect wood you ever saw. This guitar has outstanding tone for its price range; bridge and fret board are artificial but the rest of it is traditional Martin goodness.

If you know it then you can spot it even 10 ft or more away - the richlite is just uniform kitchentop! Imo body material and PUs have way more influence on tone than fingerboard material. I wonder what your Martin would sound like if it were made completely of richlite!

Werner certainly there are a range of products emerging here. You are really cooking now. Will that be stainless or Bakelite?

Peter, I'm sure we can expect T-Fal Teflon covered fingerboards, for that lightningfast, smoking hot fingerwork soon!

ajish4 wrote:Guilty. I really like the Ebony Fingerboards.

I have an Alembic with one, and a few Peavey USA basses that have Ebony fingerboards as well. ...

My J-45 RW has an ebony fretboard with Indian rosewood back and sides. How worried should I be?

Don't worry Richard there is only a recall on the left-handed models!