Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Fantastic job, Paul! Can't wait to see it with the gold guards.

godber wrote:Blimey that's flash. A bobby dazzler.

took the words right out of my gob.

Nice work, Paul. But I'm not sure I'd like playing a checkerboard bound neck.

Looks awesome! Interestingly (or maybe not) this is probably one of the few inlayed (as opposed to dot marker) fretboards to have a 24th fret inlay, due to the conversion of the double dot.

Fantastic craftsmanship.

When I read the start of the thread, my first thought was, "it may be a bit over the top", but the end product is absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see the full-view picture.

Thanks again Paul! I'm waiting anxiously for the UPS man to arrive!

Ha. I was wondering how to refinish a fingerboard to FWMOP. I have a dremel too. What could possibly go wrong ?

Beauty!

Can't wait to see the whole thing.

jingle_jangle wrote:Bubinga is one of the species of tropical hardwoods that gets darker upon exposure to UV radiation. There are a few species that get very dark after a few months of sunlight; padauk is one of the most dramatic shifters, beginning when first milled as a brilliant red-brown almost exactly the color of this page header and aging to a color very much like walnut.

Looking at the fretboard wood, it looks pretty similar to 60's Rics.

I've always been confused by this----were your average "64-'68 era Rickenbacker fretboards made of Bubinga or Paduak? I've heard the term "African Rosewood" kicked around too, but I thought it was the same thing as Bubinga.

In any case---that is a stellar looking fretboard, my man.

I'm sure that '64-68 were not padauk, and I'm sure early Capris were.

So 64-68's would have been some type of Rosewood or even Bubinga?

I don't know much about wood varieties, but I know most of these woods are kinda similar to the untrained eye (which sums me up!)

collin wrote:So 64-68's would have been some type of Rosewood or even Bubinga?

I don't know much about wood varieties, but I know most of these woods are kinda similar to the untrained eye (which sums me up!)

The ones I've worked on and own all look like bubinga.

This type of nomenclature, however, is still too vague. Woods commonly called "Bubinga" are all of the genus Guibuortia, and are native to Africa.

G. arnoldiana, g. demeusae, g. pellegriniana, and g. tessmanii are all commonly termed "bubinga" and visual differences are minor.

G. ehie is what we know as shedua.

G. collissoana and g. coleosperma are what we call African Rosewood.

I'm never sure of anything except that I buy g. arnoldiana for fretboards (at least that's what the lumber guy says he sells me). I don't see any difference between this and shedua, either. Both air-dry to tannish red and surface to pinkish tan. Varnishing darkens both a bit and brings out the grain; UV darkens both more and seems to yellow them a bit, too.

Padauk, however, is from an entirely different genus (pterocarpus) and is a brilliant deep red with brown streaks, and when freshly-varnished is very deep maroon with an orange tinge--blood orange in color I'd say. Its full Latin name is pterocarpus soyauxii.

One day of strong UV exposure will brown it, and a week will turn it to walnut brown on the surface. Milling it restores the red tones. It is used for dyes and medicines--its pigment is alcohol-soluble. If you ever smell it, you'll note a strong tropical herbal scent. It is quite oily, and the oil will nourish tropical fungal growths, too.

Very cool, thanks for the info Paul! I have always wondered the differences between the two main types.

I am waiting for a full body pic of the guitar so I can fully appreciate this delicate but bold nuance. I suspect that it will be very appealing overall, but I would really like to see what that neck binding looks like on a FG instrument. I think it would be the bees knees.

I like the way that looks!