Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:36 am
Yes, Brian. You read it in my post just before yours...I believe there's even mention of it on the RIC website, although I haven't visited that part of it in awhile.
Karl, I've seen debates about plywood backs, and I guess it's natural since few have been disassembled. I think the whole padauk-or-not debate started because this wood will turn from its natural red-orange with brown streaks to a sort of teak or walnut brown, within weeks if the finish does not have a lot of UV inhibitor in it. It does not look like padauk after a short time.
As I was chemically-stripping the neck, I had the guitar laying face-down on a sheet of light green masking paper. In a few spots, the stripper ran off the neck and collected on the edge of the fretboard. As I picked it up to turn it over, my hands were covered with a brilliant-red paste. That behaviour is typical of padauk--it's got lots of natural color, even 45 years on. Second indicator is the smell as it's being sanded. It's very aromatic.
The finish I use now, incidentally, has lots of UV inhibitor. My VW woodie wagon was built of padauk back in '77. With standard spar varnish for a finish, the wood would turn nearly black within a couple of months, wherever the sun hit it. The last time I rebuilt it, I used te same CV I use on my refinishes. Three years later, it's still its natural color.
So the fretboard color should remain red-orange for a long time.
Karl, I've seen debates about plywood backs, and I guess it's natural since few have been disassembled. I think the whole padauk-or-not debate started because this wood will turn from its natural red-orange with brown streaks to a sort of teak or walnut brown, within weeks if the finish does not have a lot of UV inhibitor in it. It does not look like padauk after a short time.
As I was chemically-stripping the neck, I had the guitar laying face-down on a sheet of light green masking paper. In a few spots, the stripper ran off the neck and collected on the edge of the fretboard. As I picked it up to turn it over, my hands were covered with a brilliant-red paste. That behaviour is typical of padauk--it's got lots of natural color, even 45 years on. Second indicator is the smell as it's being sanded. It's very aromatic.
The finish I use now, incidentally, has lots of UV inhibitor. My VW woodie wagon was built of padauk back in '77. With standard spar varnish for a finish, the wood would turn nearly black within a couple of months, wherever the sun hit it. The last time I rebuilt it, I used te same CV I use on my refinishes. Three years later, it's still its natural color.
So the fretboard color should remain red-orange for a long time.
