Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wildberry wrote:

ajish4 wrote:I'm guilty, I love grain

I'm more fond of grain products like cookies!

So,what's this padauk stuff? I actually have never heard of it

I don't know much about it, other than the name. I looked it up on Google, but mostly just to make sure I spelled the "padauk" correctly; it's similarly a darker wood, with either a reddish brown, or brown, color.

I hope I didn't unleash a "can of worms" by mentioning padauk. . . .

In any case, I'll say it again; The new rosewood fret boards look, gorgeous, awesome, killer, and I can't wait to order a new Rick with one!

paologregorio wrote:I hope I didn't unleash a "can of worms" by mentioning padauk. . . .

Ah, don't worry - those that want to complain will find a way to complain anyway.

The wood structure in fingerboards will always be a very personal thing. I think even with just one species used the same person might not like the looks of all fingerboards.

Padauks can be confused with rosewoods to which they are somewhat related, but as a general rule padauks are coarser and less decorative in figure

Not sure if that's true or not, but aren't we glad they stopped using it?

Padouk isn't exactly rare (but becoming it fast).
I see it often being used as a facade in stead of bricks.
That's a lot of fingerboards on a house there.
If it was up to me to select the wood at RIC, they'd cost a whole lot more.
I think it's kind of sad RIC doesn't communicate decisions like this.
If I had ordered a guitar, and the specs said bubinga, I would want exactly that, and not what is going to be delivered.
But then I have only A few hundred posts off course

Seven pages? I didn't read it all...but I do have an observation...

From the scent and the way it works and darkens, I believe that '58-'60 or even some '61 full-scale Capris had padauk fretboards. I have not seen this in other Ricks, though, earlier or later or other models in the range.

Padauk will respond to the environment by going from its freshly-worked bright red-orange color with ruby red grain, to a deep brown (almost black!) within a few months, whether left raw or coated. I've tried a number of coatings on it, including UV-inhibitors and nothing stopped this color change.

There is a recent development: Intergrain ultra-clear waterborne varnish apparently slows the color change or stops it completely...jury is still deliberating, but looks promising. My woodie (CAR!) is made of padauk, was completely restored 9 summers ago and kept indoors since, under a cover. This video was taken in 2009, seven years after the wood was completely stripped to red-orange and varnished with 6 coats of two-pack urethane with UV inhibitor:

jingle_jangle wrote:Seven pages? I didn't read it all...but I do have an observation...

From the scent and the way it works and darkens, I believe that '58-'60 or even some '61 full-scale Capris had padauk fretboards. I have not seen this in other Ricks, though, earlier or later or other models in the range.

Padauk will respond to the environment by going from its freshly-worked bright red-orange color with ruby red grain, to a deep brown (almost black!) within a few months, whether left raw or coated. I've tried a number of coatings on it, including UV-inhibitors and nothing stopped this color change.

There is a recent development: Intergrain ultra-clear waterborne varnish apparently slows the color change or stops it completely...jury is still deliberating, but looks promising. My woodie (CAR!) is made of padauk, was completely restored 9 summers ago and kept indoors since, under a cover. This video was taken in 2009, seven years after the wood was completely stripped to red-orange and varnished with 6 coats of two-pack urethane with UV inhibitor:

Did you paint that, Paul?

After the thread was closed I received an ironic PM.

So I am out. Not mine here. I want to keep it honest and friendly.

The PM in the previous post that I edited, was not by me, It does not matter who it was from. What goes in PMs, STAYS in PMs. Don't air them out on the forum.

No more warnings.

I think it's kind of sad RIC doesn't communicate decisions like this.
If I had ordered a guitar, and the specs said bubinga, I would want exactly that, and not what is going to be delivered.

That might ring true for you, but you would have been one in several thousand that cared (my hunch is you would not have even known the difference). Remember, we have been using this wood for four months and have made thousands of fretboards with it. How would you explain the fact that until it was pointed out in a video, nobody, not anybody here, nor a single customer or dealer noticed? That tells me that we made the right decision.

Clint made a great point: The bubinga was also all over the map regarding coloring, just like this wood. Sometimes we got bubinga in that was browner than normal, sometimes it was very orange. This is wood, an organic material from a tree, not a cookie-cutter plastic material. Some of the CR looks more like bubinga than actual bubinga.

For the record, where does it actually say bubinga in our model specs?
http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=330

Wow, after looking at some of the pictures on dealer sites, even I have trouble seeing the difference! I have to go by serial #!

RIC_FACTORY wrote:This is wood, an organic material from a tree, not a cookie-cutter plastic material. Some of the CR looks more like bubinga than actual bubinga.

The first photo that I'd posted proves this statement.

rickenbrother wrote:

RIC_FACTORY wrote:This is wood, an organic material from a tree, not a cookie-cutter plastic material. Some of the CR looks more like bubinga than actual bubinga.

The first photo that I'd posted proves this statement.

Joey, where did you post that? I must've missed it, and I can't find it

Page 3, Werner... The picture with my hand in it. I can't tell you how many bubinga fretboards we have produced that look almost identical to that.

By the way, these are the more "extreme" examples of how this wood looks.

RIC_FACTORY wrote:Page 3, Werner... The picture with my hand in it. I can't tell you how many bubinga fretboards we have produced that look almost identical to that.

By the way, these are the more "extreme" examples of how this wood looks.

Thanks, Ben - I must've somehow skipped page 3 looking for the pictures

Well, the 2nd and 3rd picture are awesome! Might not be to everyone's liking, that "extreme", but imo it's some beautiful figure in that fingerboard! Once completed will it remain as visible?

RIC_FACTORY wrote:

I think it's kind of sad RIC doesn't communicate decisions like this.
If I had ordered a guitar, and the specs said bubinga, I would want exactly that, and not what is going to be delivered.

That might ring true for you, but you would have been one in several thousand that cared (my hunch is you would not have even known the difference). Remember, we have been using this wood for four months and have made thousands of fretboards with it. How would you explain the fact that until it was pointed out in a video, nobody, not anybody here, nor a single customer or dealer noticed? That tells me that we made the right decision.

I'm not judging your decision, just saying what I said. It 'd be nice if things like this were announced somehow. For the people who do care about ricks.
I'd notice the difference for sure, if there was one to be seen at all over here, I dind't see the video either.
And okay, it's not a big deal after all, on a run of the mill guitar.
This reminds me of the story in one of the RIC books about slanted fret guitars being sent out to people who didn't order that, and getting no response to it.
First of all I couldn't imagine not noticing that and second I couldn't imagine not caring for that either when I spent $1000 plus on a guitar.
I can imagine that in the pre hyper-infomation era people thought their model actually was like that.
Kinda "my bad, rickenbackers are weird/unplayable (pick one), and now back in it's case and under the bed"

Clint made a great point: The bubinga was also all over the map regarding coloring, just like this wood. Sometimes we got bubinga in that was browner than normal, sometimes it was very orange. This is wood, an organic material from a tree, not a cookie-cutter plastic material. Some of the CR looks more like bubinga than actual bubinga.

That last sentence is quite a bold statement

For the record, where does it actually say bubinga in our model specs?
http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=330

well it says rosewood, which covers a lot for sure!

I'm not judging your decision, just saying what I said. It 'd be nice if things like this were announced somehow. For the people who do care about ricks.

You mean, like, the customers that have actually purchased guitars over the past four months and have no problem with it? Answer me this, why is it that the people that don't actually own one of these guitars are the ones put off by it? Kind of ironic, huh? By the way, to whom exactly are you referring, "the people that do care about ricks." You're the judge of that? A guy that just got his new 330 and loves it and maybe doesn't know about or care to participate in an online forum doesn't care?

I'd notice the difference for sure, if there was one to be seen at all over here, I dind't see the video either.
And okay, it's not a big deal after all, on a run of the mill guitar.

Sure you would have...

This reminds me of the story in one of the RIC books about slanted fret guitars being sent out to people who didn't order that, and getting no response to it.

So you're comparing something like slanted frets, that would be completely obvious on first sight, to a wood nobody recognized until it came up in a thread four months after it went into production? I repeat, where do we spec bubinga on our website? Nice lob at our customer service by the way, way to cite an example from how many years ago?

First of all I couldn't imagine not noticing that and second I couldn't imagine not caring for that either when I spent $1000 plus on a guitar.
I can imagine that in the pre hyper-infomation era people thought their model actually was like that.
Kinda "my bad, rickenbackers are weird/unplayable (pick one), and now back in it's case and under the bed"

I repeat: You mean, like, the customers that have actually purchased guitars over the past four months and have no problem with it? Answer me this, why is it that the people that don't actually own one of these guitars are the ones put off by it? Kind of ironic, huh?

Clint made a great point: The bubinga was also all over the map regarding coloring, just like this wood. Sometimes we got bubinga in that was browner than normal, sometimes it was very orange. This is wood, an organic material from a tree, not a cookie-cutter plastic material. Some of the CR looks more like bubinga than actual bubinga.

That last sentence is quite a bold statement

#1 How much bubinga have you actually looked at in our factory?
#2 How much Caribbean Rosewood have you actually looked at in our factory?

well it says rosewood, which covers a lot for sure!

Now you're catching on!