I have a Gibson with it - an amazing guitar. Best I ever had

@harleydevere4210

Жыл бұрын

Just got one, I was overly purist about it and now I love it. Best guitar I’ve ever played.

I remember years ago when a friend of mine bought that cheap frettless electric bass guitar. The body was all layers of plywood glued together and painted glossy black. It looked quite nice actually, sounded good too. But what impressed me most was the neck with the fingerboard which i thought it was very smooth high quality ebony, which would be strange for such a cheap instrument. But now i realise that it must have been richlite.

You do realize this is Richlite promoting Richlite, so of course they're going to say it's superior....just like process cheese is superior to 6 year old aged cheddar......yep

@RichliteCompany

3 жыл бұрын

Have you had the opportunity to try Richlite fretboards yet?

Lets face it , you cant beat Ebony and rosewood for a finger board, however I have guitars with Richlite boards and they sound and feel great the one thing I find strange is why Richlite is the same price as Ebony

@ANCAPVoluntaryist

3 жыл бұрын

If you can't get ebony, you can use any other hardwood. Why would anyone pay for fake wood at the same price as the real wood? Am I missing something here? 🤔

@ibsenrodriguez7296

2 жыл бұрын

With rich lite your paying the price that it takes to make and process the paper, for ebony your paying for the market value that the wood has since it’s very sought after. If ebony wasn’t popular then you could probably buy it at the same price as Indian rosewood for like $20 a fretboard

@davidmacleod9313

Жыл бұрын

Richlite is so easy to maintain. That alone is a great reason. I prefer it.

@hanovergreen4091

10 ай бұрын

@@ANCAPVoluntaryist Wood is cellulose. Paper is Cellulose. So the difference is that one has a resin impregnated into it. So there is really no difference. It's not fake wood. It IS wood :) Best Regards and Best Wishes!

@craigbarnett5992

3 ай бұрын

@@hanovergreen4091 Charcoal is carbon, as are diamonds. Disingenuous.

Thanks for posting! I'm getting ready to post my Richlite experience on my build channel. I'm a few weeks behind on footage but feel free to follow along now.

@RichliteCompany

5 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing it.

@CMRCustom

5 жыл бұрын

Richlite thanks for subbing

@bretjackson8093

5 жыл бұрын

Hi is richlite as playable as rosewood or ebony in terms of being slippy? Is it good for fast fingerstyle? Also, how can I keep it feeling clean and not 'grippy'? Thanks for any help. Bret

@RichliteCompany

5 жыл бұрын

@@bretjackson8093 A lot of our customers say that it's more playable and smoother than rosewood and ebony. With a polished finished it shouldn't be grippy. To clean it just wipe it down with a damp cloth and mild soap. You can also use a fretboard cleaner.

@bretjackson8093

5 жыл бұрын

@@RichliteCompany thankyou so much for your reply and information. Greatly appreciated. Bret

Best argument for using this is deforestation, even if the sound difference is minimal.

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

where do you think paper comes from?????? Richlite is 70% paper duh!

@Shmingleshmangle

3 жыл бұрын

@@dietersdawgs Yes, but it can be made from recycled paper as opposed to cutting down a tree exclusively to be used only once

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

@@Shmingleshmangle I agree....you're still cutting down trees.....I do some lutherie and the problem with ebony is that what made it short in supply was primarily piano manufacturers insisting on jet black ebony, so the Africans cutting them down would cut down everything as about only one in 20 ebony trees has real black heartwood... and leave the rejected trees to rot....most of it is dark grey and streaked......too lazy to dye it black.

@Shmingleshmangle

3 жыл бұрын

@@dietersdawgs Also, paper is usually made from softwood trees that can be grown rapidly (usually in plantations especially for this use) in comparison to mahogany, rosewood, ebony etc which are sourced from rainforests and have not been specifically planted for this use. I get what you're saying, but it's no argument that using richlite is far better for the planet than other woods luthiers have traditionally used.

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

@@Shmingleshmangle As a luthier and watercolour artist I am aware of that....softwood trees are not harvested properly either, they are usually clear cut and not replanted like a natural forest would be...my point is that richlite is not as "green" as they claim, being mostly made from wood, whether or not it is recycled or not, my point is that a tree is cut down for it, just like a fretboard.

I'm pretty picky about fretboard material. I really hated the baked maple on my 2012 Les Paul junior. I really really dont like pau ferro on the mexico fenders. BUT I recently got a Gibson with richlite fretboard and I have nothing to complain about.

I was sceptical when I saw Richlite on Martin's website. After watching this and hearing the comparison, I have no reservations. I should have trusted the Martin engineers in the first place.

@riverpage3228

4 жыл бұрын

Came here for the same thing. I’m looking at a D16e right now and saw it had richlite. I should have known Martin wouldn’t put it name on absolutely anything that was less than solid.

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

the main reason Martin is using it is because Taylor bought the rights to 97% of the ebony being harvested...it has nothing to do with "Martin" engineers.....also, anyone with a good ear can hear that ebony sounds better.....the paper fibres in the richlite is staggered like plywood to make it stronger in all directions...real wood has the grain running in the same direction.....if richlite and Martin engineers did their jobs properly they would know this and make a specific luthier grade richlite with the paper fibres running in the same direction.

I'm really curious about it... Hope I can try this fretboard someday. I won't be a richlite hater without even trying the thing first.

I can tell the difference with the sound. To me Richlite robs mids and sounds harsh. Ebony is warmer. If given the choice, I’ll always buy ebony or rosewood before Richlite. I’m happy for others who think it’s wonderful though.

Used to have an acoustic with richlite fretboard, it look super nice and clean but I sold it, still prefer real wood guitar tone. maybe the different is real wood can observe sound and liquid but not this richlite. maybe Im wrong about that fact but yes I feel something missing in the richlite, its good but not for me maybe.

Get Clapton to use it on his Custom Shops and I'll give it a go.

@dabsafe

2 жыл бұрын

Why? Are you as good as Clapton? Are you even close?

@artsistellar

2 жыл бұрын

@@dabsafe Can you even read?

I hate how people whinge and whine about Richlite as a material, yet Ebony takes up to 200 years to grow into a useable resource? Ebony is just not f*cking sustainable. There won’t be a sizeable amount of Ebony to use in my lifetime, let alone the older generations that are hating on this stuff. My £2k Gibson has plastic trim all over, get over it.....

@stevenm78

4 жыл бұрын

Spazza42 Gibson sucks as a manufacturer. So it doesn’t surprise me that they would use a composite. If I spend over 2 grand for an instrument it better be made out of real wood. Ebony my not be sustainable and it may take hundreds of years to be viable, but if Gibson charges ridiculous amounts of money for their guitars then you should get the real deal. Gibson is way overpriced and honestly not even relevant in the guitar industry anymore. Take a look at their stock prices. In the toilet 🚽. Plus the “Play Authentic” campaign they so graciously put upon us just goes to show that instead of innovating new designs and instruments,the want to sue anyone they can to try to stay afloat. “Play Authentic”. Me: Play something BETTER. !!! Have fun with your Richlite.

@Spazza42

3 жыл бұрын

chief wiggums Go and start a farm then. I’m sure you’ll earn shitloads over the next 100 years whilst you wait for some trees to grow.

@Spazza42

3 жыл бұрын

Steven Moulton Go buy a PRS at twice the price if quality control is your concern. Guitars are cheap compared to other string instruments, buy what you like. If you don’t like Gibson then simply don’t buy one.

@stevenm78

3 жыл бұрын

Spazza42 little slow on the uptake. You out searching for better woods? Lol

@Spazza42

3 жыл бұрын

Steven Moulton Yep. I’m outside enjoying the fresh air, rather than sitting inside getting ready to reply to KZread comments 😂

Nope. Paper and resin is not superior. A fingerboard of this paper sheet should be 15 bucks at the most. Now I have to look up specs to see what a fingerboard is made of.

My only doubt ID the durability and if i can use lemon oil on this

@DustyNonya

3 жыл бұрын

Richlite is ridiculously durable. You also don't need to oil it because it doesn't dry out/degrade at anywhere near the rate regular wood does.

@mauriciotavera6957

3 жыл бұрын

@@DustyNonya oh thanks i will cosider this in the future

@DustyNonya

3 жыл бұрын

@@mauriciotavera6957 I have a Richlite board on my Gibson. I was a hardcore Rosewood purist until I felt just how much smoother and nicer these feel under the fingers.

@daveross8879

Жыл бұрын

Well my Ebony board has been on my 1926 Martin 018 for almost 100 years and it's still perfect. I don't think I'll be changing anything

Is it true that a richlite fretboard is harder to remove from a guitar if needed? Or is it a rumour and it is simply glued the same way?

Funny that two reputable makers after emailing them and asking why they use Richlite in the guitars I have from them, the reason for its use is not because it is superior to Ebony as Richlite claim, but the given reason is the Ebony scarcity!. So sorry, but I'm not drinking your Kool-aid at all, the Richlite feel and look is good but not better than Ebony, it's just different!.

The only thing worse than cheap substitute garbage is expensive substitute garbage costing as much as the real, exotic rare wood.

Hi, namesake! My name is Sergei too :) I have a Godin guitar with a Richlight fretboard. I am looking for information on how to clean it. If you could help me, that would be great.

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

just wipe it with a soft cloth

Okay "never say never" eh? After having two instruments now for over a year with richlite fingerboards I've dropped my "traditionalist" bias. I still prefer my natural ebony fingerboards, but that's just because they're "real" wood, and I'm an old guy who just likes an all wood guitar, doesn't mean it's "better" though. I think a year is long enough to give an opinion on the richlite. I have no complaints, I originally felt they were a touch "plasticky" but that may have been an untrue bias because I knew what the material was beforehand. Sometimes the product a manufacturer makes, regardless of their marketing claims, performs exactly as advertised, which I now believe is the case here. The richlite is just as dense, more consistent, and more stable, generally, than ebony. That doesn't mean it's better than a good piece of ebony, but it will need less care and I liken it to comparing a tusq nut and saddle ( a material that simulates the characteristics of real bone ) to a real bone nut and saddle. Top manufacturers don't seem to mind using either. If you believe you can hear a difference, I guess you may be related to "Dusty Nonya", the reincarnation of Antonio Stradivarius, Leonardo DaVinci, Torres, and Fernando Sor all rolled into one, one whose superior intellect and knowledge is so formidable, and "ear" is so astonishing, he plays and owns a mahogany top guitar....and we all know how "stellar" those abominations sound, lol! Keep working on those same four chords you play in every piece, Dusty! Are you the father of all the members of Nickelback? Amazing how you can make one song with the same chords into four albums! ( or 20 songs, take your pick ).

@baddestmofoalive

Жыл бұрын

I think it’s fine for entry level guitars and gets the job done, but on a fine instrument??? It’s like pouring diet cola and a twist of lime into some Blanton’s Single Barrel. It just ruins the whole experience. No thanks. It’s a cheap, utilitarian substitute, and all the marketing spin in the world won’t change that. I don’t want a cheap substitute when I’m shelling out top dollar; I want real deal A-grade tone woods. I will NEVER pay Martin money for a plastic and cardboard fretboard

@dietersdawgs

Жыл бұрын

@@baddestmofoalive I agree with most of what you say, but like I said I have two richlite fretboards not by choice but because that’s the only thing those guitars came with.....having had them for sometime now I wouldn’t say they’re “cheap”

@dietersdawgs

Жыл бұрын

The richlite appears to be very strong and stable so I guess time will tell but I agree I wouldn’t want it on a top line acoustic instrument wouldn’t bother me so much on an electric

Does not shrink? Expands?

Yeah na. I'll stick with ebony

Actually the main reason richlite is being used ( I'm ok with it, my Godin baritone has a richlite fretboard) is because most of the world's ebony has been bought by Taylor....I do not prefer it over my ebony fingerboard guitars, it has a somewhat "plasticky" feel, but it's not terrible either......it does have some advantages ( less shrinking, just as hard so it should wear well ) but if you properly look after a real wood fretboard and guitar that shouldn't be an issue....I have a good ear and it doesn't sound as good as real wood.....that being said, most people won't hear the difference.....I think for a guitar fingerboard they should maybe try to align the fibres in the paper to imitate the way the grain lies in natural wood, that may improve the tone....

@DustyNonya

3 жыл бұрын

​ @Randall Selinger It "sounds better" is a subjective preference based on qualia, otherwise everyone would be playing guitars made out of the same wood and/or with the same exact pickup set. Richlite has been made recently with the grain of natural wood but the original ebony fretboards of old were ridiculously tight grained to the point of resembling a piece of hard plastic. The ebony out there now is porous, often "defective" grade wood by woodworking standards.

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

@@DustyNonya Not true.......all real wood ( ebony ) has a grain and is porous...richlite is a composite of recycled pulp paper fibres stacked in alternating directions of the fibres impregnated with resin....it's not bad, but it's not real wood and like everything else, some people's hearing is better than others, and being able to distinguish the quality and timbre of sounds is not subjective, it can be measured in laboratory conditions. Different woods and combinations of woods do produce different sounds, and the better and tighter the grains the better the sound will be....one may have a preference over certain tonewoods, but because one prefers the brightness of a maple neck and fretboard with a spruce top doesn't make it a better sounding piece than a guitar made with an ebony or rosewood neck and fretboard and a cedar top..... the preference is subjective, the quality of the vibrations which are unique to the different woods is not.....richlite doesn't sound as good as a high quality rosewood, ebony, or maple fretboard....there is nothing subjective about that, it can be demonstrated.

@DustyNonya

3 жыл бұрын

​@@dietersdawgs Unless you've played a guitar from the 1850's, then you've never seen old Ebony. What you're seeing these days is low end or even "defective" grade by woodworking standards...much more porous, less dense material. I'm not saying it lacks grain entirely but it's a completely different animal to the wood that's available now, much like the old growth mahogany in older Gibsons, Martins, etc. Sound is subjective...this is why some people think that Chopin is the absolute best that music has to offer and others can't stand it. By arguing that "you can't hear it because your ears aren't as good" shows a fundamental misunderstanding of qualia as well as arrogance. What can be shown in laboratory or sonic testing is the difference in the tonal qualities of the wood...not the objective qualities of "good" or "bad". Gibson would also argue with you that tighter is "always" better...as too tight a grain on a top can diminish the volume just as too loose a grain tends to distort it not unlike yelling in a large gymnasium. To assert that you know what "sounds better" in an objective sense is foolish at best, at worst it's simply lying to yourself. Granted; better quality tends to lead to better instruments...but, if laminate were as bad as I personally felt, there wouldn't be ridiculously priced "double-top" classical guitars with pieces of balsa between them that people well outside of my playing ability love to play.

@dietersdawgs

3 жыл бұрын

@@DustyNonya you're missing the point....and old ebony which has been cut and lying around not cared for would be dried out and useless as instrument material.....if you think that standards can't be applied to the quality of sound, you're the one who's foolish and arrogant ( you actually sound pretty judgemental considering you don't know anything about me, eh? )....put nylon strings on a plastic toy guitar and you may get an idiot to agree it sounds better than a well made nylon strung classical, but would it be "true"? Double top classicals are primarily the result of bored luthiers.....as for quality of sound, are you saying that someone like Narcisso Yepes playing a $2000 Alhambra would sound worse than a mediocre player on the same guitar? Or a weekend hack would sound as good as Lenny Breau on the same instrument? Give your head a shake, lol! I played a gig one time with my Godin multiac ACS and someone came up to me and said " wow, what a great sounding guitar".....of course he couldn't compliment my playing, he thought it was the all the instrument, so I handed it to him and said " give it a go "......he declined.....hmmmmmmmm......lol....Reminds me of some rich dude sitting in on an Ed Gerhardt clinic who bragged in the Q and A " Hey Ed I have the exact same model ( a $6000 Breedlove Gerhardt signature model )....why don't I sound as good as you?" Ed looked kinda embarrassed and finally replied " maybe you should practice more "........just like you can train a singer who has good vocal cords to improve, you can improve the quality of a sound up to the limits of the components of what makes that sound...it's what separates good from mediocre, very good from good, excellent from very good, superb from excellent, and brilliant from excellent, and it is discernible, not merely a cop out millennial "it's good if I like it".....the past three generations have been taught that mediocre is awesome.....well, mediocre is not awesome, it's mediocre, lol!

@DustyNonya

3 жыл бұрын

I'm saying that, all else equal, there are people who will fight tooth-and-nail over whether Mahogany sounds better than East Indian Rosewood, whether Brazilian Rosewood sounds better than Cocobolo, etc. In the end the quality of what's being played on it matters far more than the timbre of the instrument itself...and, frankly, I personally believe nylon string guitars all sound inferior to a well made steel string...that's the problem with qualia. If there were one, objective sound that completely outranked the rest bands wouldn't be comprised of different instruments, that's where you seem to be missing the point. I keep seeing you lecture people about what sounds good, telling people how "good" your ear is...but when I've checked your videos I see a pile of mediocre, mostly cheap guitars and a camera/microphone setup that's even worse than the cellphone videos I make when I'm drunk. I've heard nothing in any of them that suggests you have the talent or the ear to be judging anybody else's preferences in guitar and/or music. I could sit here and tell you how many musicians I know who value my ear and opinion after they've mixed it to round off the edges and bring out the various stems of their work...but, in the end, it means nothing to you or anybody else who aren't the people who value my opinion.

Superior LOL

Ebony is rare therefore you can justify the higher price. But Richlite should be much cheaper.

Bruh

Gibson is using ebony again i just ordered my custom so glad I waited😜

@michaelsine5586

4 жыл бұрын

Gibson not good

@johnnygonzales3211

4 жыл бұрын

@@michaelsine5586 everyone is entitled to there own opinion my friend thats all I will ever own😜

@johnnygonzales3211

3 жыл бұрын

@chief wiggums to me no guitar sounds like a Les Paul and the replicas don't come close😜

@eddycerb

3 жыл бұрын

I think it’s grained brown ebony not black though?

@johnnygonzales3211

3 жыл бұрын

@@eddycerb no its black ebony I got it in July😜