Richlite fretboards

[scuffle]

just curious if anyone here has any experience with Richlite fretboards. I believe Gibson and Martin (amongst others) are using it nowadays but I have never seen or heard one.

Also if anyone knows where to get this stuff that would be most helpful

[simso]

Yes, and I don't like them, removing a bridge, it's just as easy to split the bridge as to actually remove it from the body, it almost acts like a laminate.

[scuffle]

okay so you dont like repairing them? how about working with a brand new fretbaord blank?

[tippie53]

Found they work pretty well. I never had one split. I find they are a lot better than the mycarta that was used. I have seen people tell me they hate richlite and love the ebony that is on the new guitar they bought and it was in fact richlite.

[simso]

There like chalk and cheese, real to synthetic.

I havent had one split on me either, but when you have to remove for example something like a bridge, its easy to feel and work a glue line on a glued piece of wood, on a richlite board you cannot feel a glue line between it and the piece of wood your parting it from, so its very easy to slice through the richlite rather than the glued joint

As I said, I do not like them, but they are a better alternative for sustainability, as it is, really,they are just a glorified mdf board.

Steve

[charangohabsburg]

its easy to feel and work a glue line on a glued piece of wood, on a richlite board you cannot feel a glue line between it and the piece of wood your parting it from, so its very easy to slice through the richlite rather than the glued joint [...]

I have never worked with phenolic resin based material, but if it is true that this kind of material only can be glued with epoxy it is no surprise that removal presents some problems.