When did Gibson stop using ebony on the LP Custom fretboards

[iid]

"Exactly. The Obama Adminstration and the jackbooted EPA confiscated all their ebony claiming it was obtained illegally. It wasn't."

Don't you love it when these RW partisans leave out the important stuff. Especially when they are well aware of the Lacey Act.

1, mostly they are pissed because Gibson supported the GOP and try to use that as an excuse to allow companies and orgs to do illegal things.

2, Gibson was getting Ebony from Madagascar which has stopped the export of ebony because it was reaching the point of extinction in that country [I suspect they were dealing with poachers and the poachers got caught and ratted him out.]

3, Taylor was and is getting ebony from Cameroon, where they were getting it for years.
"Taylor and longtime business partner Kurt Listug have purchased Cameroon's largest ebony mill"

Also, concerning Ebony as not being a good tone wood. What a joke, I guess that's why they have been using it on violins, violas and most western string instruments for centuries, because its not a good tone wood. Let me know when you find richlite or rosewood on a good violin. lolz

 

[Moshaholic]

You can thank the Fed's for this. They seem to only be concerned with what wood Gibson uses. If you like this type of "help" from the government, vote democrat.

I bet you know how I feel about that...

 

[Moshaholic]

The US government is INFORCING laws put into place due to CITIZENS lobbying congress to ENACT laws protecting endangered forrests.

Though it's a shame when our government picks and chooses which laws to enforce and which to ignore as a matter of politics.

It's a bigger shame when the lame ass citizens of this country keep electing these liberal cock-bags...

 

[TrueTone500]

As I recall, in 2010 Gibson started using rosewood on the Custom models. Near the end of 2010, or beginning of 2011 they switched to Richlite which I believe is a composite material made of recycled paper and a polymer. Their rosewood fretboards beginning in 2011 are "stacked" w/rosewood veneer instead of slab rosewood. A chinese company that makes pots and pans makes their metal hardware. The prices increased of-course...

 

[steve_k]

Gibson is the only company that seems to have a shortage of ebony and rosewood.

 

[iid]

"It's a bigger shame when the lame ass citizens of this country keep electing these liberal cock-bags..."

An even bigger shame when we have to read crap from Limbaugh/Beck partisan morons.

 

[TrueTone500]

...liberal cock-bags.

 

[fretout]

Sadly, yes, it's true. If memory serves me correctly, the raid occurred on 08/30/2012, and Gibson stated they wouldn't have Ebony fretboards available.

It's also true that all Les Paul Customs are/have been shipping with Richlite fretboards. I think a few of them even had Baked Maple Fretboards. You may have to research it, but I believe a few Reissues/Historics may have used the remainder of their Ebony, but don't expect to get Ebony on a Les Paul Custom.

I think about a year ago, Taylor guitars offered to sell Gibson some of their Ebony so that Gibson could make a proper LPC...and Gibson declined them...

 

[jabps]

I know that some of you guys want to make this political but it goes a lot deeper than that. Democrat, Repub...whatever, the fact is there is not an infinite supply of Ebony. So regardless the political nature, well run companies like Taylor acted as such and Gibson acted as it did. The question is did any of these companies ever think to reinvest in what they needed to build guitars 30 or 40 years ago? You would think so...again, there is not an infinite supply unless your investing in regrowth.

That said...nothing Gibson does should surprise anyone? Most that live in the Nashville are well aware of what the prevailing thought on Henry is...more surprising is the fact that Gibson continues to operate however as has been pointed out, Epiphone is the reason for that. And why the actual owner of the entire company invests his time in Epiphone itself.

 

[Moshaholic]

Hey I just bought new Ritchie Lite Les Paul Custom yesterday and it rips !!!

Will posting pics and clips soon...

 

[bigdaddyd]

I also find that in higher gain stuff the tone of fretboard differences are generally small where a lot of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between ebony, rosewood or maple anyway.

Absolutely...which is exactly why I think you see more ebony boards on guitars being played by "metal" guys than anywhere else. Its what I was alluding to when I mentioned that you rarely see a LP Custom being used by players "who play with a tone that retains a great deal of dynamics".

 

[iid]

Ohh, that was funny? how about "regressive convervaturds", that funny too? laughing boy - lolz

 

[jlbaxe]

 

[C1-ocaster]

Gibson is the only company that seems to have a shortage of ebony and rosewood.

Interesting, right?

The illegal wood fiasco, the government went way over board in how they handled the 'raid'.
There was no reason to come with that much force.
It's very common that when a warrant is presented there will be armed officers for security reasons.
From what I read the justice department went really over board in how much force was present.
What, did they think Gibson has armed personnel in the building who are primed for not being taken alive and would engage in a bloody shoot out?

And it came to light that Gibson did admit to wrong doing, and they knew it, So they weren't as innocent as they initially claimed.
The 2011 wood raid was returned to Gibson after the agreement was settled nearly 2 years ago.
The 2009 wood raid isn't going to be returned.

So it's a very valid question to ask why Gibson is not using the actual real wood like ebony but continues to use the man made product.
Maybe richlite is cheaper than ebony, and it seem likely due to ebony's scarcity.
When you use lower cost materials and still charge premium prices, profits will go up, and after all Gibson is a company that it's in business to make money. Making guitars is the method by which they make the profit.
In my opinion that's why their quality suffers.
I too love the tones From many Gibson guitars, but I can't/won't pay those prices and no get a perfectly made guitar.

They need to get passion to be a guitar company first and profits will follow. Profits first then quality suffers.
Seems their legacy sustains Gibson cause too much of their products don't live up to the legacy, imo of course.

 

[fretout]

Yeah, Gibson's QC is some of the worst I have encountered in the music instrument industry. In my experience, about 1 in 9 is worth buying. That's pretty lousy, and I mainly buy Custom Shop models. The thing that keeps my playing Gibsons is the fact that when you do find that 1 in 9, it's absolutely amazing.

It does seem that since about 2011, I haven't seen cosmetic issues as bad as they used to be, but it seems unreasonably high considering the Custom Shop is supposed to be the best of the best.

I think the VOS/aged guitars were one of the best trends to hit Gibson. Now, all the flaws buyers would normally spot immediately can now be explained as "it's supposed to be like that...it's aged"...

 

[RedB4Black]

Hey I just bought new Ritchie Lite Les Paul Custom yesterday and it rips !!!

Will posting pics and clips soon...

Yeah... I ended up buying 2 new richlite boarded LP customs in 2013... Both sound/look great. I'm not hung up about the richlite as I was when I started this thread.... In the end, I just care about how the guitar sounds. Resale value might be impacted, but my customs aren't gonna be sold, so it's irrelevant.

 

[rupe]

Also, concerning Ebony as not being a good tone wood. What a joke, I guess that's why they have been using it on violins, violas and most western string instruments for centuries, because its not a good tone wood. Let me know when you find richlite or rosewood on a good violin. lolz

Read for comprehension much? Based on this response, the answer in a definitive "no".

I also find that in higher gain stuff the tone of fretboard differences are generally small where a lot of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between ebony, rosewood or maple anyway.

Absolutely...which is exactly why I think you see more ebony boards on guitars being played by "metal" guys than anywhere else. Its what I was alluding to when I mentioned that you rarely see a LP Custom being used by players "who play with a tone that retains a great deal of dynamics".

Exactly...thanks for the backup!

 

[Moshaholic]

You should look into that Les Paul custom I messaged you about here in Nashville.

I think I kicks ass.

 

[steve_k]

I think the VOS/aged guitars were one of the best trends to hit Gibson. Now, all the flaws buyers would normally spot immediately can now be explained as "it's supposed to be like that...it's aged"...

^^^^ he's right, you know.....

 

[evhfan]

"Richlite and Ivory...live to together in perfect harmony"...Paul McCartney