Gibson Nonreverese reissuie a reality

[clankenstein]

does anyone know what kind of tonal difference using baked maple instead of rosewood might cause,if any?

[Dave W]

Ahhhh! the penny dropped as I was getting into bed last night. Gibson are using Baked maple for fingerboards because they dont have enough Rosewood due to the lawsuit. Strange days.......

They were using baked maple and granadillo on some models. Now they're using laminated rosewood on some models. May take a while to get things sorted out.

does anyone know what kind of tonal difference using baked maple instead of rosewood might cause,if any?

I don't know. Baking it may give it a little more surface hardness which may affect tone, but it still won't be as hard as a rosewood.

[Freuds_Cat]

They were using baked maple and granadillo on some models. Now they're using laminated rosewood on some models. May take a while to get things sorted out.

I don't know. Baking it may give it a little more surface hardness which may affect tone, but it still won't be as hard as a rosewood.

Which is why maple boards usually have a paint finish on them.

Laminated rosewood? OMG  Plywood fingerboards no less! LOL

[Lightyear]

What is that Ric does to the dark maple strip they use in necks - they have a proprietary name for it but it's dark as well - is this just baked maple too?

[ilan]

It's Shedua, sometimes referred to as Ovangkol.

[uwe]

"Which is why maple boards usually have a paint finish on them."

I thought that was only to keep them from all dirtying up because of the lighter untainted wood?

[dadagoboi]

"Which is why maple boards usually have a paint finish on them."

I thought that was only to keep them from all dirtying up because of the lighter untainted wood?

Could be...rock maple can definitely be as hard or harder than rosewood.

[Dave W]

AFAIK the real reason is that maple doesn't have the natural oils that rosewood and many other exotics have. It will deteriorate without a finish even if it's kept clean. The oily woods have natural protection.

[nofi]

baked maple sounds like cookies. i think they could have come up with a better name although baked is what it is.

[Denis]

"Baked maple" reminds me of potato chips.

[Lightyear]

It's Shedua, sometimes referred to as Ovangkol.

Yeah, I've heard that mentioned before but in the last factory tour video that was posted Jim Hall says something along the lines of "Billybob here is assembling necks on basses by install karflamulated maple between two pieces of maple".  I'll have to dig around for the video again - my memory has failed me before

Baked maple may be an alternative to rosewood but it's just isn't the same - now if it were impregnated with some type of resin or polymer that truly altered its tonal and wear characteristics.... 

[Dave W]

Do we really know how this is baked, or anything else about the process? Does Gibson claim it does anything other than change the color?

I'll be surprised if Gibson keeps doing it long term. They had a temporary situation. In the long run, it's just not what they do.

[uwe]

I'm not obsessed with fretboard material - I can hear the difference between a maple and a maho bass, but not really between an ebony and arosewood board. Any wood that won't fall off, warp the neck or look all too ugly, is fine by me. They don't have to chop off the last protected tree on earth for it either.

What has bugged me on the fretboard material of Gibson basses in the last decade is that the boards shrink more than they used too, almost all my new basses get spiky after a while. No idea whether that is more specific to ebony or to rosewood and whether baked maple will shrink more or less.

[the mojo hobo]

I also wondered if oils or something were impregnated into the wood to make it last without being finished. I found this site that explains the process and results:

http://www.andertons.co.uk/News/aid1158/gibson-baked-maple-fingerboard-guide.asp

The process is called Torrefaction and it makes the wood denser and gives it water repelling properties. And supposedly adds a bit of top end to the tone.

[drbassman]

Interesting.  I've become a fan of maple boards anyway, so this process and outcome work for me.  Although, I wonder why Gibson just didn't go with another dark oily wood instead of baked maple.  I assume the maple is cheaper in the end.