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Apparently baking a maple fretboard is nothing new


Frets99

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From an Old Harmony add:
[1962 catalog]
"Stratotone "Mars" cutaway model single pickup
Provide outstanding value in its price class. Hollow "tone chamber" construction. Ebonized maple fingerboard. Straight-line hardwood neck with built-in steel reinforcing rod. Finely finish in warm sunburst effect showing the grain of the wood. White celluloid bindings. Adjustable bridge. Hinged tailpiece.
Single pickup built into body, highly responsive. Tone and volume control. Special slide-switch on mounting plate permits quick change from bass emphasis used for rthm to treble emphasis used for take-off or solo playing. $72.00, C45 carrying case, $10.00."

 

harmony

 

I had one of these in the late 60's!

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Elias Graves wrote:

 

And it doesn't work well on maple. A nasty blue tint is all you get.

 

Chances are this old harmony just had black leather dye added.

 

 

The bass player in a rockabilly band I was in for a minute had a cheap chinese upright with a maple board that was "ebonized" with black leather dye. He was a really physical player, and sweat heavily every time he played. Long story short, the dye washed off. He ended up with a light streak down the middle of the neck and black spots on the lower 1/3 of the body.

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I have several old archtop Harmony guitars that have a fretboard made of birch...several of the guitars are entirely made of birch. They still play and sound good, one of them still in great condition since 1939.

I also have a 2012 Gibson LP Junior/Special P90's with a maple board - Been playhing since the early '60's and I could not tell the difference...if anything, it feels better than rosewood - smooth and harder, like ebony.

Not much is new, really.

 

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