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Epiphone fretboard is just a thin rosewood veneer???


HanSolo

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In a post titled "Ebay Follies ...", this guy got a damaged Epiphone Dot Deluxe. In the picture posted below, it shows the fretboard separating from the body. WTF? The edge of the fretboard is just a veneer and you see the actual fretboard wood behind it where it is chipped away. Is that mahogany or plywood I see? The fretboard is some other wood or plywood with a rosewood veneer over it? Not a solid rosewood fretboard? Holy shit. How crappy is that?

 

 

IMG_0225.jpg

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To my eye, I am seeing a maple neck (white), a mahogany or plywood fretboard base (pink) presumably with a rosewood veneer on top (what we see) and a rosewood veneer "binding" to make it look like a solid rosewood fretboard.

 

I am personally floored and disappointed by this kind of cheap construction in what they claim to be a guality guitar. Remember, Chinese labor is cheap.

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"And is it a real Rosewood veneer, or just a man made Rosewood look a like?" +1 looks like some kind of man made laminate. Not surprised. I am sure all those Gibson bashing China made Epiphone lovers will have some sort of an excuse as to why a laminated plywood, or whatever it is, fretboard is better then a Gibson fretboard.:thu:

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There is no finnish on Rosewood, that's why you have to oil it sometimes.

 

 

There's no finish on the TOP of rosewood boards, there is on the sides - it goes up over the side of the board and the side dots.

 

Keep in mind, guys, that we're looking at a picture taken at close range with a flash - the grain of the underlying wood is pretty much washed out. And if you haven't seen a huge difference in appearance between unfinished and finished wood, you haven't done much woodworking.

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I see what you mean but why would it change color and grain?

 

The grain is there - if you look closely, in continuation with the darker streaks of the finished areas, there are differences in the shading (quite hard to detect) of the base wood.

 

Take a look at this slab of rosewood for sale at Hearne Hardwoods:

 

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The left end - where it's lighter and the grain is not nearly as pronounced - is dry. The right end has been dampened to show what the wood will look like when finished.

 

EDIT: now, that said - it's probably a relatively lousy piece of rosewood, and the neck looks like it probably is maple. go figure.

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well what epi is it though? if it's a crappy G-310 or something in that league then i'm not suprised... but if it's an EPI LES PAUL STANDARD then i doubt it. I can with 100% certainty say that the rosewood fretboard on my Epi LP is SOLID rosewood, no veneer.

 

ok, just read the Epi DOT part... sorry. look, i doubt it. i think it's just an optical illusion from the camera... my epi LP was made in china too and like i said, it was with 100% certainty, solid rosewood

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Rosewood is pretty cheap. Especially the stuff that China uses. That would be asinine ;)

 

FYI, I have done an entire refret on my Epi LP and it's solid. Flash playing tricks on that picture

 

Edit. It looks like the fret ends were filled in a tad. Not easy to show that with a veneer. Plus, the lacquer would be a tad thicker there for that very reason anyway.

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