Thread: Tortoise shell
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Old 08-10-2012, 05:19 PM
Misty44 Misty44 is offline
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Originally Posted by J Patrick View Post
tortoise shell was traditionally used for its beauty and practical application...easily shaped and durable it was used for lots of stuff....victorian era combs and jewely boxes...frames for spectacles and of course plectrums....when cellulose (a wood based product)was developed and became popular in the early 20th century they discovered that it could be made to look remarkably close to tortoise shell in appearance and faux tortoise shell became very popular and common...that trend continues until present day....
And it made guitars sound really good. Until the Endangered Species Act of 1973, tortoise shell (Hawksbill) was readily available.



After that, the quest for the Holy Grail of faux TS commenced and - imo -rose every closer to the real thing with Red Bear and more recently Blue Chip. The only downside to TS is its need to be polished to keep a smooth bevel. Blue Chips don't, they're practically indestructible.

The only TS pickguard I ever saw was one Tony Rice had made from a shell given to him in Japan decades ago by an admirer. It's on the old Martin 58597, pre-CITES:



He might have significant trouble taking it out of the country (not that he plans to of course).
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