Martin Guitars & the use of Ebony going forward

[6L6]

Originally Posted by egordon99

Glad I stocked up on my Martins already.

THIS: ^^^^^^^^

[brencat]

Some streaking is fine. As long as they make a fair effort to dye it so it's not completely wild looking it will be well received. Santa Cruz and Taylor have been using striped ebony for years now and most of their guitars look okay so...

[b1j]

We kicked this around earlier this month. It looks like opinions are mixed. For what it’s worth, I like pure black and I’m glad my HD-28 came out before the change.

Oddly enough, though, the bridge (not fretboard) of my 70-year-old 0-18 looks a lot like rosewood to me.

[Bob Womack]

From my post on the other thread on this subject:

Brand new HD-28. Click to embiggen.

and an addition:

Variegated ebony on bridge. Click to embiggen.

You know, there is one side benefit of this move: all you need to identify your guitar if it is stolen is a photo, because they each have identifiable character.

Bob

[lowrider]

As I posted earlier, I think striped ebony can look really nice. I just don't think Martin is doing a great job of using it to it's best advantage;

[rokdog49]

On that guitar, I agree.

[brancher]

I have one question (and btw I think streaked or 'striped' ebony on fingerboards is very cool-looking).


But the question is --

Are there any bulletins coming over the Martin castle walls which address the future of Martin binding?

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by b1j

We kicked this around earlier this month. It looks like opinions are mixed. For what it’s worth, I like pure black and I’m glad my HD-28 came out before the change.

Oddly enough, though, the bridge (not fretboard) of my 70-year-old 0-18 looks a lot like rosewood to me.

Not sure about 1952, but my 1956 definitely has a rosewood fingerboard and bridge.

[turtlejimmy]

I'm mixed on it. When variations in the FB overwhelm the eye and it's the first thing you see when looking at a guitar, I don't like it, it's too much. And, often it's the dark even fingerboards on older guitars especially that help make them look so good

But, I've got a brand new D18 with a subtle variation of the FB, sort of lighter (very subtle) in a long patch under the high e and into the b string that goes from the nut up to about the 7th fret that is so utterly cool that I would miss it if it wasn't there. It makes me happy just looking at it. Like a little character on a beautiful face. It always gives me the impression of a well worn guitar that shows where it's been fretted a lot, like on old strats with maple FBs. It's kind of like a little bit of bling, without paying for it (when it's nice).

It's pretty random, Martin should probably get a more artistic eye on that, when making their selections of streaked FBs.




Turtle

[ghostnote]

Although every ebony board I have is naturally dark, not dyed, I kinda like these new ones. For one thing, they are all unique, thereby making each guitar unique to the eye also. As long as there’s no structural or aural difference, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a guitar that looked like any of those in the pics.

[ewalling]

Is this ebony stuff as good as Richlite?

[Brent Hahn]

Am I the only one who finds ebony as a fingerboard material to be awfully hard? It makes sense to me in a fretless context, though.

[FrankHudson]

I know some people are very much into the aesthetics of their acoustic guitars.* I'd assume grain color figuring on ebony could be controversial with them. I understand that, but it's not me.

If I was into solid black for aesthetics, I'd be perfectly fine with Richlite. I know that's a touch point for some too. I think Richlite looks as good and plays as well or better.

Now am I (and my preferences/concerns) 10% 50% or 90% of the market for Martin guitars? I dunno.



*With electric guitars I actually care a little about looks, viewing them (in part) as sculptures you can play. I've sold and bought guitars using their finish colors as part of the criteria. Weird huh? I had one Carvin solid-body electric from the early 80's that had a streaked ebony board, looked a little "rosewoody" -- so this isn't completely a new thing.

[tsmith28]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Is this ebony stuff as good as Richlite?

I know you meant that as a joke, but the objective answer is actually 'no'. Other than the general belief that real wood is more premium than synthetic materials, Richlite has several major advantages (uniform look & feel, resistant to humidity changes, stands up better to refretting, environmentally friendly). Both of my current acoustic guitars have ebony fretboards, but I really like Richlite and would happily have it on a guitar at any price point.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by tsmith28

I know you meant that as a joke, but the objective answer is actually 'no'. Other than the general belief that real wood is more premium than synthetic materials, Richlite has several major advantages (uniform look & feel, resistant to humidity changes, stands up better to refretting, environmentally friendly). Both of my current acoustic guitars have ebony fretboards, but I really like Richlite and would happily have it on a guitar at any price point.

It was tongue-in-cheek more than a joke. My two Godin guitars have Richlite and it's excellent. I certainly don't find myself pining for ebony.