Honestly respect to the company who sent it your way for standing behind their product that much. Especially in sending it to someone as discerning as you.
I know right? Makes you feel good knowing there are businesses who care about quality and aren't afraid to stick their neck out. Tells me a lot about their ethics really. There are a ton of vaperware and green scam startups that go after anyone who offers even mild criticism. I will always spend a little more for a product by an ethical company
Agreed. Much respect due, especially in this day and age. Companies these days act like they're run by a bunch of insecure teen-brains. Very few actually stand behind their product, because most of them are AFU, and they know it.
first time poster here. i'm 70 and have been playing/working with guitars since 1963 and so found this to be an extremely interesting video on a subject i have been watching for a couple of decades now- the ever dwindling supplies of Ebony, especially the uniformly dark. it's a repeat of what occurred with Brazilian Rosewood post CITES. only the Custom shops, and then only the top percentage of those can justify these materials. as a result, alternatives just have to be explored. thoroughly enjoyable and edifying videos.
I am amongst those players that love the maple fretboards on a fender and an ebony fretboard on a Gibson or similar type guitars. It's very cool that now there's an alternative to ebony through clever engineering. Hopefully, some of the big manufacturers will be able to get away with replacing ebony with this product out of New Brunswick without the purists crying about it. I can understand the pushback on richlite being synthetic and not exactly aesthetically pleasing. Hopefully this new heat treated Maple will satisfy the majority enough to make it a popular substitute for ebony amongst guitar makers. At least the largest of them. Thanks Ted. I appreciate the straightforward analysis . It's very encouraging and hopefully the creators will have positive responses when reaching out to manufacturers
I got some sample as well, and also talked to Eric. True class act. I'm in the U.S. and they sent me a sample for free -- and shipping is *not* cheap. And then they sent me some *again* as a thank you for making a video about it. They really did not have to do that at all. That says a lot to me about how much they believe in this product and how much they want to get it out there. Very generous company and their goal here really is commendable. I haven't made anything with it yet, but I'd love to make a fretless fingerboard with it. I really like the feel of it and it seems like it'll be exceptionally wear resistant and stable.
Gibson used Richlite in 2017 & 2018 and I have a guitar with a Richlite board. I wasn't thrilled at the thought of a synthetic ebony substitute, especially in a $4500 guitar, but over time it has won me over a bit. Visually it looks like the darkest ebony you're ever likely to see and seems extremely durable so it's all good I guess.
that was just a bad era for gibson too much experimentation but im sure i would be happy to have any gibson from any era. i did like the alpine white 7 string sgs they made in 2016
I think Richlite is a brand of paper phenolic resin composite. I used a similar product and it was uniform and predictable. My only gripe was that you were stuck with machining it or abrasives. Hand planes and chisels are not going to work. That was a big drawback for me as I prefer processes that don't require hearing protection and a dust mask.
@@dugbert5 I don't do refrets but I remember a few guides on USENET luthierie boards in the 1990s and early 2000s. I remember that you had to go oversize on fret slots (I think .028" or .030") or you would get back bow. IIRC, it didn't chip then during refret experiments. But just like century old wood works differently to freshly kiln dried wood, I expect the hardened resins would probably get more brittle and chip more with age. If the instrument is non vintage (less than 25 years old) a refret of Richlite should be easier.
Ted, as always a great video. As an aside, I would recommend to anyone building or replacing a fret board with the Thermal Wood that they should inform any luthier working on it afterwards that the fingerboard is not ebony. It is hard to tell from looking, as you pointed out. Then the luthier can adjust their working techniques as necessary to deal with the brittleness of the Thermal Wood. I recently converted a Squier Jazz Bass to fretless with a replacement Mighty Mite fretless neck that had an Ebonol fingerboard. I think Ebonol is a fiber or paper based product. In any case, it provided a very nice, hard surface for a fretless bass fingerboard, and my customer was very pleased. Please keep up the great videos!
One thing to add is Taylor's program of sustainably managed ebony. I believe they are pushing using the types of ebony logs that are not all uniformly black, but have stiations of chocolate brown color. If I remember correctly the company is heavily invested in promoting this more sustainable use of ebony. My one Taylor guitar had this lightly striped ebony, and it looked beautiful.
I like the look of ebony with character too. Their website says Fender, Martin, and one other manufacturer (don't remember) have "verified" this wood, which they call "obsidian ebony". I don't know if that means we'll be seeing it in those guitars soon. They look like a very small company, and I don't know how they could supply such large operations.
@@davidrees1840 - at 8:35 "It’s fiendish work, Carter, and I doubt if any man without ironclad sensibilities could ever see it through and come up alive and sane."
Another great video Ted! I did go check out the site and read up on the studies for thermalwood's use in instruments and came away very intrigued. Thanks as always for your content.
Wow! I nearly fell-off my guitar playing stool... TwoFold - *...in the flesh!* Nice to put the friendly face to the voice and you are one of those guys that looks exactly like you sound. ;-) Nice to see you bringing up the awkward question of sustainability and endorsing this alternative to endangered arboreal species. Swiss - Relish guitars have been using bamboo fibre composite fretboards that apparently approach the feel of an ebony board.
I absolutely love testing based on knowledge of what can/should/does go wrong, even with the gold standard materials. Too often these videos can be puff pieces to either glorify or vilify a new material. Your process seemed thorough and fair, and I really appreciated when you mentioned ensuring the flap wheels were at the exact same height to take the radius into account. That's some attention to detail to ensure the testing isn't accidentally biased one way or the other. Awesome work. Thanks!
A very good approach to deciding whether or not this new product is suitable for intended use and direct comparisons to other woods under identical test conditions. I'm certain that if it achieves your personal very high standards that others watching this video will also become interested.
They've clearly improved the product over time, and I'm sure as time goes on, it will get even better, and behave better when pulling frets, etc... Yes. Let us start embracing products like these.
This stuff looks really cool, and I'm glad there's finally a good alternative to actual ebony. I have a roasted maple fretboard on one of my strats and I got stainless frets when I ordered the neck. After seeing how brittle the wood can be I feel like I made the right call going with stainless there
I used to carve tobacco pipes using Greek briar. On special pieces I'd use surgical steel blades to engrave or silver inlay my signature . . . forty-years later I found a block of briar (ebouchon) and tried to cut into it . . . my blades or Dremel struggled to even scratch the block . . . 'crystallization' over four decades turned the wood into stone!
I was totally waiting for the New Brunswick joke. Stealing logs from the forest was pretty rampant when I was a kid living out there. We have a couple of those here at the house, they were given to my kid when they went to visit the plant.
I'm going to get myself a Warmoth Torrefied maple neck for myself for Xmas this year. I was already planning on getting it with a rosewood fretboard, but your notes on the chippiness of Torrefied maple have reinforced my decision
Excellent video as always. I personally own a Martin D10e which has a richlite fingerboard and bridge, it's actually my main acoustic. At first to say I was skeptical of the material would be an understatement. But over time I've come to really like it's stability and smooth feel. And what won me over was hearing of people doing refrets with richlite and finding that it's a very workable material that doesn't chip and allows frets to come away cleanly. I don't have any first hand experience refretting richlite but it sure seems like it would be easy to work with. Anyways as Ted said these materials are nessesary these days and we are lucky to have such good options.
No one ever accused me of being a 'conservationist' but I am still concerned about our human propensity to foul our own nest, and the many nests of other species. So it's encouraging to see the many alternatives that are appearing nowadays to diminishing wood species. I hope this is a continuing trend.
What I was seeing with the maple alternative is what knife makers have been using for quite a few yearn now for knife scales. The wood is put in a vacuum chamber with resin and then baked. We call this stabilized wood. This makes the wood much more dense and hard. It is also much more resistant to water/humidity. If the process is done right the wood can be polished quite well.
They have been supplying Fender and I believe Collins for a while now( and many other companies) with torrified maple necks for a while now. I visited the factory a few years ago and was very impressed. I grew up with the owners and one of the brains behind this process, (an engineer who worked in the mining industry prior to this), (when there was mining in that neck of the woods), and was very impressed after being in the music industry for over 35 yrs and repairing for well over 45 yrs. Thermalwood Canada is a Company that is hard to beat with many trying to compete or compare to.
With a little extra care the product works as should. I like that kind of compromise. Think of it this way, if the product is good now it should get even better down the road. Cheers on another great show!
It was really great to watch, a proper, that seem simple, but thorough practical product review, never thought, how interesting would be for companies to send products to you, for testing purposes, because of your very investigative point of view and use.
Hey Ted! Why hasn't UA-cam verified you yet? Been watching you for years. Originally from Toronto. Professional guitar player for over40 years. You are a legit legend. UA-cam, stop being a dink. Give the man a flipping checkmark. Btw, Mr. Woodford. Great video as always. You have taught this old Canadian so much over the years. Thank you, sir.
It seems as soon as UA-cam creators get one of those checkmarks they find ways to shut down the channels made by the creator for even the most minor of infractions.
Great video! Exotics of any kind are hard to manage. Thankfully, there are fast-growing forestry products for building materials and paper of all kinds. But harder woods grow more slowly, as a general rule, and like you, I hope we can somehow strike a balance.
I liked this video. A little video essay/review. Very informative and thoughtful. And nice to see you talk. I love the normal videos don't get me wrong. But this is a nice change of pace.
Ted the one thing I’m still curious about…how does it glue up and that would include both gluing a fingerboard to the neck, but also how it holds binding and inlays. Can we use the same techniques…is hitting it with acetone or other solvents either necessary, or maybe damaging to it? Can we use all the regular adhesives in the same way? I’m guessing if it’s just another torrification process it’ll take glue like any hardwood but I’d like the manufacturer to chime in. What is that “glassy” stuff? And what if their process causes PVA or hide glue (or CA) to fail in 5-10 yrs? I’m assuming they tested all that but did they? Good video as always.
Their website says it's only heat (200-250 C) and steam treated, and no additional chemicals used (which doesn't explain that resin-like substance hardened to the side of the board Ted had). Torrification to the next degree? Since steam is part of the process, I wonder if it's also pressure-treated, like in a massive autoclave?
Nice to see the face of the Gentle Giant! You're more than just an expert French linguist..) Glad to see that Stew-Mac tool come in handy & earning it's keep.
Personally I prefer ebony and rosewood for nothing more than tradition. I have built guitars most of my guitars using those two as fretboards and snuck in a few using wenge, bocote, maple and a few others. In the end I didn’t particularly favor one over the other beyond looks so that material definitely interests me. Thanks for sharing Mr. T.
Love your videos and have been watching for a couple years. I’ve heard so many horror stories about torrified woods glue joints failing. Any chance of doing a follow up to see how well it glues?
You forgot about the pinky held high when they swirl the fake ebony 🤣 I might have to try this stuff out. I have a Squier fretless Jazz bass that has a Richlite fingerboard. It does look a bit off, but the main issue I have- it does not expand and contract with seasonal changes like real wood, so it means the neck relief changes. Which means truss rod adjustment with every change in weather if I want to keep it playing optimally (no I do not mess with the truss rod, I just live with the change, but it is not ideal)
I know of a guy who only buys ebony, hates rosewood. I could not tell the difference by playing. Dont care as long as guitar stays in tune and sounds good.🤐🍻
NileRed on YT recently had a video talking about processing and compressing wood to dramatically increase strength. Reminded me of torrifying wood. This process goes a step farther, and makes the wood bulletproof if you laminate it. I thought it would be interesting as a neck/fretboard material.
Ohhh my goodness. That was fair and unbiased. There is a breed of men and women who develop those traits. Folks that look and test and are makers as well? Who is it that says and then the public trusts as the name attached to the opinion is as tested as the product. I listened to this three ways, slow, normal and fast to look between the beats as it were. The quality is there. Thanks for this solid review. Nicely done!
I experimented with phenolic paper composite (I think the generic version of Richlite) fingerboards in the past and it was great for stability and uniformity. I remember it was tough on blades and smelled terrible when cutting. My big issue with it was that it looked too uniform; more uniform than the highest grades of ebony. I don't remember what adhesive I used. But it was probably the two part epoxy I used for graphite neck rods. That is one benefit of using "natural" products. You can get by with regular water based adhesives or even hide glue.
Phenolic paper composite is basically PCB material, I can smell that just thinking about it haha, HPL also has a similar bad smell to it, not sure if I'd use it for an instrument, but a great material for many other things nonetheless
I have often wondered about alternative fingerboards. At one point, I had it in my mind that I wanted a Hagstrom. But they use an alternative which, if I remember correctly; is called a Resinator (something like that, can't remember). I never could get myself over that hump, to get one. I have been content with Fender maple. I guess that makes me somewhat boring. In any event, enjoyed your video as always.
Good, honest testing, and thoughtful review. Looks like a useful product from a renewable resource. Did you happen to get Janka "equivalent for the Thermalwood? One of the things that concerns me about treated woods, chemicals, resins, etc., is some of us spend a lot of time playing guitar, and repeated contact with certain natural or synthetic materials over years and decades could become a health problem. 🤷♀
First, good luck to the company for standing behind their product. Second, you covered the issues about trying to get maple to look like ebony, BUT there are a couple of issues for me. First, the amount of ebony used by guitar makers (even the big guys) is tiny when compared to its other uses, and the cost of an ebony fingerboard is trivial compared to the other elements of guitar construction. Your comment regarding people's livelihoods is also compelling. Second, regardless of the test, maple seems to be hard enough; after all, it's been used in teles and strats forever; if it's just a matter of colour, then why not dye it? That's what people have been doing with ebony which 'wasn't black enough' for years. Finally, good shout for Lovecraft! (I did have to look that one up, as it's not part of the Cthulu canon - at least not by Lovecraft)
Great, unbiased Video! I’m a lover of nice woods, but also owner of many American guitars of a wide range of woods. As the years passed I pay less attention to all the “wood myths “. As per your conclusion, as long as the physical properties of the wood is good, many timbers work just fine.
We have a timber here in New Zealand called Rata and the Southern Rata, as in way down in the South Island and potentially up in the mountains, just gets past Ipe (1100kgs/m3) at 1140... no janka available. Be nice if we all get our stuff together and these kinds of treatments get shared! Interestingly I had a guy from Ceylon here once, at mine, and asked him about Ebony in Ceylon and he had no idea what it was but was well interested when I said it was the more expensive woods in the world. Once we actually got the tree, the tree in the wilds, he said it grew all over Ceylon and when he was a kid, out herding the goats, one of their favourite things was jumping up into the lower boughs to munch on the flowers.
Honestly respect to the company who sent it your way for standing behind their product that much. Especially in sending it to someone as discerning as you.
Agreed. This gives me hope for the product to become more widely used.
I know right? Makes you feel good knowing there are businesses who care about quality and aren't afraid to stick their neck out. Tells me a lot about their ethics really. There are a ton of vaperware and green scam startups that go after anyone who offers even mild criticism. I will always spend a little more for a product by an ethical company
Agreed. Much respect due, especially in this day and age. Companies these days act like they're run by a bunch of insecure teen-brains. Very few actually stand behind their product, because most of them are AFU, and they know it.
I didn't expect the Project Farm-like testing but I enjoyed it.
first time poster here. i'm 70 and have been playing/working with guitars since 1963 and so found this to be an extremely interesting video on a subject i have been watching for a couple of decades now- the ever dwindling supplies of Ebony, especially the uniformly dark. it's a repeat of what occurred with Brazilian Rosewood post CITES. only the Custom shops, and then only the top percentage of those can justify these materials. as a result, alternatives just have to be explored.
thoroughly enjoyable and edifying videos.
I am amongst those players that love the maple fretboards on a fender and an ebony fretboard on a Gibson or similar type guitars. It's very cool that now there's an alternative to ebony through clever engineering. Hopefully, some of the big manufacturers will be able to get away with replacing ebony with this product out of New Brunswick without the purists crying about it. I can understand the pushback on richlite being synthetic and not exactly aesthetically pleasing. Hopefully this new heat treated Maple will satisfy the majority enough to make it a popular substitute for ebony amongst guitar makers. At least the largest of them. Thanks Ted. I appreciate the straightforward analysis . It's very encouraging and hopefully the creators will have positive responses when reaching out to manufacturers
I got some sample as well, and also talked to Eric. True class act. I'm in the U.S. and they sent me a sample for free -- and shipping is *not* cheap. And then they sent me some *again* as a thank you for making a video about it.
They really did not have to do that at all. That says a lot to me about how much they believe in this product and how much they want to get it out there. Very generous company and their goal here really is commendable.
I haven't made anything with it yet, but I'd love to make a fretless fingerboard with it. I really like the feel of it and it seems like it'll be exceptionally wear resistant and stable.
Gibson used Richlite in 2017 & 2018 and I have a guitar with a Richlite board. I wasn't thrilled at the thought of a synthetic ebony substitute, especially in a $4500 guitar, but over time it has won me over a bit. Visually it looks like the darkest ebony you're ever likely to see and seems extremely durable so it's all good I guess.
that was just a bad era for gibson too much experimentation but im sure i would be happy to have any gibson from any era. i did like the alpine white 7 string sgs they made in 2016
I wonder how Richlite would compare against ebony in regard to re-fretting.
I think Richlite is a brand of paper phenolic resin composite. I used a similar product and it was uniform and predictable. My only gripe was that you were stuck with machining it or abrasives. Hand planes and chisels are not going to work. That was a big drawback for me as I prefer processes that don't require hearing protection and a dust mask.
I have one too. Mine is a much less expensive model but I've always enjoyed the guitar. I have never really noticed the difference.
@@dugbert5 I don't do refrets but I remember a few guides on USENET luthierie boards in the 1990s and early 2000s. I remember that you had to go oversize on fret slots (I think .028" or .030") or you would get back bow. IIRC, it didn't chip then during refret experiments. But just like century old wood works differently to freshly kiln dried wood, I expect the hardened resins would probably get more brittle and chip more with age. If the instrument is non vintage (less than 25 years old) a refret of Richlite should be easier.
A pleasure to see your smiling face, Ted. Thanks for the video.
You, Sir, are a credit to your craft. Cheers.
Very educational. This could have a number of uses. Thanks for doing the testing.
Ted, as always a great video. As an aside, I would recommend to anyone building or replacing a fret board with the Thermal Wood that they should inform any luthier working on it afterwards that the fingerboard is not ebony. It is hard to tell from looking, as you pointed out. Then the luthier can adjust their working techniques as necessary to deal with the brittleness of the Thermal Wood.
I recently converted a Squier Jazz Bass to fretless with a replacement Mighty Mite fretless neck that had an Ebonol fingerboard. I think Ebonol is a fiber or paper based product. In any case, it provided a very nice, hard surface for a fretless bass fingerboard, and my customer was very pleased.
Please keep up the great videos!
One thing to add is Taylor's program of sustainably managed ebony. I believe they are pushing using the types of ebony logs that are not all uniformly black, but have stiations of chocolate brown color. If I remember correctly the company is heavily invested in promoting this more sustainable use of ebony. My one Taylor guitar had this lightly striped ebony, and it looked beautiful.
You see those popping up more at every company, which I'm happy about. I actually prefer those fretboards.
I like the look of ebony with character too. Their website says Fender, Martin, and one other manufacturer (don't remember) have "verified" this wood, which they call "obsidian ebony". I don't know if that means we'll be seeing it in those guitars soon. They look like a very small company, and I don't know how they could supply such large operations.
From the Crelicam Mill in Cameroon. I have a 314ce with Crelicam Ebony Bridge and fretboard. They look and perform great.
Came for the maple, stayed for the H.P. Lovecraft quote
oh no, missed the quote -what was it? Love Lovecraft, but have not read him for ~50 yrs.
@@davidrees1840 - at 8:35 "It’s fiendish work, Carter, and I doubt if any man without ironclad sensibilities could ever see it through and come up alive and sane."
@@GilgaFrank thank you, I'll have to put him back on my list!
Ted is definitely a resource that should be protected, great video!!
Another great video Ted! I did go check out the site and read up on the studies for thermalwood's use in instruments and came away very intrigued. Thanks as always for your content.
Great vid Ted...thanks for the comparisons,very interesting!
This was excellent. Real actual comparisons in several ways. Great info. Thank you.
I am always in awe of your expertise and level of detail!
You are always ‘unspoiled’ Ted…
Your description of fine wood connoisseurs was very entertaining! Oh, also I can't believe you memorised Lovecraft so well. Great extract that!
Wow! I nearly fell-off my guitar playing stool... TwoFold - *...in the flesh!*
Nice to put the friendly face to the voice and you are one of those guys that looks exactly like you sound. ;-)
Nice to see you bringing up the awkward question of sustainability and endorsing this alternative to endangered arboreal species. Swiss - Relish guitars have been using bamboo fibre composite fretboards that apparently approach the feel of an ebony board.
I absolutely love testing based on knowledge of what can/should/does go wrong, even with the gold standard materials. Too often these videos can be puff pieces to either glorify or vilify a new material. Your process seemed thorough and fair, and I really appreciated when you mentioned ensuring the flap wheels were at the exact same height to take the radius into account. That's some attention to detail to ensure the testing isn't accidentally biased one way or the other. Awesome work. Thanks!
Very well thought out and executed test!! 👏👏
This was genuinely pleasant, informative, and transparent. Great stuff.
🤘
An inforrmative, instructional video. Excellent work again.
Great video Ted, I've seen others on this product. Also good videos but you did the comparison with fret removal. Good to know how they all react.
This was a fun style of video. I enjoy all of your videos, but I really enjoyed the experimentation in this one.
A very good approach to deciding whether or not this new product is suitable for intended use and direct comparisons to other woods under identical test conditions. I'm certain that if it achieves your personal very high standards that others watching this video will also become interested.
Thanks so much for sharing this review. It was a real pleasure to discover this product & too see you talking too!
Am I the only one who wants to know more about that little classical guitar?
They've clearly improved the product over time, and I'm sure as time goes on, it will get even better, and behave better when pulling frets, etc...
Yes. Let us start embracing products like these.
Good on them for standing behind their product like this. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing
This stuff looks really cool, and I'm glad there's finally a good alternative to actual ebony. I have a roasted maple fretboard on one of my strats and I got stainless frets when I ordered the neck. After seeing how brittle the wood can be I feel like I made the right call going with stainless there
Love this type of video from you! Thanks Ted!
Whew! My Sunday twoodfrd fix!! The weekend is complete. 👍👍
My 2012 SG has a baked maple board. Feels great and it’s my only guitar that has NEVER needed a truss-rod adjustment. I love it!
I used to carve tobacco pipes using Greek briar. On special pieces I'd use surgical steel blades to engrave or silver inlay my signature . . . forty-years later I found a block of briar (ebouchon) and tried to cut into it . . . my blades or Dremel struggled to even scratch the block . . . 'crystallization' over four decades turned the wood into stone!
Petrified wood in only 40 years? Patent that process!
Thank you very much! I always learn so much from you!
Excellent, honest and thoughtful video as always. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
Excellent video. And great way to assess the product !
Sustainability - very important! Thank you for sharing your feedback on this product.
I was totally waiting for the New Brunswick joke. Stealing logs from the forest was pretty rampant when I was a kid living out there. We have a couple of those here at the house, they were given to my kid when they went to visit the plant.
Great video Ted, thanks!
Ozzyman would say, "Here's me face." Nice to see you Ted.
Thanks for an excellent test. Can't wait to try this stuff
I'm going to get myself a Warmoth Torrefied maple neck for myself for Xmas this year. I was already planning on getting it with a rosewood fretboard, but your notes on the chippiness of Torrefied maple have reinforced my decision
Excellent video as always. I personally own a Martin D10e which has a richlite fingerboard and bridge, it's actually my main acoustic. At first to say I was skeptical of the material would be an understatement. But over time I've come to really like it's stability and smooth feel. And what won me over was hearing of people doing refrets with richlite and finding that it's a very workable material that doesn't chip and allows frets to come away cleanly. I don't have any first hand experience refretting richlite but it sure seems like it would be easy to work with. Anyways as Ted said these materials are nessesary these days and we are lucky to have such good options.
No one ever accused me of being a 'conservationist' but I am still concerned about our human propensity to foul our own nest, and the many nests of other species. So it's encouraging to see the many alternatives that are appearing nowadays to diminishing wood species. I hope this is a continuing trend.
What I was seeing with the maple alternative is what knife makers have been using for quite a few yearn now for knife scales. The wood is put in a vacuum chamber with resin and then baked. We call this stabilized wood. This makes the wood much more dense and hard. It is also much more resistant to water/humidity. If the process is done right the wood can be polished quite well.
Great balanced review. Brilliant!
They have been supplying Fender and I believe Collins for a while now( and many other companies) with torrified maple necks for a while now. I visited the factory a few years ago and was very impressed. I grew up with the owners and one of the brains behind this process, (an engineer who worked in the mining industry prior to this), (when there was mining in that neck of the woods), and was very impressed after being in the music industry for over 35 yrs and repairing for well over 45 yrs. Thermalwood Canada is a Company that is hard to beat with many trying to compete or compare to.
With a little extra care the product works as should. I like that kind of compromise. Think of it this way, if the product is good now it should get even better down the road. Cheers on another great show!
Très claire et bien articulée démonstration, expérimentalement testée, je vous remercie
i appreciate you doing an honest review of this. i like synthetic fretboards like richlite and ebanol, and i hope more companies get into this
Great informative video as usual, well done Sir.
It was really great to watch, a proper, that seem simple, but thorough practical product review, never thought, how interesting would be for companies to send products to you, for testing purposes, because of your very investigative point of view and use.
Hey Ted! Why hasn't UA-cam verified you yet? Been watching you for years. Originally from Toronto. Professional guitar player for over40 years. You are a legit legend.
UA-cam, stop being a dink. Give the man a flipping checkmark. Btw, Mr. Woodford. Great video as always. You have taught this old Canadian so much over the years. Thank you, sir.
It seems as soon as UA-cam creators get one of those checkmarks they find ways to shut down the channels made by the creator for even the most minor of infractions.
@@caseysmith544 I didn't have to verify my channel until I uploaded my first long video - 30 or 45 minutes long, something like that.
I think he prefers to keep a low profile.
Great stuff, Ted!
Great video! Exotics of any kind are hard to manage. Thankfully, there are fast-growing forestry products for building materials and paper of all kinds. But harder woods grow more slowly, as a general rule, and like you, I hope we can somehow strike a balance.
Onyons. You make me laugh.
this was really thoughtful at the same time. T'hank you.
Times are changing and good alternatives are welcome. Great video as usual, thanks !
Great video. Your unbiased opinion will be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot !
I liked this video. A little video essay/review. Very informative and thoughtful. And nice to see you talk. I love the normal videos don't get me wrong. But this is a nice change of pace.
Caramellizing onyo is one of my favourite things to do, so I like your video even more now! :)
A Very honest and informative review. Nice!
Very nice video Ted. When I build my first guitar I may shop up North.
Ted the one thing I’m still curious about…how does it glue up and that would include both gluing a fingerboard to the neck, but also how it holds binding and inlays. Can we use the same techniques…is hitting it with acetone or other solvents either necessary, or maybe damaging to it? Can we use all the regular adhesives in the same way? I’m guessing if it’s just another torrification process it’ll take glue like any hardwood but I’d like the manufacturer to chime in. What is that “glassy” stuff? And what if their process causes PVA or hide glue (or CA) to fail in 5-10 yrs? I’m assuming they tested all that but did they? Good video as always.
Their website says it's only heat (200-250 C) and steam treated, and no additional chemicals used (which doesn't explain that resin-like substance hardened to the side of the board Ted had). Torrification to the next degree? Since steam is part of the process, I wonder if it's also pressure-treated, like in a massive autoclave?
Nice to see the face of the Gentle Giant! You're more than just an expert French linguist..)
Glad to see that Stew-Mac tool come in handy & earning it's keep.
Maybe try installing and removing a fret the way Fender used to do it.... from the side. Love your videos, Ted!
Great video. Thanks for the information. 👍👍🎸
Personally I prefer ebony and rosewood for nothing more than tradition. I have built guitars most of my guitars using those two as fretboards and snuck in a few using wenge, bocote, maple and a few others. In the end I didn’t particularly favor one over the other beyond looks so that material definitely interests me. Thanks for sharing Mr. T.
@@redcuillin When I referred to ‘tradition’ it was in reference to my lifetime.
Love your videos and have been watching for a couple years. I’ve heard so many horror stories about torrified woods glue joints failing. Any chance of doing a follow up to see how well it glues?
I very much appreciated the Chef Jean Pierre reference.
keep up the good work, ted.
Excellent review. Thank you!
Another great video from Canada. BTW, I really hate refretting a richlite fingerboard. That stuff is prone to chipping when you pull the frets out.
Great video. The usual videos are obviously great. But stuff like this occasionally is excellent as well
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
GLORIOUS BEARD Sir
Thank you, very interesting and helpful. Thanx
You forgot about the pinky held high when they swirl the fake ebony 🤣 I might have to try this stuff out. I have a Squier fretless Jazz bass that has a Richlite fingerboard. It does look a bit off, but the main issue I have- it does not expand and contract with seasonal changes like real wood, so it means the neck relief changes. Which means truss rod adjustment with every change in weather if I want to keep it playing optimally (no I do not mess with the truss rod, I just live with the change, but it is not ideal)
Great video!! Was thinking of some of it as a headstock veneer/surface on a lot style guitar.
This looks like a great product. Thanks for sharing.
I know of a guy who only buys ebony, hates rosewood. I could not tell the difference by playing. Dont care as long as guitar stays in tune and sounds good.🤐🍻
NileRed on YT recently had a video talking about processing and compressing wood to dramatically increase strength. Reminded me of torrifying wood. This process goes a step farther, and makes the wood bulletproof if you laminate it.
I thought it would be interesting as a neck/fretboard material.
WELL DONE TED! WELL DONE THERMALWOOD!
Ohhh my goodness. That was fair and unbiased. There is a breed of men and women who develop those traits. Folks that look and test and are makers as well? Who is it that says and then the public trusts as the name attached to the opinion is as tested as the product. I listened to this three ways, slow, normal and fast to look between the beats as it were. The quality is there. Thanks for this solid review. Nicely done!
good learning Uncle Ted!
Nice to see your face, Ted!
Thank you. Very informative
Ipês are such beautiful trees when flowering. I would be down to some wood exploration arc in this channel.
Ebanol and ebonite phenolic sheets make great fingerboards. I love my old Kramer stuff with phenolic fretboards.
Great video
I experimented with phenolic paper composite (I think the generic version of Richlite) fingerboards in the past and it was great for stability and uniformity. I remember it was tough on blades and smelled terrible when cutting. My big issue with it was that it looked too uniform; more uniform than the highest grades of ebony.
I don't remember what adhesive I used. But it was probably the two part epoxy I used for graphite neck rods. That is one benefit of using "natural" products. You can get by with regular water based adhesives or even hide glue.
Phenolic paper composite is basically PCB material, I can smell that just thinking about it haha, HPL also has a similar bad smell to it, not sure if I'd use it for an instrument, but a great material for many other things nonetheless
I have often wondered about alternative fingerboards. At one point, I had it in my mind that I wanted a Hagstrom. But they use an alternative which, if I remember correctly; is called a Resinator (something like that, can't remember). I never could get myself over that hump, to get one. I have been content with Fender maple. I guess that makes me somewhat boring. In any event, enjoyed your video as always.
Good, honest testing, and thoughtful review. Looks like a useful product from a renewable resource. Did you happen to get Janka "equivalent for the Thermalwood? One of the things that concerns me about treated woods, chemicals, resins, etc., is some of us spend a lot of time playing guitar, and repeated contact with certain natural or synthetic materials over years and decades could become a health problem. 🤷♀
uh oh,,,,,,,,they showed up
First, good luck to the company for standing behind their product. Second, you covered the issues about trying to get maple to look like ebony, BUT there are a couple of issues for me. First, the amount of ebony used by guitar makers (even the big guys) is tiny when compared to its other uses, and the cost of an ebony fingerboard is trivial compared to the other elements of guitar construction. Your comment regarding people's livelihoods is also compelling. Second, regardless of the test, maple seems to be hard enough; after all, it's been used in teles and strats forever; if it's just a matter of colour, then why not dye it? That's what people have been doing with ebony which 'wasn't black enough' for years. Finally, good shout for Lovecraft! (I did have to look that one up, as it's not part of the Cthulu canon - at least not by Lovecraft)
Great, unbiased Video! I’m a lover of nice woods, but also owner of many American guitars of a wide range of woods. As the years passed I pay less attention to all the “wood myths “. As per your conclusion, as long as the physical properties of the wood is good, many timbers work just fine.
Yes! Sunday lunch with Ted!
My Martin MC 16GTE has some sort of imitation ebony fretboard and bridge. It is 20 years old and has held up well, looks good too.
We have a timber here in New Zealand called Rata and the Southern Rata, as in way down in the South Island and potentially up in the mountains, just gets past Ipe (1100kgs/m3) at 1140... no janka available. Be nice if we all get our stuff together and these kinds of treatments get shared!
Interestingly I had a guy from Ceylon here once, at mine, and asked him about Ebony in Ceylon and he had no idea what it was but was well interested when I said it was the more expensive woods in the world. Once we actually got the tree, the tree in the wilds, he said it grew all over Ceylon and when he was a kid, out herding the goats, one of their favourite things was jumping up into the lower boughs to munch on the flowers.