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RichLite composite fretboards

Jisch

Jisch

Jun 1, 2005
5,933
13,206
Connecticut (Northeast USA)
#1
I have no affiliation with Dylan's Guitar, just passing along something I saw on Facebook:

Dylan's guitars is selling "richlite" (composite) fretboards, on the website they only list guitar sized boards, but I contacted the owner and he will cut bass sized ones if you're interested. He quoted me $25 for a 3"x28"x 5/16" board. I'm tempted just to try it out, and a jet black fretboard would be cool on some builds.

website is here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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#2
The Richlite sounds interesting as an alternate to ebony. I haven't tried it yet. I've been waiting for Rocklite, which is a similar type of material that's made in the UK and is starting to be imported by LMI. Right now, LMI is only selling it in guitar size, but they are evaluating it and thinking of bringing in bass size too. If I understand correctly, the Rocklite is more wood-like in grain and texture. It's a compressed resin, but made from a wood pulp base. The Richlite, I believe, is made more like the old Bakelite; compressed resin in layers of paper. Whether that difference means anything in look and feel, I don't know. I haven't tried either one yet.

But it's good to see that some companies are working to develop a good synthetic ebony. That's likely to be in our future.
 
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#3
I've used Richlite and Rocklite fretboards. I don't see big difference between them, they look a bit different but otherwise are very similar. Fret slots are pain to make, at least with Stewmac fret saw. Saw heats and sticks to slots. Stewmac fret saw makes too narrow slot. I widen the slots with miniature hack saw and that's exactly correct width.
Radiusing is easy, both composites machine fine with plane, router and sanding. I glue composite boards with epoxy.
 
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#4
I'm using Rocklite in my current build. I'm based in the UK so a bass sized blank was no problem. I'm not yet quite sure how I feel about it. It cuts, sands and glues well. In terms of appearance it looks like this:
rnp5VaVLsTo7QD8j3Rf5FrSMrmW7v2ffXeJm3ALyhGNKCeyC8D0KGOeLE2m7Qb2jKfbyWGGyxU4B20f2k0=w1282-h959-no.jpg

It has this very regular sort of grain-like appearance, either as a result of the manufacturing process or by design, which you may or may not like. My only concern is that as I sanded to very high grits it did take on a slightly grey-ish sheen, rather than being jet black. I don't have a compressor so it may be that my shop vac wasn't sucking out all the sanding dust, I've had that problem before. Oh, and it's not cheap, no cheaper than ebony.

On balance though, I'm glad I tried it. I'll wait to make a final judgement once it's finished.

As Bruce says though, we may soon have no choice.
 
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#5
MPU said:
I've used Richlite and Rocklite fretboards. I don't see big difference between them, they look a bit different but otherwise are very similar. Fret slots are pain to make, at least with Stewmac fret saw. Saw heats and sticks to slots. Stewmac fret saw makes too narrow slot. I widen the slots with miniature hack saw and that's exactly correct width.
Radiusing is easy, both composites machine fine with plane, router and sanding. I glue composite boards with epoxy.
Click to expand...
Agreed on most points. Fret slots need to be cut a touch wider, or fret tangs a touch narrower. I didn't myself find any issue with heat while cutting. I glued with titebond original with no issues (so far....)

MPU - I don't know to what grit you sand, but did you have any issues with greying?
 
#6
honza992 said:
I'm using Rocklite in my current build. I'm based in the UK so a bass sized blank was no problem. I'm not yet quite sure how I feel about it. It cuts, sands and glues well. In terms of appearance it looks like this:
rnp5VaVLsTo7QD8j3Rf5FrSMrmW7v2ffXeJm3ALyhGNKCeyC8D0KGOeLE2m7Qb2jKfbyWGGyxU4B20f2k0=w1282-h959-no.jpg

It has this very regular sort of grain-like appearance, either as a result of the manufacturing process or by design, which you may or may not like. My only concern is that as I sanded to very high grits it did take on a slightly grey-ish sheen, rather than being jet black. I don't have a compressor so it may be that my shop vac wasn't sucking out all the sanding dust, I've had that problem before. Oh, and it's not cheap, no cheaper than ebony.

On balance though, I'm glad I tried it. I'll wait to make a final judgement once it's finished.

As Bruce says though, we may soon have no choice.
Click to expand...

You get the black colour back with fretboard oil.
 
#8
Great, thanks! That's good information from you guys who have been trying it. Both Richlite and Rocklite sound workable as ebony substitutes. Rocklite may be the deluxe version, if you want to pay a little extra for a more wood-like appearance.

A tooling note: when sawing plastics (as in high-resin composites), the enemy is heat buildup. You want to slow the cutting speed way down and use coarse teeth to clear the chips out. If you build up too much heat in the blade, the heated plastic can squeeze the blade, and the slot can end up narrower than the blade was. It may surprise you, but when hand sawing fret slots, you can actually get to pretty fast cutting speeds. Sloooow down, and make sure the dust is clearing out of the slots. Sawing slower cuts faster without binding, and results in a more accurate slot width. This is true with real ebony, and with waxy woods like cocobolo.
 
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#9
Here's another one to check out. Next time I order ebony fingerboard blanks from this company in Spain I'm going to pick up a couple. They call it Blackwood Tek. Starts out life as a piece of Pine! They used to have a video that explained the manufacturing a little more, but here's the description from the website:
What is Blackwood Tek?
Blackwood Tek is a technologically modified wood that exhibits the properties and appearance of African Ebony or Indian Rosewood. It is obtained by taking Pinus radiata through a technological process that uses natural products, without plastics or other petroleum derivatives.

Its high density, hardness and stability, in addition to its colour (black or brown depending on the variety) make it ideal for fingerboards and other parts of musical instruments. Moreover, Blackwood Tek is suitable for immediate use, with a stable moisture content of 5%, and is resistant to changes in humidity and temperature with minimal fluctuation.

Where does Blackwood Tek come from?
Blackwood Tek is obtained from Pinus radiata wood, through a patented technological process using natural products.

All the wood used in Blackwood Tek is FSC® 100% Pinus radiata grown in short rotation plantations in New Zealand. This is the only suitable wood for obtaining Blackwood Tek, due to its ideal characteristics for the technological process.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

The final product, Blackwood Tek, is a technological material with very different properties from the original Pinus radiata, while still maintaining its nature as wood, a natural product with its ideal appearance, quality and feel.

The fusion of wood and cutting edge technology allows us to obtain a natural product with a high density and stability, resistant to changes in temperature and humidity and with a solid dark colour.
Click to expand...



Has anyone used this? Here's the webpage for bass fingerboards:
Invalid Link Removed

EDIT: The website for the Blackwood Tek Company: BLACKWOOD TEK
 
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#11
I guess that makes it pretty difficult to remove if something goes wrong with the truss rod.
Click to expand...

Not really. Most glues start breaking down about 180 degrees. Apply heat, insert knife, eventually it will yield to the pressure. Of course, cleanup of the board and neck are quite different before regluing takes place.
 
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#12
Interesting and good to know. There's also the ebonol used as fingerboard material with good results.

Now the new TB debate begins! What is the best fretboard material?

Rocklite (Rock)
Ebonol (Sounds like a death metal band to me)
Blackwood Tek (Black Metal)
Richlite (You name it)
 
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#15
Bruce Johnson said:
Great, thanks! That's good information from you guys who have been trying it. Both Richlite and Rocklite sound workable as ebony substitutes. Rocklite may be the deluxe version, if you want to pay a little extra for a more wood-like appearance.

A tooling note: when sawing plastics (as in high-resin composites), the enemy is heat buildup. You want to slow the cutting speed way down and use coarse teeth to clear the chips out. If you build up too much heat in the blade, the heated plastic can squeeze the blade, and the slot can end up narrower than the blade was. It may surprise you, but when hand sawing fret slots, you can actually get to pretty fast cutting speeds. Sloooow down, and make sure the dust is clearing out of the slots. Sawing slower cuts faster without binding, and results in a more accurate slot width. This is true with real ebony, and with waxy woods like cocobolo.
Click to expand...
I can remember my father trying to cut a plastic sheet with his jigsaw and at the end of every pass the plastic had welded itself back together again :jawdrop:. Must've been 40 years ago.
 
#19
My Martin D12X1AE 12 string acoustic guitar has a richlite fingerboard, and composite neck. It's weird to have such a synthetic instrument, and yet it holds tune amazingly well, and plays quite nicely.

I still prefer my D-28 Retro with the Ebony fingerboard, but it's overall a much nicer guitar, and I don't know that it's the fingerboard that makes me like it better.
 

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