Headstock plate

[rikstar]

I saw some discussion about this a few days ago but I could not remember which thread it was in so I'll ask the question here. What is the faceplate on the headstock made of. Is it painted wood or a synthetic material. I have seen older Larrivees that clearly have a completely wood headstock. When did they change it?

[Danny]

  New ones are ebony. Older ones were rosewood. Not sure when the change happened, but over ten years ago for sure maybe even twenty.

[rikstar]

The ebony on the fret board looks different from the plate. Is it just a different finish?

[Danny]

The ebony on the fret board looks different from the plate. Is it just a different finish?

It depends on the guitar. Some ebony is more streaked and has some figuring in it. I don't think Larrivee uses any dye.

[rockstar_not]

Here's a photo of my 1999/2000 vintage L-03.  I think it looks like ebony but I might be wrong.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Sorry about the dust on the headstock - this guitar is used quite a bit by me and my 14 yr. old daughter.

[rikstar]

On my two Larrivees there is no grain visible at all.  It's a very clean look indeed. It must be sanded very finely and the stained black.

[Danny]

On my two Larrivees there is no grain visible at all.  It's a very clean look indeed. It must be sanded very finely and the stained black.

Some ebony is just black.

Here's a photo of my 1999/2000 vintage L-03.  I think it looks like ebony but I might be wrong.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Sorry about the dust on the headstock - this guitar is used quite a bit by me and my 14 yr. old daughter.

It is ebony.

[jbrummer]

The headstock on my L-03 looks pure black when viewed straight on -- no grain visible.  When viewed at a slight angle, however, the grain lines emerge as auburn streaks.  I just took a look with a flashlight . . .  will try to capture pix from both angles to illustrate. 

[Danny]

  I needed to refinish the headstock on a 2000 D-09 I had due to a chipout from the nut removal. When I lightly sanded it all I saw was ebony, no stain. One area near the nut had to be sanded deeper and it was just black ebony wood.
 My F-III however has more figuring in the neck than I have seen on any other guitar. I like it a lot

The headstock is not streaked however, (just a bit dirty in this pic)


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[Danny]

  Here is the headstock on my F-IV when I polished it out. Click on the pic and it will take you to the album.

[Danny]

  Here is a D-03MT I had for a short while. I semi-glossed the headplate. You can see the ebony streaks in the bright sunlight.


Also look on the lower left right above the nut and you can see plain black ebony where the finish had rubbed off from tying a strap on.

[Zohn]

Most ebony used on guitars are stained black because "that's what the market wants"   - I personally love the natural appearance with streaks showing like on the photos shown on this thread and also on the head plate of Bluesman67's Green Mountain slope dread.

BTW, I have seen the back face of an "Ebony" fretboard removed from its neck that was in fact - wait for it: Maple!!!  
It certainly wasn't from a Larrivee though.

What is the faceplate on the headstock made of. Is it painted wood or a synthetic material. I have seen older Larrivees that clearly have a completely wood headstock. When did they change it?

The Traditional series Larrivees have rosewood head plates.
The best looking Larrivee headplates I have seen was from Snakewood from a series of customs that the 12th Fret in Canada had made 3 or 4 years ago.

[AZLiberty]

 New ones are ebony. Older ones were rosewood. Not sure when the change happened, but over ten years ago for sure maybe even twenty.

The change was in 1997. (possibly early 98)

Larrivee has never stained their wood, it's natural. (unlike say Martin)

[Strings4Him]

Good topic.  Thanks for the clarification.  I am glad to hear that the Larrivee headplates are wood and not a synthetic veneer.

[rikstar]

Yep... The flashlight at an angle definitely shows the grain. Amazing how pure black it looks in normal light. 

[247hoopsfan]

For those of you who buffed/glossed the matte finish, what process did you use? 

[Walkerman]

Some are maple.....

[Matthew Larrivee]

Today straight from the shop the standard is Ebony. Occasionally we will use rosewood on special editions. i.e. recently we ran some -03's in California that had rosewood headplates. The Traditional series use rosewood headplates as well.

In the 1960's, 70's, 80's and part of the 90's we used Rosewood pretty much exclusively. It really just changes with the times.

The only products on the guitar that are laminate based and the tail block of the instrument (We use very high grade baltic birch laminate). This laminate is superior to solid wood in this senario because of the impact risk from the guitar being dropped on its endpin. Solid wood will crack and split the side of the guitar, the cross hatched baltic birch will not crack. The change occured about 15 years ago about the time we started putting endpins on everything. Other than that, the Black/White strips in the binding are also laminate. This is for design purposes so that we can get a sharp black and white contrast. That material is a vulcanized fiber (aka forbon aka gasket material).

ml

[JOYCEfromNS]

Some are maple.....

Once again Friend 

[Walkerman]

Once again Friend  

If you look closely, you'll see the fretboard binding is real wood also......that was actually a NAMM guitar I got from Guitar adoptions, and not a special order.  Sometimes you just get lucky, and are in the right place at the right time.