Walnut Pearloid Carvin Guitar
Another new option was the Carvin-licensed Floyd Rose tremolo for the DC727 and DC747 7-string guitars - a first for these models. Lastly, the 'Custom Flame Package' went away, as the options included in it were now a standard part of Carvin's ever-growing option list. 24 Matches - Kiesel Guitars ULTRA VM, tung oil finish (TF), maple neck & walnut. Kiesel Guitars ULTRA VM, diamond pearl white (DPW), 3+3 pointed.
ULTRA VC, deep moss green on quilted maple (QDM), black limba body (LMB), 5 piece maple/walnut neck (5MW), rear natural clear (RNC), natural body binding on bevel (BBEB), matching quilted maple headstock (QPH), abalone signature inlays (ABS), Floyd Rose locking nut (LN), stainless steel jumbo frets (STJF), thinner neck profile (THNN), abalone logo (ABL), dome knobs w/ abalone tops (AK), tung oiled neck (TN), move jack to inside of V body (VJ), black hardware (BC), black/white coils w/ black bezels.
Hi guys,I've ordered a new bass and I wanted Mother-of-Pearl blocks but the luthier said that due to the Lacey act he is not able to use the real shell, he has to use Pearloid as it must go through customs, that Stew-Mac won't even ship MOP over the border. I noticed Sadowsky posted something similar on their page. I don't know how many luthiers are using pearloid and not real MOP shell.So what do you guys think? Is this something that I should be upset about? Or should I do something different?
Like it or not, it's the law. Most of us Luthiers switched over to using synthetic pearl and abalone a while back. You won't find too many instruments built in the last five years that have real pearl.
It's too risky for us, and not worth the trouble. In my experience, I like the synthetic pearl better than the real thing. It's softer, about equal to the hardness of the wood around it, so it machines and polishes to a nicer surface. And it's actually better looking.
It's a polyester resin with various sparkly powders swirled in. It's more transparent than the real pearl, so it has more depth when you look down into it. I wouldn't switch back to real pearl, even if the laws relaxed.
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Like it or not, it's the law. Most of us Luthiers switched over to using synthetic pearl and abalone a while back.
You won't find too many instruments built in the last five years that have real pearl. It's too risky for us, and not worth the trouble. In my experience, I like the synthetic pearl better than the real thing.
It's softer, about equal to the hardness of the wood around it, so it machines and polishes to a nicer surface. And it's actually better looking. It's a polyester resin with various sparkly powders swirled in. It's more transparent than the real pearl, so it has more depth when you look down into it.
I wouldn't switch back to real pearl, even if the laws relaxed. Click to expand.I would want real MOP obtained from legal non-endangered sources, natch. It turns out that MOP isn't even covered by the import-export act.
Guitar MOP is typically derived from Oyster shells and the like and as trash is generally dirt cheap unless it looks very good which raises the price. The law covers white Abalone which looks a lot like MOP but isn't usually used in instruments.So here's the rub.
Anyone caring about conservation of wild resources is looking for laws like these reasonably written and fairly executed to produce some protection. But this is not the case.
These laws are written so that basically ANY instrument can be confiscated at the border on the slimmest of excuses. One of those being MOP looking like White Abalone and hence 'good bye guitar'. To get it back you'd have prove beyond any doubt that the material in the guitar was not what they said it was. The cost of doing this is doubtless out of the question.Furthermore, I've got basses where I purchased black Ebony fingerboards back when it was legal wood. But now it's illegal to import.
The wood law goes not by when your wood was cut or purchased, but when the guitar was MADE. What evidence do I have as to when modded those basses? So you can have a 10,000 year old mammoth tusk nut (like the $250,000 Ritter bass) and then at the Canadian border it's all confiscated and the bass goes on the fire with the rest of the tons of poached ivory. Think of it as making a statement about endangered species.But I'd guess it doesn't go far enough. Why collect and destroy instruments and other objects only at the borders? What the government needs is total registration of all instruments in the country with certification that they contain no endangered materials. We register guns, so why not basses?
Walnut Pearloid Carvin Guitar Parts
Then for a yearly fee that certificate acts like a bass 'passport' to give you permission play it and to take it anywhere in the country or out of the country. It's just common sense.
Click to expand.Not many that I can think of that are appropriate to type here without looking like a someone wanting to start a fight.All that I'll say is that when one looks at the price (and quality, it's a natural product after all) of Abalone or MOP vs. Pearloid or other synthetics, not to mention the difiiculty/ease of working with them, one really doesn't have to be a genius to see why some people prefer to use synthetics.As for me, I rather use alternative materials than use synthetic imitations, all my inlays (which I do not do much) have been either wood or metal.If the 'authenticity' calls for Abalone or MOP, then that's what I use.All that stuff is still available, from sustainable sources, one just has to dig a bit deeper into the pocket (of the customer).Which brings us to the material cost vs. Work/labour cost debate.How many times have we heard: 'That's too cheap a material for me to bother to work with'.Only that in this case it is quite the total opposite of the usual.RegardsSam. In terms of cost to me, as a builder, it's approximately a wash. The real pearl is more expensive to buy the material, but there's less labor involved in the installation.
I mostly use large diameter 5/16' and 3/8' round dots in my basses. Ten years ago, I used to buy the real pearl dots pre-cut, ready to install. These days, I get the synthetic pearl material from Masecraft in slabs.
I slice the slabs into thinner sheets, use a core drill to trim out the dots, and then pre-cast them in clear epoxy. From there, the inlay installation process is the same, although the synthetic material is a little faster to file down and polish. When you look at the material and labor together, real pearl and synthetic are about the same. I don't use the synthetic pearl to be cheap.
I use it because I like it better, in looks and material properties. And it hopefully reduces the risk of one of my basses being flagged by Customs. I don't see any rational reason for insisting on real pearl inlays any more. I won't use it on my basses.Maybe you are remembering the stuff that was used on cheapo guitars a few decades ago.
This material from Masecraft is much, much better than that. It really is better looking than real pearl. If I didn't tell you, you'd assume that the inlays on my basses were the real thing. Which is why I said 'hopefully reduces the risk'.
Is a Customs or Fish & Game inspector going to be able to tell the difference? Click to expand.That was the point I thought of adding into my earlier post, but felt that it was enough rambling for one post already.The answer from me would be no, no they can't tell the difference and claim it's the real thing.Without taking a flame to it it would be rather hard to quickly prove that the material used is indeed synthetic, and off it goes.And if You take a flame/soldering iron/whatever to it, then the reply most likely is: 'AH, but that's probably the one You put there for the test, let's test the other ones.' .The same problem probably goes for Ebony vs. Ebonol/Ebonized wood/dyed black wood.And then the dim bulb brightens, 'this must be one of those hippie musicians' and SNAP, on goes the latex glove.In no time the internationally touring stringed instrument musicians will probably be all playing foto-grain carbon fiber instruments.At least the ones crossing US borders anyway.RegardsSam.