rosewood fretboard. Gibson has only been able
to source very limited quantities of high-quality
Brazilian rosewood in recent years and none of it
has shipped overseas since 2003. It isn’t even a
custom option for US customers and is only made
available in limited runs.
However, there are two options for fretboard
material when it comes to 2019’s R9 – Indian and
Bolivian rosewood. Thanks to CITES, many of us
have been forced to become armchair experts on
Dalbergia latifolia, but our review guitar’s Bolivian
’board – with its smooth finish, dark-brown hue and
far less noticeable pores than Indian or Brazilian
rosewood – requires further investigation.
“Bolivian rosewood is essentially pau ferro from
Bolivia that has been sorted and processed in Brazil
and selected for its visual characteristics,” reveals
Mat. “It’s dark and dense, unlike some pau ferro you
see out there. The reason we offer it as an option is
because it’s export-friendly in the current CITES
climate and it’s a great fingerboard wood to use.
It’s actually a little closer density-wise to Brazilian
rosewood than Indian rosewood.”
So which does Mat prefer? “Honestly, I believe you
can’t go wrong. Indian and Bolivian are both great
choices. No one has detected any tonal differences,
as far as I know. I would expect maybe a little less
compression and more clarity out of the Bolivian
because of the density. But we’re talking about
splitting hairs here.”
At the fretboard edges, the binding is thin and the
fret nibs are suitably understated, while the side dots
are tortoiseshell, as they were in the 1950s. Even with
a 3D scanner recording hundreds of points all over
the neck of a vintage guitar and that data being used
to program a CNC machine, the amount of hand-
sanding that takes place after the automated carve
means that there will always be slight variances.
The ‘Carmelita’ neck profile here feels just
about perfect, with its appealingly soft shoulders
and a 22.3mm first-fret depth filling out to 25.1mm
at the octave.IN USE
What are we looking for from a great Les Paul?
Although there’s a hell of a range when it comes
to musical reference points, our dozen or so
meaningful encounters with real Bursts have
revealed more similarities than differences. One
thing that’s common is treble, and lots of it, with
extended upper harmonics and enough high-end
presence to play faux-pedal-steel country licks.ABOVE For 2019, Gibson
has revoiced the guitar’s
controls for a more
authentic range of tonesREVIEWSGUITAR MAGAZINE 31