Gibson Les Paul / Electric Production - Factory Tour

[Tom Krebs]

http://ht.ly/4lwz1

Good production line photos. 

[Mac Walker]

Good link.  Looks like they are planning on adding additional PLEK machines.  They are also marketing fingerboards made of "preciosa", anyone know what kind of wood this is (common name/species)?

[Grahame Myers]

I've tried to find some kind of information about it on the net, without any success at all. According to Wikipedia: "The word Preciosa is a Spanish and Portuguese word meaning precious, beautiful, spirited, wonderful"

Maybe it's some kind of composite material, like HPL or Ebonol?. (Or indeed corian or Tusq for saddle and nut material..) The industry is good at finding fancy names for cheaper ersatz products :-) It's called product marketing .-)

 

Grahame

[Mac Walker]

No doubt, reminds me of "nato" or "eastern mahogany".  As used principally for imported guitars and asian railroad ties.....

[Christopher Wright]

Found this, here:

http://www.suryabrasil.com/en/linha.php?id=12

 

'Preciosa it is the name of a tree found only in the Amazon. Its essential oil has an exotic and seductive fragrance that stimulates the senses and evokes a journey in search of one’s essence.

When a Preciosa tree topples from the force of the wind, it remains intact for many years – some reports say more than ten years - while maintaining its same properties: analgesic, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antimicrobial, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, bactericidal, deodorant, stimulant and tonic.

Traditionally, its bark is used to treat acne, influenza, dermatitis, fever, frigidity, headaches, infections, nausea, nervous tension and skin wounds. Its thin and hard bark is removed in chips and kept by rubber tappers. When visited by friends, they prepare a very sweet tea from the bark. 

They call it “preciosa” because it is considered the tastiest and most precious tea of the forest.

It is a tree of sparse growth in the forest. Therefore, extraction must be performed with sustainable planning that does not upset the existence of surrounding trees to ensure that there will always be seeds for the repopulation of the tree and the growth of new seedlings.'

 

 

...which all sounds like a bunch of flim-flam to me...