2018 SG HP-II Richlite or Rosewood ?

[Huntroll]

2018 SG HP-II
Anyone else have one ?
In the Gibson's product information page it says the fretboard is richlite.
http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/USA/SG-Standard-HP-II-2018.aspx
The picture they show has a dark black fretboard that looks like ebony.
I think that's what the richlite they used looks like, dark black.
Only my fretboard looks like rosewood.
I has irregular grain, wood pores and streaks of light and dark to it.
Not that I wouldn't be okay with richlite but what I'm looking at sure looks like real wood.

Feedback please !

 

[vancouverois]

I don't have this guitar but it can be both rosewood and richlite.
May be they had a rosewood shortage but quite often manufacturers really insist on richlite or equivalent composite better stability and tone.
Who knows, wood is used since very long in the making of string instrument, composite is quite new.
https://guitar-compare.com/product/gibson-sg-standard-hp-mojave-fade-2018/#

 

[MR D]

I don't have this guitar but it can be both rosewood and richlite.
May be they had a rosewood shortage but quite often manufacturers really insist on richlite or equivalent composite better stability and tone.
Who knows, wood is used since very long in the making of string instrument, composite is quite new.
https://guitar-compare.com/product/gibson-sg-standard-hp-mojave-fade-2018/#

Rosewood and Richlite? on the same board? I'd like to see that, or maybe not.....the Richlite I have seen(its not a huge number of Fret-Boards and I did not use a microscope) didn't have pores and grain patterns, maybe they are mimicking dark Ebony now too ? IDK....but it wouldn't surprise me. GIBSON comes up w/some innovative stuff..... isn't Richlite plastic of some sort? IDK, but whatever it is.....I'll pass.

 

[vancouverois]

Rosewood and Richlite? on the same board? I'd like to see that, or maybe not.....the Richlite I have seen(its not a huge number of Fret-Boards and I did not use a microscope) didn't have pores and grain patterns, maybe they are mimicking dark Ebony now too ? IDK....but it wouldn't surprise me. GIBSON comes up w/some innovative stuff..... isn't Richlite plastic of some sort? IDK, but whatever it is.....I'll pass.

No it's not what I meant, I was just saying some version of this guitar have a rosewood fretboard, hence the link I posted.
The description mentions rosewood board.

On the other hand, the link posted by the OP mentions richlite board in the description.

I tried a guitar with a richlite board and I didn't like it so much, the feel seems weird.
I guess it's some plastic or something similar.

 

[semka]

If it's version II - it's richlite. The other things that will confirm that it's the version II are Grover tuners and plastic/fiber flight case these come with. The first version (rosewood) had autotuners and aluminum wheeled flight case.

This is version I (rosewood) http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/USA/SG-Standard-HP-2018.aspx

 

[Huntroll]

The question is -

Does anyone actually own a RICHLITE version ?

 

[Chuck.S]

The question is -

Does anyone actually own a RICHLITE version ?

I have an HPII with the Richlite board , and it is fantastic. Richlite isn't plastic , it's layers of paper and resin. It can be sanded as smooth as you like , has an ebony like feel and tone , and is incredibly stability and basically maintenance free (no need to oil)

 

[Relic61]

BTW, the 2018 SG HP was one of the best sounding, most versatile, super sturdy necked & easy to play new SG that I ever got my hands on. Still pissed I didn't buy it new & told myself to wait for a used one.
A decently priced Dessert fade 2018 SG HP is hard to find!

 

[semka]

Richlite isn't plastic , it's layers of paper and resin.

Sorry, but resin is a plastic, just unprocessed.

 

[papagayo]

Very easy to know if the fretboard is richlite or wood : put a drop of oil on the fretboard and if the oil is absorbed it is wood.

 

[PermissionToLand]

Only early 2018 builds had Rosewood:

https://solidguitar.fandom.com/wiki/SG_Standard#2018_HP_I_.26_II

 

[MR D]

No it's not what I meant, I was just saying some version of this guitar have a rosewood fretboard, hence the link I posted.
The description mentions rosewood board.

On the other hand, the link posted by the OP mentions richlite board in the description.

I tried a guitar with a richlite board and I didn't like it so much, the feel seems weird.
I guess it's some plastic or something similar.

OOPS, my bad.Apologies........You got a Rosewood Board? NICE ! I've yet to play a Richlite Guitar, and its not high on the to-do list either.

 

[Huntroll]

I got my 3 HP-IIs on sale at BestBuy just as they were going business.
All they had was the funky "Hot Pink Fade" versions so I couldn't be choosey.
New in those huge aluminum coffin cases, I gave them a welcome home !
Luckily I had a truck !
I drove 150 miles, (round trip), to another town, to get one of them.
They must have been an early "in between" version, the paint jobs are a little odd and they all
have rosewood fretboards and the G-force auto-tuners.
I installed German made Schaller deluxe double ring tuners and put them in brand new Gator
brand standard cases. Ernie Ball .008's Extra Slinky's to all !
They're the gems of my collection !

 

[MR D]

SWEET ! Those slinky's require a light touch, eh ?
I wonder What is it that you did not like bout the HP Hard Shell Case? I actually got a 2017 SG Standard HP and the HSCase was Holy $#!T AWESOME....$300 case, easily, and indestructible too..I figure you got the same one, Rectangular Aluminum plush interior, yes?
The SG HP guitar I got had maybe the worst neck dive of any SG I ever played, it went back as I could not handle the G-Farce Tuning system either....but that case, DANG it was AWESOME. Best Gibson HSCase I ever saw, in terms of protecting the $2000 Guitar inside of it.

 

[semka]

I got my 3 HP-IIs on sale at BestBuy just as they were going business.
All they had was the funky "Hot Pink Fade" versions so I couldn't be choosey.
New in those huge aluminum coffin cases, I gave them a welcome home !
Luckily I had a truck !
I drove 150 miles, (round trip), to another town, to get one of them.
They must have been an early "in between" version, the paint jobs are a little odd and they all
have rosewood fretboards and the G-force auto-tuners.
I installed German made Schaller deluxe double ring tuners and put them in brand new Gator
brand standard cases. Ernie Ball .008's Extra Slinky's to all !
They're the gems of my collection !

You got lucky. Keep those flight cases, they are very valuable. The wheeled case was only available with the first 2018 HP version.