Quote:
Originally Posted by JB6464
I don't think Richlite and Micarta wood is the same material.
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It's chemically very similar; they are both phenolic resins. The only difference is that Richlite has some recycled paper mixed is, while micarta uses cotton fibers.
Martin has used both in their guitars, Richlite for the last three years or so, and Micarta for the last decade. Steinberger has used phenolic 'boards for three decades, and Parker for two. I haven't heard of refretting issues with those guitars (although with stainless steel frets, I doubt the Parker is going to have any this soon).
The only difference I've read about between phenolic fretboards and wood regarding refrets (and this is only word-of-mouth) is that phenolics don't splinter like dry wood 'boards have been known to do.