Cellulose vs Acrylic Trapezoid inlays

[Indianageo]

Hi All,
Just curious what the difference is between what I'm finding in the specs regarding cellulose vs acrylic trapezoid inlays in the historics? Thanks in advance.

IG

 

[RAG7890]

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/historics-reissues/2120-hardware-comparision-thread.html

 

[Indianageo]

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/historics-reissues/2120-hardware-comparision-thread.html

Thanks, I do appreciate the link, but after searching about 14 pages, I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I'm a bit thick. Do you know which page addresses the question?

IG

 

[Tim Plains]

What do you want to know exactly? Gibson started using celluloid again in early 2012. Same material Gibson used in the '50s. The only difference is aesthetics. I am sure everyone here would agree that celluloid looks better.

 

[Danelectro]

Here are a few celluloid installations I've done. Acrylic on top, celluloid on the bottom

 

[RAG7890]

From a materials point of view, rather than typing a load of crap here, this about covers it: -

Celluloid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acrylic is a Polymer (an Acrylate of which there are many); i.e. a more "modern" Plastic.

The Cellulose is very old school.

The original '50's Les Pauls used Cellulose Nitrate from Italy................they have this Vintage Vibe look we all seem to prefer. They are also highly flammable.

Check Kim's site out: -

Cellulose Nitrate Trapezoid Inlays - RETROSPEC

 

[honkytone]

For me it's the biggest non-issue in Historic land. I've had 2009-2011 R9s with stock acrylic inlays that looked more accurate than the several 2013s I've owned.

 

[TM1]

Cellulose is historically accurate and was used during the Golden Era (ended in '66).
Acrylic is a modern reproduction of the original cellulose. I never thought that the acrylic looked good. The cellulose that Kim sells is exactly like the original and made by the same company in Italy that made it for Gibson in the 50's & 60's.

 

[Indianageo]

What do you want to know exactly? Gibson started using celluloid again in early 2012. Same material Gibson used in the '50s. The only difference is aesthetics. I am sure everyone here would agree that celluloid looks better.

Yes, well, that's it basically.. Just wondered what the difference was because I saw two different specs on a website. For some reason, I hate the sound of 'acrylic'. Sounds very plasticky and cost cutting. Whereas cellulose seems to me what would have been the real thing. Thanks for the reply and indeed to everyone for all the replies.

IG

 

[Big John]

Aside from appearance, another difference between the two types is the flash point. Nitrocellulose will ignite by open flame or even a stray spark in the right conditions because of the material composition and the vapors it puts off. I've seen it done at DJ's shop and Warmoth's shop, both under controlled conditions of course. It's because of this attribute that Gibson stopped buying & storing it. I don't know how they're storing the stuff since they started using it again...probably in a dungeon.

When acrylic flashes, it just melts instead of igniting.

 

[Sharky]

Nitrocellulose will ignite by open flame or even a stray spark in the right conditions because of the material composition and the vapors it puts off.

you can easily demonstrate that with a ping-pong ball, same material

 

[Big John]

roger that...

 

[brandall10]

I don't know how they're storing the stuff since they started using it again...probably in a dungeon.

I'm not sure about the actual building process, but they could probably store enough of these for the historics they build in a year (I'm guess about 5,000 guitars?) in a large fireproof safe.

 

[honkytone]

Celluloid's no problem to store over the short term. Just have to keep it away from flame. I've had sheets of tortoiseshell material in my garage for over 20 years with no issues.

 

[zoork_1]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I have a delicate question.....

There's an annoying "friction" when I bend the strings (50th anniv. R9) and my fingers/skin touch an inlay. That is, compared to when the skin touch the rosewood.

Can this have anything to do with "acrylic vs cellulose" inlays?

 

[honkytone]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I have a delicate question.....

There's an annoying "friction" when I bend the strings (50th anniv. R9) and my fingers/skin touch an inlay. That is, compared to when the skin touch the rosewood.

Can this have anything to do with "acrylic vs cellulose" inlays?

That's a really good question, actually. Either can be polished to be completely smooth, but that could actually make them more prone to friction. The acrylic inlays in recent years seem to have faint up and down sanding marks left in them. Maybe that's to lessen friction, I dunno.

 

[Indianageo]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I have a delicate question.....

There's an annoying "friction" when I bend the strings (50th anniv. R9) and my fingers/skin touch an inlay. That is, compared to when the skin touch the rosewood.

Can this have anything to do with "acrylic vs cellulose" inlays?

No worries.. Have at it. Good question.

IG

 

[Sharky]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I have a delicate question.....

There's an annoying "friction" when I bend the strings (50th anniv. R9) and my fingers/skin touch an inlay. That is, compared to when the skin touch the rosewood.

Can this have anything to do with "acrylic vs cellulose" inlays?

get yourself a few sheets of Micromesh and sand the inlay a bit. That will not take off too much material from the inlay, but leave a superslick surface. They deliver that up to I think 20,000 grid. Great for the frets as well. I use it to smoothen the fretboards of the 2013 guitars I own because those are quite rough. Feels like Brazzy right after sanding, oiling, polishing with an old sock

 

[The Wedge]

All I know is that the inlays on my 09 traditional are terrible. They are dull and blurry. My 90 standard has nice inlays. I wonder what the difference between them are.

 

[rockstar232007]

All I know is that the inlays on my 09 traditional are terrible. They are dull and blurry. My 90 standard has nice inlays. I wonder what the difference between them are.

The difference is how they are produced.

Modern acrylic inlays (also know as "swirled acrylic") are made by mixing pearlescent powder with acrylic resin. While the inlays used in the late '60s-the -early '90s are basically figured plastic.