From mi–(at)–ts.cc.utexas.edu Tue Jul 18 13:17:45 CDT 1995
Article: 58217 of rec.music.makers.guitar
Path: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!curly.cc.utexas.edu!not-for-mail
From: mi–(at)–ts.cc.utexas.edu (Mic Kaczmarczik)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
Subject: Re: Chromyte???
Date: 18 Jul 1995 13:16:45 -0500
Organization: UT Austin Computation Center, Unix Services
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In article <3ug5cq$gu--(at)--ralle.zdv.Uni-Mainz.DE>,
Robby Jaeger
>A stupid question from a non-native speaker.
>I saw that the center blocks of the ES-135 and
>of The Howard Robert Fusion II ( both Gibson )
>are made of Chromyte. What is Chromyte?
“Chromyte” is Gibson’s marketing term for balsa wood. The name is
derived from the taxonomic name for balsa, Ochroma lagopus.
Why would they use a different name? Maybe because of balsa’s use in
inexpensive hobby applications. For me at least, it has a sense of
being cheap and flimsy — even though it’s actually a very strong and
somewhat expensive wood.
Quite illogically, even though I know they’re the same thing,
“Chromyte” seems mysterious and desirable. “Balsa” feels
commonplace and questionable for use in a guitar. Sometimes names
make all the difference.
By the way, the “korina” wood used in Gibson’s late-50’s Flying V
and Explorer guitars is another case of this practice. The more
common name for the wood is limba. Maybe it was too close to
“limbo”? 🙂
–mic–
—
Mic Kaczmarczik |
Unix Services| Will consult for vacuum tubes.
UT Austin Computation Center |
