Birds Eye fretboard? Available option?

[gothink1]

I just saw two new S500s from Northeast Music Center (no affiliation) that APPEAR to have a solid maple neck with a birdseye maple slab fretboard...

Looks great and a super solution to bringing back the birdsyeye maple!

Craig can you confirm this?? Anyone else?

Personally I am ready to order that neck with heavy gun oil tint and gloss finish!

I had heard rumors late last year that G&L would be experimenting with a lot of new woods and interesting features.

[Craig]

I just saw two new S500s from Northeast Music Center (no affiliation) that APPEAR to have a solid maple neck with a birdseye maple slab fretboard...

Looks great and a super solution to bringing back the birdsyeye maple!

Craig can you confirm this?? Anyone else?

Personally I am ready to order that neck with heavy gun oil tint and gloss finish!

I had heard rumors late last year that G&L would be experimenting with a lot of new woods and interesting features.

Yes, the factory has done Bird's Eye Maple fretboards in the past. From 8/2013 until 6/2015, they were an available option for Basses.
During that period, Bird's Eye Maple necks for Guitars (90 day warranty) were an available option. I do see some B.E. fretboards for guitars that
were done in 2015. Search on "birdseye" on posts in G&L's Facebook page and you should see those examples. My guess is that they were/are
trying them out to get dealer feedback. I have sent an email to one of my factory contacts to get details on these S-500s and if they plan to offer
Bird's Eye fretboarda as an available option in the near future.

I did post about new options they recently added:
G&L now offers two types of optional Ebony fretboards
Some new options just added ...
New U.S. Dealer Price List - February 1, 2017 added

Regarding experimenting with new woods, I have posted about them in the past. For example, here a few of recent posts:
Seen on G&L's Facebook page - Chechen fretboard
Seen on G&L's Facebook page - Chechen top on swamp ash body
Special Run ASAT Classic Bluesboy Semi-Hollow ...
They also have done some recent special builds using Black Limba body woods. Check out G&L's Facebook page.
They also do many special builds using Empress wood for bodies, search here and on G&L's Facebook page for those.
For a list body woods G&L has used, see: What body woods has G&L used?

Hope this helps.

[gothink1]

I just saw two new S500s from Northeast Music Center (no affiliation) that APPEAR to have a solid maple neck with a birdseye maple slab fretboard...

Looks great and a super solution to bringing back the birdsyeye maple!

Craig can you confirm this?? Anyone else?

Personally I am ready to order that neck with heavy gun oil tint and gloss finish!

I had heard rumors late last year that G&L would be experimenting with a lot of new woods and interesting features.

Yes, the factory has done Bird's Eye Maple fretboards in the past. From 8/2013 until 6/2015, they were an available option for Basses.
During that period, Bird's Eye Maple necks for Guitars (90 day warranty) were an available option. I do see some B.E. fretboards for guitars that
were done in 2015. Search on "birdseye" on posts in G&L's Facebook page and you should see those examples. My guess is that they were/are
trying them out to get dealer feedback. I have sent an email to one of my factory contacts to get details on these S-500s and if they plan to offer
Bird's Eye fretboarda as an available option in the near future.

I did post about new options they recently added:
G&L now offers two types of optional Ebony fretboards
Some new options just added ...
New U.S. Dealer Price List - February 1, 2017 added

Regarding experimenting with new woods, I have posted about them in the past. For example, here a few of recent posts:
Seen on G&L's Facebook page - Chechen fretboard
Seen on G&L's Facebook page - Chechen top on swamp ash body
Special Run ASAT Classic Bluesboy Semi-Hollow ...
They also have done some recent special builds using Black Limba body woods. Check out G&L's Facebook page.
They also do many special builds using Empress wood for bodies, search here and on G&L's Facebook page for those.
For a list body woods G&L has used, see: What body woods has G&L used?

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for the great info Craig. I am very glad they are doing these types of customizations. It actually supports the brand well : )

[Jack Gretz]

When we did the special run of Light weight Swamp Ash Bodies for the store, we tried to make them more unique and used some Birdseye Maple fretboards that we found when we visited the G&L Factory at NAMM Show.We took all that G&L had at the time. We are so glad that we did !

[fenderfan]

I never get tired of the beautiful birdseye neck on my S-500...