Lamboo

[j.sunbeam]

Anyone own the Tele made of Bamboo? I just saw one not too long ago, and I was shocked. It's beautiful aesthetically, but I want to know if it plays as nice as it looks. Is it heavier or lighter than an Ash Tele and is the entire neck made of Bamboo as well?

Thanks all.

[Guitarmadcat]

Bloody heavy.

[All4Tone]

It is heavy, but I only have a mexi Tele and a Squier CVC with 51 Nocaster pickups to compare it to, which I did last night. I had a friend bring over his Lamboo and we did side by side comparisons between these 3 guitars.
I played them all through a Carvin XT112 tube amp and the most noticeable difference is that the Lamboo is a much more balanced sound - every note is evenly heard in a chord and all the notes on the maple fretboard have a nice balance between them on all pickup combinations.

All in all, the Lamboo is a very nice guitar, but is it the Tele I want? Not quite. The CVC with the new pickups was brighter, had more "individual" character, but also had less overall balance across the spectrum than the well balanced Lamboo, some might like one or the other better. The mexi is very "Telecaster" sounding, but didn't have the finnesse that the Lamboo did. I like each one for its own characteristic sound. They each sound great!

The volume level of all 3 was very similar, but the tone was different between all of them.

The Lamboo plays wonderfully and is finished beautifully, but frankly, I prefer the look of a good old blonde Tele or a sunburst MIA Deluxe over the Lamboo.

Synopsis; looks great, sounds even better, but is not the be all and end all to all telecasters. It is very nice nonetheless.

Consider that the Lamboo costs many times more than the humble Squier CVC and the typical mexi Tele and you can appreciate how good the CVC is. The mexi is also a formidable contender in this arena, but the clear winner by a little more than just a hair in my household is still the Lamboo.

Compare it to a MIA Tele and see how it fares. I want a Lamboo, but only as part of a relatively rare collection of great Teles.

[S. Plisken]

I just bought a Telebration Lamboo Tele this weekend and I can't tell that there's a weight difference between it and my Alder American Standard Tele. The kid was handing it to me and I anticipated being handed a concrete block, but I was pleasantly suprised at how light it is. In my opinion the guitar is just gorgeous, the binding, the pick guard, the soft color of the bamboo laminate....you can't do it justice in pictures. I'm still just a beginner so soundwise I can't really compare them, but the Lamboo neck just plays really slick and fast for me. That instrument has quickly become one of my favorite things in the world.

[PMF1954]

I think they're beautiful(from what I've see online) and I'm lusting for one.

[Jupiter]

Are they solid? Seems like you could just as easily make 'em with chambers....

[johnthatcher]

I think they play/ sound great. Real bright tone which i love.

[gwjensen]

Originally Posted by Guitarmadcat

Bloody heavy.

How heavy is heavy? Always wondered about that. Whats the threshold from light or normal to heavy? I don't have a scale, so I don't know what my guitars weigh (maybe thats a good thing!).

[CarbonToe]

Originally Posted by Jupiter

Are they solid? Seems like you could just as easily make 'em with chambers....

I've read somewhere (and I now cannot remember, sorry, my addled brain says Guitarist Magazine) that they were originally going to be made up from lots of laminated sheets of Bamboo, but in the end they are wood with a bamboo cap.

EDIT: I was correct, "Fender Lamboo Telecaster NAT, electric guitar, Tele-Bration, special run, alder body with bamboo laminated top & back, modern C-shaped thomann bamboo neck, lamboo fretboard, 22 frets, tortoise binding and pickguard, 2x Hot Tele Single-Coil Pickups, finish: natural, incl. case"

[telex76]

I don't know why anybody would want one.
Just to say they have it I guess.

[TekHousE]

Why do people keep saying the Lamboo has a bamboo neck?

It DOESN'T!

The ONLY stuff on it that is bamboo is a thin veneer on the front and back. That is all. The rest is blonde, the body is solid alder core, the fretboard is MAPLE, the guitar is NO heavier than any other tele apart from thin bodies.

Fender made a mistake in marketing this, and originally they were saying the neck was lamboo material too, it most def. is NOT. I know I own one.

[Tone Master]

Dead-thread

[Torz Johnson]

Originally Posted by Tone Master

Dead-thread

This is an important issue, and it's worth any effort to get the message out.

[TekHousE]

Originally Posted by Torz Johnson

This is an important issue, and it's worth any effort to get the message out.

Agreed ;)

[skippy-c]

Build your own! It is much more fun.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...ld-so-far.html


Bamboo Telecaster 2 by scottclyatt, on Flickr

[NastyMojo]

That is just amzing