Pearloid is a plastic that is intended to resemble
mother of pearl
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is ...
. It is commonly used in making musical instruments, especially for
pickguard
A pickguard (also known as a scratchplate) is a piece of plastic or other (often laminated) material that is placed on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument. The main purpose of the pickguard is to protect the guita ...
s,
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
inlays, and
accordions
Accordions (from 19th-century German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed in a frame). The ess ...
.
Production
Pearloid is produced by swirling together chunks of
celluloid
Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...
in a
solvent
A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...
, then curing, which gives it a
mother of pearl
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is ...
effect.
It is sliced and bonded to or inlaid in other materials, such as the wood of guitar necks.
Use
Pearloid is used in any context where genuine mother of pearl or
abalone
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...
might be used, as it is much cheaper.
Gibson
Gibson, Gibson's or Gibsons may refer to:
Business
* Gibson Appliance, a former American refrigerator manufacturer
* Gibson (guitar company), an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Greetings, ...
uses it as a substitute for the mother of pearl inlays in the fretboards on most of its guitars. Various colored versions are often used on items intended to have a
retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture.
Definition
The term ...
appearance.
See also
*
Cultured pearl
Cultured pearls are pearls which are formed within a cultured pearl sac with human intervention in the interior of productive living molluscs in a variety of conditions depending upon the mollusc and the goals. Having the same material as natur ...
*
Imitation pearl
Imitation pearls are man-made ''faux'' pearls. They are not to be confused with cultured pearls, which are real pearls created through human intervention.
Materials used to create imitation pearls include glass, plastic, and mollusc shells. As ...
References
{{reflist
Cellulose
Pearls
Plastics
Thermoplastics