Ernie Ball Earthwood Acoustic Bass Guitar?

[TenorClef]

I've been trying to track down one of these Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic bass guitars and note they sell on the internet such as Ebay from anywhere from $2000 to $8000, the top end price seems a little boutique for my liking but clearly as their is a demand out their for these unique sounding basses one would think Ernie Ball would make the blue prints available so that this unique bass can be available to bass players who want to play in a more enviromentally sound way?

I have asked the EB company before about this matter and i know the present stance is a direct 'no', i wonder though if any of the Ernie Ball owners could provide some insights via photos and dimensions so that for those of us who are less fortunate to own one directly could perhaps look at getting one made privately by a local luthier. Perhaps the EB company could provide some further insight on this subject.

I draw a comparsion from the famed Mario Maccaferri 'Selmer Guitar' as played by Django Reinhardt, their are many companies that have direct access to the original blue prints which has led to many luthiers making similar copies and also major manufactorers making larger numbers of the guitar. This has in no way diminished the value of the original Selmers, actually the reverse has been the case!

Thanks in advance for nay input here,

TC.

[daveupps]

It is absurd that a member of the company will not reply to this post. Please give us a reasonable answer as to why you will not provide us with the specs of the Earthwood so that we may try and make something like it. I don't understand how it benefits the company to keep this secret - there is no money to be made or lost for you here.

[Jimmyb]

Great first post there Dave. Welcome to the Forum!

Couple of questions for you:

Do you know if they are going to make another one?
My guess is that you don't. Nobody knows for sure apart from EBMM, so it may be that sometime in the future a limited run is released.

Have you ever designed something of your own?
Just because a product has been released on the market and then discontinued, doesn't mean that it's then 'open season' for all to copy. If you've spent time and money in the past designing and manufacturing a product, why should you feel the need to pass on drawings/blueprints/schematics etc so that another company can make your goods?

What gives you the right to come onto a manufacturer owned forum and criticise them with your first post?
It's a really good way to make an impression you know.....

[TheStiffness]

It is absurd that a member of the company will not reply to this post. Please give us a reasonable answer as to why you will not provide us with the specs of the Earthwood so that we may try and make something like it. I don't understand how it benefits the company to keep this secret - there is no money to be made or lost for you here.

If one were to list the names of companies that did not disclose proprietary design information/blueprints of various current/discontinued product models, you would most likely end up listing every manufacturing company on the planet.

There have been numerous cases were product design info has been aquired and used (without authorization from the proprietor/company) to create cheap replicas - these replicas ended up being passed off as the "real deal". One can imagine what kind of problems that would generate for a company and it's customers.

This doesn't happen with EBMM, though. Why? Because we be solid like that.

The Earthwood Basses are rare finds, indeed. They should probably remain as such.

Let's not throw a tantrum. We don't say "no" just because we can.

[Slingy]

I've been trying to track down one of these Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic bass guitars and note they sell on the internet such as Ebay from anywhere from $2000 to $8000, the top end price seems a little boutique for my liking but clearly as their is a demand out their for these unique sounding basses one would think Ernie Ball would make the blue prints available so that this unique bass can be available to bass players who want to play in a more enviromentally sound way?

I have asked the EB company before about this matter and i know the present stance is a direct 'no', i wonder though if any of the Ernie Ball owners could provide some insights via photos and dimensions so that for those of us who are less fortunate to own one directly could perhaps look at getting one made privately by a local luthier. Perhaps the EB company could provide some further insight on this subject.

I draw a comparsion from the famed Mario Maccaferri 'Selmer Guitar' as played by Django Reinhardt, their are many companies that have direct access to the original blue prints which has led to many luthiers making similar copies and also major manufactorers making larger numbers of the guitar. This has in no way diminished the value of the original Selmers, actually the reverse has been the case!

Thanks in advance for nay input here,

TC.

I was not aware of these but really enjoyed reading about them on wikipedia. It was also too cool to read about some bands that used them that I didn't know about, like the Violent Femmes. I also read about people who waited years and years to score one. Wow what a unique piece.

If you did happen to score one, how would you use it? For acoustic jams? Collection? Have you considered playing a stand up bass? This may sound absurd too, but what about a Variax Bass and small full range amp? The Variax can do a very convincing stand up bass sound, without all that standing as well as the Thundercheif. My guess is Line 6 would probably have modelled the tone of it but maybe was too hard to find one. They did model the Stingray.

Anyways good luck on your search.

[TenorClef]

First of all many thanks to the EB team for adding some input to this post, much appreciated! I was unable to find a Earthwood bass and ended up buying the all acoustic model 'Tacoma Thunderchief'. Its not a bad bass, pretty decent actually but the smaller specs i think mean the sound is not as loud as a EB.

Obviously you have to respect the wishes of the EB company to let the Earthwood bass no longer be a part of the present which i guess creates an opening for something new. Their are a lot of new companys now experimenting but to be honest they still don't seem to have the Earthwood appeal/magic.

[suonoarmonico]

I'm kind of in the middle here. I understand TenorClef's desire to get his hands on an original Earthwood bass or something designed and made in a very similar way. I'm in the same boat, and I'm going to take a wild guess that there are a lot of other bassists that feel the same way whether they've already bought a competitor's instrument or not. I also understand Ernie Ball's desire to maintain quality branding that may include the mystique of an historic product, and that Ernie Ball should do as they like with their intellectual property.

How about this: can we get a clear list of "bullets" that would spell out what Ernie Ball would need to see to put the Earthwood bass back in production, assuming that the new basses are differentiated from the rare and valuable older instruments (e.g. call the new ax the "Earthwood II", "Earthbranch", "Earthroot" etc., give it different color binding...)? In most companies, this sort of thing is usually the subject of closed-door meetings between the President, CFO, R&D and Marketing - the President wants the product to meet (not go against) the company's high-level goals, the CFO wants the product to make money, R&D wants a superior product if they're going to make it at all, and Marketing wants the product to contribute to branding and cross-sell other products... Dare we challenge Ernie Ball to do something innovative and involve the forum user base in those discussions to demonstrate how responsive Ernie Ball is to its customers?

It would be great if someone from Ernie Ball could reply. Thanks!

[fly]

Dare we challenge Ernie Ball to do something innovative and involve the forum user base in those discussions to demonstrate how responsive Ernie Ball is to its customers?

It would be great if someone from Ernie Ball could reply. Thanks!

hello Bongo.......hello Sterling5.......hello brand new (whatever the hell they call it)


we're actually quite informed here............

[Big Poppa]

Lets welcome this gentleman with a well thought out response and then point out that there are a lot of new stuff going on....Fly I know you mean well but lets make sure that we dont come off abrupt.

First off I love the Earthwood Bass. I would love to be able to make it.

I wish I had a CFO and all of those other titles but we are a reall hands on company with a lot of talented people that multitask without a title. The inability to bring the Earthwood to the market is a capacity and focus issue. If in the future I can figure out how to make both lines of products out of the same factory then that is when you will see it

thanks for your post and stick around

[fly]

Fly I know you mean well but lets make sure that we dont come off abrupt.

you are right BP,my apologize to suonoarmonico.........and the EBMM team too.

thanks for your post and stick around

yes,please do.......and again my mistake.

[Big Poppa]

we are all happy happy happy!

[Earthwood #6]

I happen to own 8-inch deep Earthwood #6. There is Nothing like 'em! They have a distinctive bass "thump" that records exceptionally well. I've heard that Ernie left enough wood to make a thousand of these things. And that the wood is just sitting there unused. I hope Sterling decides to Do The Right Thing and reissue this Exceptional instrument. (There is a pic of mine at my Ernie Ball forum username site).

[YtseJam92]

I hope Sterling decides to Do The Right Thing and reissue this Exceptional instrument.

The "Right Thing" is not to rush into something like that.. BP has already got matters situated.

If in the future I can figure out how to make both lines of products out of the same factory then that is when you will see it

[midopa]

oh man, i'd love to see the earthwood basses released again. here's to happy hopping hoping~

[AtomicPunk]

Guys, please don't take it for granted that you can get a response from BP or other EBMM people who might be in the know.
I've been on other manufacturer forums and you are lucky to get dissed by the company pres.
The fact that BP posts here and shares like he does here is something we really should be grateful for. I was really surprised that you got the answer you did. Pleasantly, I might add. And this is the kind of thing you get from a class organization.