Interesting take on the "Fingerboard Wars"

[asianjeff]

Yes - lemon oil is used to treat/clean rosewood fretboards. Not used for maple.

any ideas where i can get some good quality recommended lemon oil?

[Aussie Mark]

any ideas where i can get some good quality recommended lemon oil?

It must be natural, without any additives such as solvents or alcohol. Your local hardware store may have some in the furniture polish department. Pure natural orange oil is just as good, and smells nicer. Either will do the job nicely. I use orange oil on all my boards, whether they be rosewood, ebony, and even maple.

I've heard a few people say that you shouldn't use lemon oil on maple, but in the absence of some facts I suspect it's an old wives' tale.

[PocketGroove82]

You can get pure lemon oil from a number of places, Ireactl.
natural/healthfood places like "wholefoods" carry it, and many herbal/aromatherapy type websites sell it. you can also buy some name brand types supposedly designed for guitars at music stores. in a few months you will be able to pick up EBMM cleaning wipes, which is what I'll be getting as soon as they're available!

Mark, i've also wondered why lemon oil is not recommended on maple fretboards. I was thinking maybe it was too oily/greasy.

[syciprider]

I use furniture polish.

[eddybomb]

adelucia, I am sorry I didn't specify the post I was commenting on...it wasn't your thread opener I was commenting on, but a reply commenting on the other brands neck diving attributes.

[AnthonyD]

adelucia, I am sorry I didn't specify the post I was commenting on...it wasn't your thread opener I was commenting on, but a reply commenting on the other brands neck diving attributes.

No problem, Eddy-baby... It's all good!

[Aussie Mark]

I use furniture polish.

Probably not the best option, since it probably includes alcohol and/or petroleum-based solvents, both of which will dry your fingerboard rather than nourish it.

[phatduckk]

to me its a visual thing as well. there's a ton of things that cant change the tone of the bass so i get what looks cool to me then tweak the other factors in order to get my sound. but honestly... gimmie any sterling, my stainless slinkys and ill get my tone

[strummer]

I find the Alembic statement to be pretty ignorant considering the pricing on their basses. You would think they would understand the natural, tonal differences between different woods.

Do they even use maple on their fretboards?
Also, I wonder if they might ever decide to make a bass that doesn't have the worst god awful neck dive in the business.

Let me guess: You are not particualrly fond of Alembics?

[strummer]

Maple=bright sound
Rosewood=dark sound

It's all in the color of the wood folks

By the way, why the hell aren't all basses made out of basswood?

This is just soo silly. Alembic has always tried to minimize the tonal effects of the wood, and so on their basses the differences are really small.

[asianjeff]

aight, here comes the really newbie question, what if you dont clean your board at all... would that effect the sound, if so, how?

i just recently got a SUB 5 (my first EBMM) so i want to know the things i need to do to take good care of it.

[tkarter]

aight, here comes the really newbie question, what if you dont clean your board at all... would that effect the sound, if so, how?

i just recently got a SUB 5 (my first EBMM) so i want to know the things i need to do to take good care of it.

If you don't clean the board. It shows it has been played. The frets are good it will always play fine.

The care one takes of the bass he likes is a personal preference.

A trashy car will get you across town just like a waxed up shiny new car will.

It isn't hard to keep a bass clean.

IMHO

tk

[Aussie Mark]

aight, here comes the really newbie question, what if you dont clean your board at all

It's not just about cleaning, it's about nourishing the fingerboard so that it doesn't dry out and crack.

[Slim]

I have rosewood and maple board SR5 and acoustically I can tell that rosewood sounds darker than maple but when it is amplified I really don't know because rosewood one is 2006 model with ceramic pickups and maple one is 1991 model with alnico pickup but I feel that maple board one needs less maintenance to trussrod adjustment maybe because it is 26 years old and the neck had settled in. Maybe the instruments get better as they age. Chicago weather is very hard on neck and I feel that rosewood is softer wood than maple so it maybe the reason it needs to be adjusted more often
By the way I use any cheap virgin olive oil to moisten rosewood board and it seems to do a good job

[Oldtoe]

Someone posted sound samples of a maple board Stingray and a rosewood board Stingray a long while back. I could tell which one was maple from the clips. Maple gives a more open, airy sound; while rosewood tends to produce a more focused tone to my ears.