How does Ebony affect the tone of the JP BFRs?

[mesavox]

I really dig the Dargie IIs, but I'm a little leary of how the ebony will affect the tone compared to my current BFR... or if it would make it even closer to my BFR on the non BFR JPs.

I'm not really in a place to buy a new guitar right now, but I just graduated and maybe some money will come in sooner than my pessimistic nature will allow me to expect. LOL

 

[BairdM3]

I don't know if it really affects the tone too noticeably, I've heard people say it's a little "brighter" than Rosewood...

What I noticed first was the feel, super smooth and fast! No complaints or reservations from me

 

[mesavox]

I should clarify... I know it wouldn't be bad tone by any means... I'm just hoping to get to where my main guitar, it's backup, and the seven string, are as close to each other as possible so that when I change I don't have a huge difference in sound, unless it's a guitar that should sound way different like switching to single coils or something like that.

 

[JP7Nomad]

I think it'll be a bigger change in the attack than the tone. It'll be a little more snappy and you'll get a slightly faster response to the pick attack through the amp.

 

[mesavox]

I don't know if it really affects the tone too noticeably, I've heard people say it's a little "brighter" than Rosewood...

What I noticed first was the feel, super smooth and fast! No complaints or reservations from me

I would have imagined it would be brighter.... which I think may be ok for me. What I REALLY like about the BFRs is the mids. My Ibby JPMs are heavier sounding guitars, and I like some aspects about them, but they're so different, they don't make good backups for the BFR (which is by FAR my most played guitar). With that, I would think the regular JPs would be pretty similar to my Ibby with both being basswood and whatnot... lots of lows and highs... very full sounding, but without the mid bump that I like.

Oh, I wish I understood the ins and outs of how woods affect frequencies lol

 

[Dante]

it's gonna open the sound up a bit. adds a bit of attack and lowers the bass a bit.

 

[ScoobySteve]

Very few people can accurately A/B an Ebony Board with a Rosewood Board.

I'm not saying the difference isn't there, however, what I am saying is that its more of how it feels to you.

I started playing with a classical guitar, so the ebony board feels wonderful. Rosewood is great too.

Do what I do, love both.

 

[ShaneV]

Very few people can accurately A/B an Ebony Board with a Rosewood Board.

I'm not saying the difference isn't there, however, what I am saying is that its more of how it feels to you.

I started playing with a classical guitar, so the ebony board feels wonderful. Rosewood is great too.

Do what I do, love both.

+1, for me it's all about the feel, and I love the glassy smooth feel of ebony and maple. Most rosewood I don't care for, but the fretboard on my JP is super tight grained and dark and feels almost as smooth as ebony- it's a world apart from some of the cheaper rosewood you see on other brands.

 

[Coffeemug]

I'm not saying the difference isn't there, however, what I am saying is that its more of how it feels to you.

+1

That's pretty much what I wanted to say. I have AL's with maple fretboard, all rosewood neck and ebony...I wouldn't say that even the all-rosewood neck sounds drastically different than a maple neck with ebony fretboard. But there's definitely a noticable difference in how they feel.

 

[kissmyaxe]

I can cleary tell the difference between my all maple neck and my DDII Silo , which should be even less noticable then rosewood, it gives it a more bell like tone which is great,I was pleasantly suprised with the tonal differences as I didnt want 2 guitars that sounded identical, I will probably pop in a tone zone when I have some extra cash will sound soooo killer... I imagine the change would be even greater on a JP but im sure it sounds amazing

 

[Coffeemug]

But it's not only the fretboard that causes tonal differences, I had two hardtail maple neck SSS AL's that sounded different.

As Scooby posted, I'm not saying there's no noticeable tonal difference but to my ears it's not that huge.

 

[kissmyaxe]

But it's not only the fretboard that causes tonal differences, I had two hardtail maple neck SSS AL's that sounded different.

As Scooby posted, I'm not saying there's no noticeable tonal difference but to my ears it's not that huge.

well unless Musicman is putting in different pickups from their 2004 Silo Specials everything is the same except the fretboard and the strings, but I do have a feeling the fact that I use 11's on my other and these are 9s is a HUGE difference, but even so there is still more of a difference to my ear then just that, my maple never had this beautiful bell like ring to it like the DDII, i mean its nothing major but its significant....its just my opinion/ear I know others cant tell too much of a change so I guess my advise would be to try it through you rig if you can get the chance(but I know this is very hard to do without buying it, you would also never have a problem selling it though if you didnt like it)

 

[kneeoh]

I've a/b'd my BBB BFR JP6 and my DD2 BFR JP6. Tonally, I don't feel the ebony fingerboard really changes things a whole lot though the DD2 does seem a little brighter with tighter midrange. I think that has more to do with the new pups though. The difference is in the feel of the fingerboard. To my fingers, the ebony board is smoother. I don't think its better than the rosewood per se, just different.

 

[petruccirocks02]

I definitely think that some people can hear a difference in tone between ebony and rosewood. I'm one of those people. The ebony sounds a bit brighter to my ears. As far as playability goes, I think ebony owns. Nice and smooth and looks great too. Nothing like a jet black ebony board to give a guitar some class.

-Phil