Question Ebony + SS frets = too bright????

[Jakka1]

It may be too late to get many responses since the deadline is about up, but I would like to hear from people who have basses that have ebony boards + Stainless Steel frets. (Dargie II, Stealth, Black Sugar... maybe others??).

I am considering getting a Starry Night Sterling HS. Love the looks of this run, but using the search engine to seek out info on this neck combo has just led to mostly people complaining about too much highs, zing, string noise, clank, shrill tone, etc. Most of the complaints are more about the SS frets.

Am I psyching myself out before ordering?... maybe... I just want to make sure that I get this right. If any past and present owners would chime about what this combo brings tone wise compared to the usual Rosewood or Maple I would greatly appreciate it!!!

 

[the explode man]

Psyching yourself. I have a Dargie II and it sounds beautiful. It has all of the things that you say people complain about, but that's a part of my style (say what you will about that). Beyond that, those aspects are pretty easy to manage with proper setup and EQ.

 

[96brigadier]

I have a Dargie II too and I agree, it sounds beautiful. No issues at all.

 

[Jakka1]

Thanks fellas!! I went ahead and went for it.... Sterling HS on order.

 

[DrKev]

The consensus amongst people I trust is the SS frets have no effect on tone. Fingerboard woods, I don't think so either - buy based on feel and look.

 

[Golem]

I looooove ebony, mainly cuz it IS so
damnt BRITE ! But putting frets on it
would be waaaaay over the top .... if
you get my drift. You can always just
weed them out. They don't have very
extensive root systems.

 

[JayDawg]

I've had a Dargie II Bongo as well as a black sugar Bongo. No issues with tones from any of mine.

 

[five7]

I have found a big difference on fb woods. My new sterling with rosewood sounds different than the maple ones I have had and less issues with fret sprout here in the climate of colorado. The black sugar bongo I wanted to buy earlier this year had terrible fret sprout because of the ebony board.

 

[MCRome]

Sorry to ask; I thought ss frets were a "new" addition exclusive to 2016 PDN edition; do stealths and black sugars have ss frets too?
Thanks for your replies

 

[Golem]

......... My new sterling with rosewood sounds different than
the maple ones I have had and less issues with fret sprout
.........

Been my observation as well, maple is most the vulnerable
to fret sprout.

 

[stu42]

Sorry to ask; I thought ss frets were a "new" addition exclusive to 2016 PDN edition; do stealths and black sugars have ss frets too?
Thanks for your replies

You are correct. The SS frets have only been added to a few PDN editions:
- Honeyburst, Mahogany, Roasted Maple, Pau Ferro FB PDN of 2012
- Neptune Blue, Mahogany, Roasted Maple PDN of 2014
- Starry Night, Roasted Maple, Ebony FB PDN 2016

I have a guitar with SS frets and I don't notice any extra brightness or clangy sound when I'm fretting. I think the brightness of SS frets may be exaggerated. There might possibly be a very small difference but I don't think it's very noticeable. You'd probably notice more difference between different slabs of the same body wood.

One other thing to think about...I've read that the roasting process on the neck tends to darken the tone of the maple. I don't know to what extent this is true but I figured that may be why they have sometimes matched the roasted maple neck with a brighter-sounding fingerboard. On the Black Sugar models, which also have roasted maple necks (but no SS frets), they used Ebony as the FB material. In 2012 they used Pau Ferro (also harder and brighter) and now again in 2016 they're using Ebony.

So...if that's true then perhaps the SS frets (if they are brighter) might also be a good match. That said, SS frets are nice in so far as they last forever. Some luthiers don't like working with them as they apparently are hard on the fret crowning tools but once your neck is adjusted you won't have to worry much about re-crowning your frets for a very long time.

 

[Jakka1]

You are correct. The SS frets have only been added to a few PDN editions:
- Honeyburst, Mahogany, Roasted Maple, Pau Ferro FB PDN of 2012
- Neptune Blue, Mahogany, Roasted Maple PDN of 2014
- Starry Night, Roasted Maple, Ebony FB PDN 2016

I have a guitar with SS frets and I don't notice any extra brightness or clangy sound when I'm fretting. I think the brightness of SS frets may be exaggerated. There might possibly be a very small difference but I don't think it's very noticeable. You'd probably notice more difference between different slabs of the same body wood.

One other thing to think about...I've read that the roasting process on the neck tends to darken the tone of the maple. I don't know to what extent this is true but I figured that may be why they have sometimes matched the roasted maple neck with a brighter-sounding fingerboard. On the Black Sugar models, which also have roasted maple necks (but no SS frets), they used Ebony as the FB material. In 2012 they used Pau Ferro (also harder and brighter) and now again in 2016 they're using Ebony.

So...if that's true then perhaps the SS frets (if they are brighter) might also be a good match. That said, SS frets are nice in so far as they last forever. Some luthiers don't like working with them as they apparently are hard on the fret crowning tools but once your neck is adjusted you won't have to worry much about re-crowning your frets for a very long time.

Thanks for clarifying which editions have SS frets! My bad for just assuming that previous runs with ebony boards also had SS frets.

While I own a Black Sugar Stingray 5HH, it's a bit of a rare bird in that it has a roasted birdseye maple fretboard instead of ebony. Ebony with SS frets will definitely be a new experience.

 

[Edmang]

The SS frets have only been added to a few PDN editions:
- Honeyburst, Mahogany, Roasted Maple, Pau Ferro FB PDN of 2012
- Neptune Blue, Mahogany, Roasted Maple PDN of 2014
- Starry Night, Roasted Maple, Ebony FB PDN 2016

Seeing a pattern... the 2018 PDN will have Roasted Maple neck with SS frets

 

[Jakka1]

Seeing a pattern... the 2018 PDN will have Roasted Maple neck with SS frets

I think you are onto something! Taking it back to 2010 with the Black Sugar, there is roasted maple every other year. Since the Ebony board was last seen 6 years ago, maybe 2018 will mark the return of something Mahogany, Roasted Maple, Pau Ferro flavored.

 

[Golem]

This is seeming to suggest that EBMM has a
spreadsheet of all the possible PDN options
and they apply a formula to it such that the
future PDN configurations are known like the
phases of the moon and the tides from here
to forever ...