ebony

[jubjub721]

How come this is such a rare wood to be used on electric basses? Does anyone have any idea where i could purchase one for my sterling? What does this wood sound like compared to rosewood or maple?

 

[oddjob]

How come this is such a rare wood to be used on electric basses? Does anyone have any idea where i could purchase one for my sterling? What does this wood sound like compared to rosewood or maple?

No idea where to get it.

Ebony has a much warmer tonen then Rosewood... a Maple isn't in the ballpark. I noticed that Ebony doesn't make as much a difference on fretted basses compared to Rosewood, but it is HUGE on fretless!!!!. Warm, round, and dark... also it is durable (as much as any wood can be) as a fretless finger board - the big drawback - $$$$$$. When I had my custom basses made 10 years ago, a fretboard piece of AAA Ebony was 3/4 of a whole Bongo.

Just weigh the options... but on a fretted bass, I don't think it is that big a deal (on a fretless it is killer though).

 

[jubjub721]

well
couldnt you de-fret it by plaining them off

 

[bovinehost]

Defret what?

Plain? Where the rain in Spain falls, mainly?

Jubs - take a minute. Think before typing. Read twice, edit if you need to. You okay?

 

[bovinehost]

Also, I've heard that ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony.

 

[midopa]

Think before typing?! What next, Bov? Mandatory spell checking and proofreading?!

So Jubs, would you want to break the relationship 'tween ebony and ivory? I think it's quite selfish to disrupt harmony for your own cause.

 

[oddjob]

Jubs, if you are sporting rosewood, the only way you are going to get an ebony board is to a) get a new neck b) have a luthier remove your old board and slap a new one on. Both are epensive propositions. If you don't like what sounds you are getting or have ebony-lust, trade in what you've got and get a new bass with an ebony board.

As far as de-fretting a fretboard to make a fretless. I've had that done to my old Aria ProII ZZB Deluxe (explorer). Had the frets professionally removed and filled. It had a rosewood board and sounded quite nice - but it would not have warranted the expense of putting an ebony board on it (not only that, but I don't play fretless enough to warrant it). Where ebony does make a tonal difference so many other things do as well - electronics, amplification, strings, how you play and even where on the neck you play all matter and can easily overcome "ebony" tone.

 

[jubjub721]

well i would get a new neck if i could
i have maple on my sterling

i was just curiouse about the posiablitys

 

[gareth]

my sterling has an ebony fretboard, but then again its a black onyx and that comes standard

 

[dlloyd]

Re: Re: ebony

No idea where to get it.

Ebony has a much warmer tonen then Rosewood... a Maple isn't in the ballpark.

I disagree.

Ebony has a brighter tone than rosewood, quite similar to that of maple.

 

[basadam]

I have a bass with ebony fb and soft maple body (not MusicMan). It is noticeably brighter than my basses with rw. Is it the fb or the maple body I don't know...