Fingerboard material/Ebony

[overtime]

I am in the market for a sterling bass.This one sparks my interest....but is this an ebony or rosewood fingerboard .This add is from bass central.

LTD Edition Sterling Black Onyx. Black High Gloss Body, Matching Headstock, Ebony Fingerboard, Black Bridge, Black Tuners, Black Knobs, Black Pickguard, Black High Gloss Finish On Back Of Neck, Black Pole Pieces On Pickup, Case. A Total Of 150 Made, With Only 75 Distributed In The USA. The Production Number Of Each Bass Is Hand Signed On Back Of Body

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

The fretboard is definitely Ebony with 150 made. The add appears correct

 

[overtime]

Thanks gav.Doe's the ebony board change the sound of this?

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Sound of fret board wood is a highly debated subject and very subjective.

To be honest, I really think it's B.S.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

WARNING

Just remembered!!! There's one going around at the moment that doesn't have the original bridge saddles. Ask seller for a high resolution pic of the bridge.

 

[maddog]

WARNING

Just remembered!!! There's one going around at the moment that doesn't have the original bridge saddles. Ask seller for a high resolution pic of the bridge.

Was this the one with the non-black neck that was posted to ebay a bit ago or a different one?

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Can't recall. I remember thinking...you know...that's not right some how...and then I pulled out all my Black onyx files.

Unpainted neck does ring a bell though

 

[Calaveras]

Man I hate to start a flame war, but in all politenes, ebony, maple and rosewood DO sound different. It may not be a huge difference like flats to roundwound. But I can hear it and I prefer ebony on most of my instruments. Now that I know a MM exists with an ebony fretboard I will not be sleeping well. THANKS!

 

[Musicman Nut]

Sound of fret board wood is a highly debated subject and very subjective.

To be honest, I really think it's B.S.

Gav I Have to differ from you on that, Maple, rosewood, Coco Bola, Brazillian Rosewood, Ebony. All Mine Sound very different with these different Necks on the same body. DJ

 

[bdgotoh]

Sound of fret board wood is a highly debated subject and very subjective.

To be honest, I really think it's B.S.

It's difficult to argue with what Gav said there. The posts above prove his "highly debated" statement, and all he said at the end is what HE personally thinks!

I've had two '89 Stingrays in the recent past. Both were 2 band, both were around 8.5 lbs, one was rosewood board and the other maple board. I couldn't tell any difference between them tonally at any volume with several amps.

The really nice part is they both sounded great so I kept the rosewood one because I prefer that look.

 

[Musicman Nut]

It's difficult to argue with what Gav said there. The posts above prove his "highly debated" statement, and all he said at the end is what HE personally thinks!

I've had two '89 Stingrays in the recent past. Both were 2 band, both were around 8.5 lbs, one was rosewood board and the other maple board. I couldn't tell any difference between them tonally at any volume with several amps.

The really nice part is they both sounded great so I kept the rosewood one because I prefer that look.

Well there ya go, Some folks think a 3rd is a 6th too, Some say they sound the same, It all comes down to if we're all convinced of what we believe and we're happy then it works. some just hear different things. I hear a Night and Day difference, thats why I have 89 Maple Necks and only 14 Rosewood necks. I Prefer the sound of a Maple Board, Ebony over any rosewood boards but heck, it's all good. DJ

 

[Colin]

I may have read Gav's response differently to you guys, but my feeling was his response was to the initial question mentioning ebony and rosewood fingerboards. I'm not sure if I could tell the difference between those types of fingerboards in sound, hence his comment about it being very subjective. I do however prefer rosewood over maple myself.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Guys I have 3 Rays.

A 79 Pre-EB with Maple (2 band naturally). New Roundwounds fitted about 2 weeks ago.

An 89 with Maple (2 band). Roundwounds fitted about 3 years ago.

And a 94 with a 2006 Rose neck (2 band). The Roundwounds are about 5 months old.

I've put all three through my Trace Elliot a few weeks ago. The Trace was left at the same settings. This was in my study and not a band setting.

The three Basses were initially set at full bass and half treble. I also tried different tone settings on the instruments.

I couldn't detect any difference between the Maple and Rose and haven't detected a difference in a band setting either.

I've never tried a Black Onyx with the Ebony. I did try a Bass with Ebony some years ago but it didn't stick out in my mind as being something very different. I don't even recall the brand of Bass it was.

I used to think there was a difference in tone untill I tried them side by side for the first time.

If others say they can pick a difference then I've got no reason to doubt it. But it aint happening with my ears

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

One way to find out!! This suggestion generally ends the debate I find....rather quickly too.

 

[Aussie Mark]

I'm with Gav on this. I prefer the feel of ebony, but to my ears there's very little sonic difference between maple, rosewood or ebony.

 

[LisaIs]

I am in the market for a sterling bass.This one sparks my interest....but is this an ebony or rosewood fingerboard .This add is from bass central.

LTD Edition Sterling Black Onyx. Black High Gloss Body, Matching Headstock, Ebony Fingerboard, Black Bridge, Black Tuners, Black Knobs, Black Pickguard, Black High Gloss Finish On Back Of Neck, Black Pole Pieces On Pickup, Case. A Total Of 150 Made, With Only 75 Distributed In The USA. The Production Number Of Each Bass Is Hand Signed On Back Of Body

That bass is a brilliant MM concept. What a hot bass. If you have the money then throw it down.

 

[Calaveras]

In all politeness. I cant help but think either
A you guys are deaf
B you have no treble content coming out of your amp
C you just arent listening
I have always been able to hear a difference between the different fretboard woods. It manifests usually in the attackiness of each kind of wood as opposed to actual spectral content. I think ebony and maple are pretty close in sound, though maple is more boingy (?) sounding. Rosewood seems to soften the initial attack. Ebony sounds the truest to me. Funny I used to prefer rosewood for looks, but it's my least favorite for sound. Maple is my least favorite for looks, but my 2nd choice for sound. Ironically my current Ray 5 er has the Pau Ferro fingerboard. And isnt Pau Ferro just a fancy way of saying rosewood?

Regarding blindfold tests. I doubt very many of us could pick out which pickup setting a bass is on by playing it, but the pickup switch/knob makes a tonal change of course! These are just very subtle differences.

p.s. saying that the differences "are BS" is the surest way to elicit a response. It pretty much says that if you can hear a difference you are full of it.

 

[Musicman Nut]

In all politeness. I cant help but think either
A you guys are deaf
B you have no treble content coming out of your amp
C you just arent listening
I have always been able to hear a difference between the different fretboard woods. It manifests usually in the attackiness of each kind of wood as opposed to actual spectral content. I think ebony and maple are pretty close in sound, though maple is more boingy (?) sounding. Rosewood seems to soften the initial attack. Ebony sounds the truest to me. Funny I used to prefer rosewood for looks, but it's my least favorite for sound. Maple is my least favorite for looks, but my 2nd choice for sound. Ironically my current Ray 5 er has the Pau Ferro fingerboard. And isnt Pau Ferro just a fancy way of saying rosewood?

Regarding blindfold tests. I doubt very many of us could pick out which pickup setting a bass is on by playing it, but the pickup switch/knob makes a tonal change of course! These are just very subtle differences.


p.s. saying that the differences "are BS" is the surest way to elicit a response. It pretty much says that if you can hear a difference you are full of it.

{{{ AMEN }}}

 

[nocluejimbo]

*SNIP*
And isnt Pau Ferro just a fancy way of saying rosewood?

Not quite.

Pau Ferro/Morado Fingerboard

In the last few years this has become quite a popular fingerboard wood, mostly among electric guitar manufacturers. The devotees include Fender™, Music Man™, Peavey™, Sadowsky™, and several more. Pau Ferro (Machaerium villosum or schleroxylon), also known as Morado, Santos Rosewood, or Bolivian Rosewood is not a true Rosewood, but it boasts many of the qualities that are highly regarded in a fingerboard wood. It’s stable, abrasion resistant, hard, attractive, exotic and has good compression strength parallel to the grain.

In my experience, the difference in fingerboard can make the sound vary less than two identically spec'ed guitars sound. It is a very subtle difference, but is there. Inlays, finishes, and certain kinds of fretting overwhelm that difference.

 

[Dr Stankface]

EB basses only come in maple, rosewood, and pau ferro. So who really cares about the other woods?