Ebony Fretboards

[TSJMajesty]

I'm seeing many of these with brown sections in them. Would that matter to you?

Aesthetics are pretty high on my list of priorities, but I would buy one, as long as the brown was somewhat uniform. But one small section? Nah.

Doesn't look right to me.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

Yeah it's been happening for a while now. If you haven't already watched Bob Taylor's video about it, he explains the reasons behind it well:



The video is old but still relevant today

 

[Eagle]

I don’t mind it at all .

 

[EOengineer]

I’m conflicted because I understand the need for conservation of a very limited resource, but from a purely aesthetic perspective I prefer the uniform dark ebony that kinda got us into this mess.

I love ebony fretboards though. It’s like playing on glass and I feel like it adds a subtle but noticeable snap to the note attack that reminds me of maple but with the more refined look.

Yeah it's been happening for a while now. If you haven't already watched Bob Taylor's video about it, he explains the reasons behind it well:



The video is old but still relevant today

This was literally the first thing that came to mind, glad someone posted it. Great info.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I like a little bit of variation. I think plain black is boring.

 

[Warmart]

Love me some ebony, have a bunch of 'em and they run the gamut of "ultra black" to "black with a lot of brown streaks". All good, I understand about the world supply and the cost of the dwindling primo pieces. They all feel the best to me, my preferred fretboard wood no doubt.

 

[laxu]

Depends. The fretboard on my Skervesen Shoggie 8 is Macassar ebony, which is quite streaky. It's a look in its own right.

Afaik a lot of regular ebony these days can be dyed to a uniform color.

 

[EOengineer]

Depends. The fretboard on my Skervesen Shoggie 8 is Macassar ebony, which is quite streaky. It's a look in its own right.

Afaik a lot of regular ebony these days can be dyed to a uniform color.

That ebony looks AWESOME IMO.

 

[gearJunkie]

Macassar Ebony fretboard on my Vader.

I love it!

 

[DrewJD82]

Doesn’t bother me and if it did I’d just dye it. The grain is far more important to me than the color and of the 4 guitars I have with ebony boards, there’s some variation across them. Ibanez, Solar and Edwards are jet black, super tight grain and what I expect when I see “Ebony” written. My Spector is lighter and the grain almost looks like rosewood, which is what I’ve come to expect when I see “Macassar Ebony” after seeing a few other guitars/basses where I’ve questioned the authenticity of the use of the word “ebony”.

I love Pale Moon Ebony, that’s easily my favorite fingerboard look.

 

[ghostrider]

I have several Macassar Ebony boards with streaks and I love them so brown in regular Ebony wouldn’t bother me.

I can’t say I’m a fan of “pale moon” Ebony though. I’m not personally a fan of the Jaundice yellow color.

 

[AutomationBias]

Unless it's a black Les Paul Custom,

Depends. The fretboard on my Skervesen Shoggie 8 is Macassar ebony, which is quite streaky. It's a look in its own right.

Afaik a lot of regular ebony these days can be dyed to a uniform color.

See, that's stunning. I think I'd rather have this than dyed black ebony on anything other than maybe a 'black beauty' LP custom.

 

[OrganicZed]

It depends on the guitar. If I was going for a blacked out look then it would matter. Otherwise, I think some variation looks nice.

From a sustainability perspective, the supply of truly black ebony wood is not sufficient to supply the guitar industry with the solid black wood for the long term. Anderson Guitarworks uses what they call blackheart as a fretboard option. It is purpleheart wood that has been torrefied (baked / roasted) that gives it an even black appearance.

 

[mbenigni]

I can’t say I’m a fan of “pale moon” Ebony though. I’m not personally a fan of the Jaundice yellow color.

This thread is my first time hearing of it.

 

[ghostrider]

This thread is my first time hearing of it.

Here's an example...

 

[spawnofthesith]

Here's an example...

I love this

 

[Dave Lewis]

Doesn’t bother me in the slightest .
I like a bit of colourful natural wood grain..
If you don’t like it just stain it with a bit of Matts Wax.

 

[mbenigni]

Here's an example...

That's cool. But it is not ebony.

 

[metropolis_4]

My EBMM Majesty fretboard had been dyed to make it look uniform black.

That seems like the best way to go if you want ebony and it has to be uniform black

 

[la szum]

My EBMM Majesty fretboard had been dyed to make it look uniform black.

That seems like the best way to go if you want ebony and it has to be uniform black

You have a Majesty??

Man, a few of you been holding out on us.

Matching Headstock no doubt.


What gives??