Ebony fretboards

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by s2y

Taylor and Gibson have the disadvantage of building on such a large scale. It's not hard to get pitch black gaboon ebony for custom builders since they're building on a microscopic scale compared to the big dogs.

As for Taylor, I'm a Taylor guy and can't complain about the striped ebony. It adds character and variation.

I also like the fact that Taylor uses ebony even on their lowest price offerings. Striped or not, I still prefer ebony over rosewood on fretboards.

[Dru Edwards]

OMO, the first time Taylor started using striped ebony on the 800 series I didn't exactly find it aesthetically pleasing. Same thing with their wood pickguards. But after seeing a few more guitars both of those options grew on me and it didn't take long before I really liked them.

Times are a changing.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

I'm rather surprised that the OP has written a rant against Taylor offering figured ebony and not a rant about Gibson selling him a richlite fretboard that he thought (or was somehow led to believe) was ebony.

I thought he just said he didn’t like stripped ebony. Why call that a rant?

[bmoney]

the striping is my FAVORITE part of my 812e 12 fret

[Gmountain]

Originally Posted by Twelvefret

To the OP, this is probably not going to sway your preferences, but after 30 years of being around this stuff and reading about the great builders including Stradivarius, I've found that what gets used is what's laying around.

That's great, and true.

[mercy]

I agree with the op. While I like the look of striped finger boards on guitars I find it distracting which slows me down. I am not playing at a pro level so I cant ignore the board. I have to look where I am as I do play all over the board. So I dont want one on my personal guitar. As I dont play a Taylor it is not an issue to me actually but its the concept the op presented.

[OMO]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

I'm rather surprised that the OP has written a rant against Taylor offering figured ebony and not a rant about Gibson selling him a richlite fretboard that he thought (or was somehow led to believe) was ebony.

I just don't like the striped ebony at high end prices. I also don't like the Richlite on a high end guitar either.

However, if you read the first post carefully, you would see that I understand why they are doing it and applauding it - for lower end priced guitars. But for high end high priced guitars I expect black ebony.

[OMO]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

I also like the fact that Taylor uses ebony even on their lowest price offerings. Striped or not, I still prefer ebony over rosewood on fretboards.

Yes, I totally agree.

It's the higher priced guitars I am having trouble stomaching striped ebony on.

[OMO]

Originally Posted by bmoney

the striping is my FAVORITE part of my 812e 12 fret

That's not too bad on the striping. It's almost not noticeable. It's when its off center and more pronounced that it is objectionable to me - or the price is above $3000 new.

[redir]

Believe it or not ebony is a poor choice for fretboard wood. It's expansion rate is large, it cracks easily and so on. It does hold frets very well though. It goes to show how difficult it is for guitar makers to break with tradition. People want what they want mostly based on looks. I understand that, I really do, it's just the way it is. I like real wood too and I love ebony. I've got the most beautiful Malagasy ebony fretboards you could ever see, pure black and very dense but it costs a lot too.

The dye by the way will last. It's actually ink and it sinks in good and is jet black. In fact if you are going to go the ink way then why not ink up rosewood and have a real nice stable fretboard that is still jet black? If you are going to use ink anyway then doesn't that sort of cheapen ebony in the end? I think that's why Taylor uses the ebony in it's natural state. After all nature is perfect right?

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by mercy

I agree with the op. While I like the look of striped finger boards on guitars I find it distracting which slows me down. I am not playing at a pro level so I cant ignore the board. I have to look where I am as I do play all over the board. So I dont want one on my personal guitar. As I dont play a Taylor it is not an issue to me actually but its the concept the op presented.

Try focusing on the frets and/or the side markers instead of the fretboard. When I use to teach tree skiing, I would tell my students to focus on the spaces between the trees, not the trees themselves. After all, the spaces are where you want to be going, unless you like dislocating a shoulder on a Ponderosa Pine...

Zen...

[TBman]

Again, I have a Martin with a richlite fretboard, which I didn't realize wasn't wood for a couple years. I played the guitar in GC and loved it. My wife bought it for me as an anniversary gift.

Would this sound any better with an ebony fretboard? I don't think so. Only woodshedding does that.



Then again, I hate ivoroid,

I can't hear the difference between ivoroid or wood binding either,

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by OMO

Yes, I totally agree.

It's the higher priced guitars I am having trouble stomaching striped ebony on.

Yep. We got that. And others millage does vary. I've striped ebony on several small builder guitars that are much more costly than most of your average Taylors, and I think that it looks fine. I also appreciate that Bob Taylor walks the talk.

You absolutely have the right to that opinion, just as everyone who has disagreed has the right to theirs. If you find a reason not to buy a guitar, then don't buy it. There are plenty of other fish.

TW

[The Bard Rocks]

I love figured wood. I used to love inlay (more than I do now) - until I learned that extensive inlay on a fingerboard confuses me. I have not had the same difficulty with the one guitar I have with a macassar ebony fingerboard. Most of the time when I watch myself, it's the side dots that are important and I now make sure they are prominent and seen easily, even in low light. What's on top is not noticed as long as it is not blatantly distracting.

I have a guitar with an Ipe fingerboard (harder than Ebony) and one with Bloodwood (not as hard) and loved both of them. But they were uniform in color. The choice to me is twofold: does the wood chosen serve the purpose well and how does it look with the rest of the guitar?

[mercy]

I do like the way ebony looks on a guitar. I choose ebony because it is smooth, smoother than rosewood which has ridges. I found years ago that a smoother board helps me to move faster so cleaner.