Brazilian fretboard/bridge advantages: legitimate or just cool?

[Organic Sounds Select Guitars]

I ask because I've learned that a used guitar which I recently purchased, built in 2014, has a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and bridge. Does this create sonic, playability or durability improvements over Indian rosewood or ebony? Or is it chosen for its exclusivity or attractive looks? I assume it adds considerable cost, or is that incorrect? It definitely looks beautiful. (I'm not asking about braz rosewood for back and sides, only for the fingerboard and bridge). Thanks!

[dekutree64]

The difference between Indian and Brazilian rosewood is less than the difference between Indian rosewood and ebony, but is probably audible in the case of the bridge since that's right in the middle of the sound producing area. Probably not the fingerboard since it doesn't vibrate much anyway.

For steel strings, the higher damping of ebony can actually be a good thing, to filter out some of the excessive metallic sounding high frequencies of the non-wound strings. But you can't really get too much high frequency from nylon strings, so Brazilian is generally considered the best bridge wood for them.

Cost-wise, Brazilian does tend to command the highest upcharge. Probably not too much for the bridge since it's such a small piece, but good fingerboard blanks are more expensive and harder to come by.

[fishstick_kitty]

Just cool

[mercy]

I have Braz bridge blanks. The Braz when tapped on my tile counter go zing where the Indian bridges go plunk. It is well known that indian is high damping which means it absorbs energy. It seems to me the bridge is not a place to absorb energy but to transmit.
As to the fingerboard, it has been fairly well agreed on from this forum that the board doesnt effect acoustics much. Im sure it looks nice as it matches the bridge. For myself I prefer ebony fboards so that is what I order and I order a rosewood bridge. I believe this maximizes the play and sound potentials.

[tadol]

Having spoken with an excellent luthier about this, each component has a different characteristic that he's looking for - the fretboard is about hard and ability to hold frets, but if you are inlaying material, a solid and consistent color makes the fill easier. Bridge is largely about grain and density - you want the grain to run in such a way as the saddle slot and pressure from the saddle doesn't encourage any splits, and the same is true with the pins even though you shouldn't be driving pins in, if the humidity changes you don't want any shrinkage of the bridge to create a split either. After that, whats most important about the bridge is the density - its adding mass at the center of the soundboard, as well as being an external brace for the soundboard, so the size and weight of the bridge can be incredibly important. Depending on design, the weight of the bridge can have quite an effect on the sound of the guitar, so many times the material he chooses for the bridge is based to a fair degree on its weight - I've even seen him make a completely new bridge from different material for a guitar because after final shaping, it ended up lighter than he wanted. I don't claim to understand it all perfectly, but I am convinced he's right -

But for many, the choice of ebony or rosewood can be purely aesthetic -

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

I doubt anyone will hear a sonic difference, so just esthetic IMO.

[posternutbag]

I am going to say neither.

[mcduffnw]

Originally Posted by LWSog

I ask because I've learned that a used guitar which I recently purchased, built in 2014, has a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and bridge. Does this create sonic, playability or durability improvements over Indian rosewood or ebony? Or is it chosen for its exclusivity or attractive looks? I assume it adds considerable cost, or is that incorrect? It definitely looks beautiful. (I'm not asking about braz rosewood for back and sides, only for the fingerboard and bridge). Thanks!

Legitimately just cool...that's it...no huge sonic differences. Braz is on average a bit less dense than ebony so on classical guitars where the tops are very thin and soft, it is a good structural/tonal fit...they don't need all the weight and density...but...on a steel string...just great looking.

Now...if you are a player of the technical caliber of TE, or Bensusan, or our own Larry Pattis, or Don Alder...then you might be able to pull some tonal difference out...but even then...only slight. If you are just...as Bud Collins, the late great tennis writer aptly put it...a hacker...then nope...just cool

duff

[guitar george]

I think that using Brazilian rosewood on the fretboard and bridge has little to do with improving the sound of a guitar and is mostly used for looks and adding perceived value to the guitar. On the Janka hardness scale woods range from about 400 - 5000 lbf ratings. Indian ebony has a hardness of 2430, Indian rosewood 2440 and Brazilian rosewood 2790, so I doubt if the hardness of the wood would have anything but a minute bearing on the sound. Mainly used so that the consumer will pay more, I suspect.

[Organic Sounds Select Guitars]

Great answers, thank you to all.

I learned from the builder himself about the Brazilian fingerboard and bridge. The shop that sold me the guitar (on consignment) hadn't adverstised this, and I'm not sure that they even knew. So it makes me curious as to why, when commissioning a build, a person would choose this option given the assumed increase in cost. This particular guitar is adi over mahogany.

Whatever the reason for the choice, the guitar is spectacular, so I'm definitely not complaining. And the cost to me was in line with what I would expect from a good used example from this builder, without the braz.

[stringjunky]

Couldn't an expertly cut piece of appropriate Brazillian have a definite effect on the tone given its glass-like properties in some samples? It's in a free moving system, within limits, that may not damp that ringing property completely.

[Tone Gopher]

Originally Posted by LWSog

Great answers, thank you to all.

I learned from the builder himself about the Brazilian fingerboard and bridge. The shop that sold me the guitar (on consignment) hadn't adverstised this, and I'm not sure that they even knew. So it makes me curious as to why, when commissioning a build, a person would choose this option given the assumed increase in cost. This particular guitar is adi over mahogany.

Whatever the reason for the choice, the guitar is spectacular, so I'm definitely not complaining. And the cost to me was in line with what I would expect from a good used example from this builder, without the braz.

When I commissioned a build several years ago, I discussed my goals for the guitar. The builder choose to use BR for fingerboard and bridge to achieve the desired results. I recall he explicitly preferred BR for all bridges due to density.

[Organic Sounds Select Guitars]

Originally Posted by Tone Gopher

When I commissioned a build several years ago, I discussed my goals for the guitar. The builder choose to use BR for fingerboard and bridge to achieve the desired results. I recall he explicitly preferred BR for all bridges due to density.

Thanks Tone Gopher. So it sounds like at least this builder felt that Braz rosewood can influence tone. Based on the other comments, it sounds to me that a braz bridge might have a tonal influence, based on its density or hardness or weight, more so than the fingerboard. And people choose to pair the bridge and fingerboard material for continuity of looks, despite the increased cost of the fingerboard blank.

It's all interesting to me, as I've never commissioned a build. Thanks everyone for your input!

[Mickey_C]

I can tell you that on a classical guitar the Brazilian rosewood bridge is a noticeable difference. But keep in mind the strings do not go through the top on a classical, they are tied to the bridge, which is GLUED directly to the top.

On a steel string guitar, with the strings passing through the top of the guitar into a plate underneath the bridge, I can't see how it could make any difference other than price.

[Tony Burns]

i have two old Guilds - both have Brazilian rosewood bridges -
it does make a difference -