Fingerboard question for the Carbonistas

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

I don't understand fretboard markers at all. It's not like I can see them when holding a guitar. I suppose they are nice for the guitar players in the audience.

Side markers, I used those. But I certainly can't see the actual fretboard while playing. So my preference is either highly decorative or plain. A single fancy marker at the 12th fret can look very classy.

That is why I added side dots to my Outdoor guitar/guitalele with a silver permanent marker. I am not very familiar with a 20" scale so I need all the help I can get.

I never realized that I also use the side view of the frets to find a position. The frets on this instrument however are fused with the fretboard and completely black.

[K20C]

Tortured debates is synonymous with AGF. As with most forums of any subject, I think. For, 20+ years, I’ve been active in knife forums, watch forums, guitar forums…there’s a fundamental sameness to all of them. But, hey, it’s 2:20 am, I’m sleep deprived (new puppy), what do I know.

I do know this, I can’t tell the difference in my playing between a wood fretboard and a cf one.

[HeavyDuty]

Originally Posted by Jack the Pearl

This thread reminds me of a Discussion Page with which some of you may be familiar. It was mainly about electric guitars, with an original accent on the products of a certain American manufacturer. Privately originated, and only marginally "supported" by the actual manufacturer, the site eventually went under because of a general lack of interest. Or was it lack of heavily encouraged but mostly avoided voluntary contributions? No matter, the guy who owned the site was highly opinionated and put users off.

He had some users that actually worked for the manufacturer. Whenever a debate began to rage about obscure topics, such as whether ebony feels different than rosewood, etc., there was one employee who would post and refer to the debaters as "wood chucks." Well, we got wood chucks here too, Mr. electric guitar manufacturer. They're the same everywhere.

As Frank Zappa once opined: "Shut up and play yer guitar."

(Psssst. We’re still a thing under different, rational leadership.)

[LFL Steve]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Somewhere out there, there’s someone who is quite convinced that they can hear the streaks - and feel them, too.

Ha -- Great post! Actually I was expecting more of this type of thing than we got. For the most part there's been very little debate here on this topic, at least here among the Carbonarians. General consensus is that fingerboard material can't be felt, or if it can be felt the difference doesn't matter, and nobody has sincerely claimed that it makes any difference in tone. I do seem to have unintentionally stumbled into rekindling some kind of emotional trauma related to another forum. And most but not all people think fretboard inlays are entirely decorative but side dots are very useful.

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by LFL Steve

Ha -- Great post! Actually I was expecting more of this type of thing than we got. For the most part there's been very little debate here on this topic, at least here among the Carbonarians. General consensus is that fingerboard material can't be felt, or if it can be felt the difference doesn't matter, and nobody has sincerely claimed that it makes any difference in tone. I do seem to have unintentionally stumbled into rekindling some kind of emotional trauma related to another forum. And most but not all people think fretboard inlays are entirely decorative but side dots are very useful.

Fingerboard questions aside, I would like to know: are we Carbonistas or Carbonarians?? I guess I've always thought of myself as a Carbo-lama-dingdong.

[K20C]

On some guitars, side dots are a must. And, I can’t tell a difference in feel between inlaid frets and the non-inlaid frets.

[LFL Steve]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Fingerboard questions aside, I would like to know: are we Carbonistas or Carbonarians?? I guess I've always thought of myself as a Carbo-lama-dingdong.

Oooh, yes, this is a good question!

. . . Hmmmmm . . .

OK, let's try this:
Carbonarians belong to a place; Carbonistas belong to a mindset.

Buy that? I think I'm going with it.



Steve B.

[Steve Christens]

For me it just wouldn't make sense to build a guitar out of weather resistant carbon fiber, and then mount a wooden fretboard that could shrink with time and result in fret sprout.

I also have a hard time believing anyone who claims they can feel or hear a difference between ebony and Richlite!

Oh, and I like the term "Carbonistas" better.

[DDW]

I can definitely feel the difference in fretboards. Only on a nylon string, not a steel string. If there is some texture to the fretboard, the nylon strings don't slide across it as easily making for more stable play on difficult fingering. I'm talking here about traditional classical style fingering.