The ebony fretboard guitar picture thread...
- Thread starter Don O
- Start date
OP
Jeez, how long does it take to grab a guitar and take a pic.
Well considering that you posted that 1/2 hour past my bed time, I would say too long. However I do have some nice pics of when the board was being made, but they are at home and I am at work right now. I can post them up later if you like.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
My lovely little Martin XC1T has an ebony fretboard and an ebony bridge.
She's made of striped ebony, in keeping with the Wisdom According to Bob Taylor...
If you haven't seen the video "Bob Taylor on Ebony" then it belongs in this thread.
Here it is:
Any discussion of Ebony guitar parts needs to include this video and all the ideas
there. Bob Taylor tells it like it is IMHO, and he's in a position to know, and to do something
about the state of the forest.
That said, let me show you my lovely striped ebony guitar fretboard. As soon as I heard about
this guitar, my first thought was, "I'll support that." So I bought one, and she rewards me with
excellent tone and playability.
looks nice and dark from this angle, but look a bit closer...
and even closer yet...
The bridge looks like this:
And that my friends, is the state of the forest. This striped ebony works perfectly well, it's just not black
like some piano keys. I don't care a bit, because I also feel that cutting down ten trees in order to harvest
one that's "black enough" is bull
.
Also, we have Minwax "Ebony Stain" which works quite well and makes some wood very black.
But me, I'm proud of the guitar I bought, which was made at the Martin factory in Nazareth in 2006.
Taylor made his video in like 2012, so the guys at Martin knew all this already and had perhaps made
up their minds to use striped ebony as well.
So as we say sometimes: there it is.
She's made of striped ebony, in keeping with the Wisdom According to Bob Taylor...
If you haven't seen the video "Bob Taylor on Ebony" then it belongs in this thread.
Here it is:
Any discussion of Ebony guitar parts needs to include this video and all the ideas
there. Bob Taylor tells it like it is IMHO, and he's in a position to know, and to do something
about the state of the forest.
That said, let me show you my lovely striped ebony guitar fretboard. As soon as I heard about
this guitar, my first thought was, "I'll support that." So I bought one, and she rewards me with
excellent tone and playability.
looks nice and dark from this angle, but look a bit closer...
and even closer yet...
The bridge looks like this:
And that my friends, is the state of the forest. This striped ebony works perfectly well, it's just not black
like some piano keys. I don't care a bit, because I also feel that cutting down ten trees in order to harvest
one that's "black enough" is bull
.Also, we have Minwax "Ebony Stain" which works quite well and makes some wood very black.
But me, I'm proud of the guitar I bought, which was made at the Martin factory in Nazareth in 2006.
Taylor made his video in like 2012, so the guys at Martin knew all this already and had perhaps made
up their minds to use striped ebony as well.
So as we say sometimes: there it is.
ChasFred
Ambassador of Smooth Operations
My lovely little Martin XC1T has an ebony fretboard and an ebony bridge.
She's made of striped ebony, in keeping with the Wisdom According to Bob Taylor...
If you haven't seen the video "Bob Taylor on Ebony" then it belongs in this thread.
Here it is:
Any discussion of Ebony guitar parts needs to include this video and all the ideas
there. Bob Taylor tells it like it is IMHO, and he's in a position to know, and to do something
about the state of the forest.
That said, let me show you my lovely striped ebony guitar fretboard. As soon as I heard about
this guitar, my first thought was, "I'll support that." So I bought one, and she rewards me with
excellent tone and playability.
View attachment 13184
looks nice and dark from this angle, but look a bit closer...
View attachment 13185
and even closer yet...
View attachment 13186
The bridge looks like this:
View attachment 13187
And that my friends, is the state of the forest. This striped ebony works perfectly well, it's just not black
like some piano keys. I don't care a bit, because I also feel that cutting down ten trees in order to harvest
one that's "black enough" is bull
Also, we have Minwax "Ebony Stain" which works quite well and makes some wood very black.
But me, I'm proud of the guitar I bought, which was made at the Martin factory in Nazareth in 2006.
Taylor made his video in like 2012, so the guys at Martin knew all this already and had perhaps made
up their minds to use striped ebony as well.
So as we say sometimes: there it is.
Excellent video. I like the ebony with the streaking in it. That is what I call character.
I’ve read articles by Taylor on Ebony and the dwindling resources. Taylor is doing its part to preserve this natural resource as best they can. Previously there was so much waste due to manufactures only using that part of the tree that was “perfect.” Throw the rest in the fireplace. Along comes Taylor and they’re using as much of the tree as humanly possible. Therefore, “imperfect” looking Ebony on our guitars. Same wood. Same feel. Same sound. Just not completely black.... which for the few that may be uninformed. Many of the manufactures were dying the wood to get that completely black color anyway. And yes. As Chas says.... adds character.
For years with my Ovation. I cleaned the fretboard as I did the entire guitar when I changed strings. Idiot me didn’t know that Ebony need oiled. I had never done that. Using the fret board oil that come with that Dunlop guitar care kit, oiled the board for the first time. Holy smoke did that bring life to the looks. Almost like clear coating a paint job on a car. Pretty sure I head it say thank you.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
hah! mine looks like I need to oil it again. But it looks lighter and stripier in
that sunbeam, which is why I set it there for the picture. I'll treat it with some
fret doctor next string change.
I'm not convinced that an Ebony fretboard has much to do with tone. It sure is elegant.
Acoustic guitars might benefit more from it than electrics, because wood is like, not magnetic.
But I'm always interested in the opinions of my colleagues in these rooms.
The acoustic guitar that I posted above has excellent tone, but so do my other acoustics that are
made of different woods. Each one is individual, and I can't assign their tone to the fretboard
when there are so many other variables.
Is the whole subject of "tone wood" a can of worms here like it seems to be on
some other fora... ???
If so, I don't mean to derail the ebony discussion. But here's my new Gibson J-45 AG
with its walnut back & sides, walnut bridge, and walnut fretboard. Who wants to guess
what effect the walnut has on the guitar's tone?
that sunbeam, which is why I set it there for the picture. I'll treat it with some
fret doctor next string change.
I'm not convinced that an Ebony fretboard has much to do with tone. It sure is elegant.
Acoustic guitars might benefit more from it than electrics, because wood is like, not magnetic.
But I'm always interested in the opinions of my colleagues in these rooms.
The acoustic guitar that I posted above has excellent tone, but so do my other acoustics that are
made of different woods. Each one is individual, and I can't assign their tone to the fretboard
when there are so many other variables.
Is the whole subject of "tone wood" a can of worms here like it seems to be on
some other fora... ???
If so, I don't mean to derail the ebony discussion. But here's my new Gibson J-45 AG
with its walnut back & sides, walnut bridge, and walnut fretboard. Who wants to guess
what effect the walnut has on the guitar's tone?
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
And in the meantime, I want to know ALL about that spalted maple SG... talk about tone wood!
I want to know how the Ebony fretboard affects the tone of an electric guitar...
AND I want to know how a spalted maple body affects the tone of an electric guitar...
AND I want to know what affect those F-holes have on the tone of an electric guitar...
AND I want to know whether the spalted maple is just a Les Paul type top, on a mahogany body
or whether the maple body is solid right through, or whether the F-hole body has internal bracing like
an acoustic guitar, or if it's got a solid center like the Epiphone beside it.
That spalted maple baby is like my dream guitar in three dimensional form. I designed one like it when we
were first experimenting with the "Design yer own guitar" website some years back. And here it is, in
reality. Amazo... I love it. I want to know all about it. This design is from at least five years ago, maybe more.
How much does it weigh? ... do tell... unless you are way ahead of me and have a whole thread on this
instrument. If so, just give me the link and I'll go bury my soul in it.
I'm very jealous that you actually own this, of course. *grins
I want to know how much it cost to build it.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
it's ALIVE... it's ALIVE!
silly me, I didn't know that. I want to know more.
silly me, I didn't know that. I want to know more.
ChasFred
Ambassador of Smooth Operations
Yeah. Not convinced how much wood changes the tone on an electric. Even on an acoustic there's so much that plays into the tone. Size and shape. Bracing inside the body. For sure the wood.
Wav Answer ---> Well, the SD P-Rails were $300 + the Piezo was $300 + the concentric pots, bridge, tuners etc probably under $1000 in parts. I traded my labor to build a web site for this person in trade for furnishing the wood and building the guitar. He provided me with the body ready to finish and put the parts together.
I want to know how the Ebony fretboard affects the tone of an electric guitar...
Wav Answer ---> I don't think it affects the tone, but it sure looks pretty.
AND I want to know how a spalted maple body affects the tone of an electric guitar...
Wav Answer ---> I don't think it affects the tone, but it sure looks pretty.
AND I want to know what affect those F-holes have on the tone of an electric guitar...
Wav Answer ---> I don't think it affects the tone, but it sure looks pretty.
AND I want to know whether the spalted maple is just a Les Paul type top, on a mahogany body
Wav Answer ---> This is a through neck mahogany/flammed maple with a book matched carved spalted maple cap similar to a LP carved top. Below is the neck from this project.
The inside was hollowed out to lighten the load. The picture below was the first mockup and we ended up going with the version above for the 5 piece neck.
The book matched East Coast spalted maple caps were cut to SG specs as far as shape, however the top is carved like a Les Paul. The pickups are Seymour Duncan P-Rails mounted in TS-1 Triple Shot Mounting Rings. There is also a Lashbrook piezo bridge.
