Lighter wood grain finish Fingerboard

babaseen · #1 08-23-2008, 09:47 AM

I have a Kay C-1 that has a fingerboard with a light wood finish sort of a light brown to tan color, when it wears it gets darker. Does anyone know what wood this is? I assume it is all original.

drurb · #2 08-23-2008, 10:08 AM

Rosewood-- typical on Kays through many years.

Jake deVilliers · #3 08-23-2008, 10:58 AM

They came with Maple boards and Walnut too, BABASAN.

Post a photo if you want to know for sure.

babaseen · #4 08-23-2008, 03:31 PM

I will get a better photo if that will help.

Jake deVilliers · #5 08-23-2008, 04:00 PM

The nut looks like Rosewood, the fingerboard almost looks like Beech. Can you post a photo of the board from closer up?

laurenmerritt · #6 08-24-2008, 11:54 AM

Yeah, that fingerboard is something other than rosewood. Hard to make a good guess from photos alone, but I agree that a tighter shot of the board would help.

moles · #7 08-24-2008, 03:05 PM

Is it me, or does it look a bit like the Jotoba that Engelhardt is using now?

Jake deVilliers · #8 08-24-2008, 03:59 PM

That little area of cross-linking under the F on the E string looks a lot like Beech to me but I'd like a bigger photo really....

babaseen · #9 08-24-2008, 05:00 PM

Thanks for help, if these are still not good since I'm limited to 640x640 here I can PM larger versions.

Jake deVilliers · #10 08-24-2008, 07:48 PM

BABA, not longer, closer!

babaseen · #11 08-24-2008, 08:40 PM

OK how about this?

Gearhead43 · #12 08-24-2008, 09:53 PM

Odds are it's rock maple, like what came on most C1s. Not a wood grain expert I just see the flecking (there's a name for it I can't remember) there.

Looks nice. Maybe has a light stain over it?

Jake deVilliers · #13 08-24-2008, 11:02 PM

Yup, sure looks like maple there Baba.

And Gearhead, of the 3 C1 fingerboards presently in the house, 2 are Walnut.

Both are early Kays ie '40s.

Rebop · #14 08-25-2008, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearhead43

Odds are it's rock maple, like what came on most C1s. Not a wood grain expert I just see the flecking (there's a name for it I can't remember) there.

Looks nice. Maybe has a light stain over it?

Speckled maple?

Gearhead43 · #15 08-25-2008, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Yup, sure looks like maple there Baba.

And Gearhead, of the 3 C1 fingerboards presently in the house, 2 are Walnut.

Both are early Kays ie '40s.

No kidding? I didn't realise walnut boards were that common. Where does walnut fall on the hardness scale there? How does it feel to play on one of those, and were they also usually "ebonised"? I honestly would rather have bare wood, even if it's just maple.

I like non-ebony fingerboards, there I said it.

I play American roots music mostly and slap alot.

In my humble opinion the "softer" woods like rosewoods and even hard maple like the board on my EC1 all have unique and different percussive tones and timbres (slapped and pizzed too) that are warmer & less aggressive sounding than ebony. I play gut strings, so I am not quite so worried about fingerboard wear. Nothing wrong with a good ebony board of course, and I certainly wouldn't turn down a nice bass with one, but I just like the feel and sound of rosewood especially. Call me crazy.

The gorgeous old growth Brazilian boards on alot of the old Kays really sound and feel good. Wish they weren't so pricey when you can find one.

My maple board will be coming off and a new Jatoba board going on, when the time comes. I really like the look of that wood and it seems to be a good, very hard, & cheap alternative for rosewood. We'll see.

Jake deVilliers · #16 08-25-2008, 09:14 AM

"Speckled maple?"

Definitely! Have a look at your bridge - if its any good at all it will show the cross-linking structure where its fully quartered.

Geardude, I like non-ebony boards too, for the same reasons I like Brazilian bridges on guitars. Ebony seems to filter out the higher overtones from the sound, where Brazilian encourages them, giving a width to the sound spectrum that I really like.
I think it may be especially helpful for plywood basses because they seem to be generally more thumpy.

Walnut seems to be in the same tonal family as the Rosewoods,with a quickness of sound and a mid-range warmth that are very pleasing to my ear. I like the sound and so does Don Higdon!

I have a customer with Pfretschner (can I buy a vowel?) with a Beech board and it sounds great and a customer with a Framus with a Cherry board that sounds okay too - I don't think its the Cherry holding it back....

Are you sure about the Jatoba? Ihaven't heard a piece I like the sound of yet.

Gearhead43 · #17 08-25-2008, 01:28 PM

:No not sure, they are just readily available online (engelhardt made) and inexpensive. I have played an EM1B with the Jatoba and thought it sounded OK, (pizzed with cheap steels)but they don't usually want you slapping their basses in music stores!

I do like the look of the Jatoba and the red color it becomes over time. The maple board I have now is still in excellent shape, so I should have plenty of time to decide. I'd even like to find an Indian rosewood board, I bought an Indian tailpiece for my bass and it's beautiful.

If I get lucky, I may find a take-off Indian rosewood board from where someone with an older Engel EM1 has "upgraded" to ebony, or in the ultimate dream situation - an old Kay rosewood board that won't cost me a leg (cuz I'm not giving up an arm

). It would most likely be cost-prohibitive to buy a billet (board, whatever) of the wood of choice due to the many extra hours of labor I'd be paying for to have it made into a fingerboard and then installed on my bass - if I could get any luthier to even do it for me. This is why I was thinking about getting the pre-made to fit Engel board.

Thanks for the info, Jake.