Diamondwood?

**Freddels** · #1 02-13-2010, 12:38 PM

What exactly is diamondwood? Why is it so good for fretless?

Educate me, please.

CliffD · #2 02-13-2010, 01:13 PM

I think it's a maple that's infused with resin, Gard?

Gard · #3 02-13-2010, 02:27 PM

Close, Cliff!

It is (usually) birch veneers, laminated together and impregnated via a vacuum process with an epoxy resin. It is VERY hard, very strong, and very stable.

Essentially it is a "poor man's graphite composite" material, with the birch in place of the graphite strands.

It works like (a very hard) wood, has a lot of the same tonal characteristics, but is stable like a composite. It makes an excellent fretless fingerboard because it is very hard, resists damage from roundwound strings, and sounds great - very aggressive and "mwah-y".

It can be any color you like, the standard we use has been dyed black, but you may have seen a few oddball colors like rainbow or blue; it is also possible to make with other woods, such as the Bird's Eye Maple version we have a small supply of.

Darkstrike · #4 02-13-2010, 02:40 PM

Yup, and its, much harder than other composites that are used in fretless basses, like ebanol, that I can attest to.

Now Gard, you're saying we can actually order diamondwood in any colour, I thought Roscoe only done the black, rainbow, and birdseye.....

Gard · #5 02-13-2010, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Yup, and its, much harder than other composites that are used in fretless basses, like ebanol, that I can attest to.

Now Gard, you're saying we can actually order diamondwood in any colour, I thought Roscoe only done the black, rainbow, and birdseye.....

Er...no, we can't stock EVERY COLOR!

Sorry...

Darkstrike · #6 02-13-2010, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gard

Er...no, we can't stock EVERY COLOR!

Sorry...

Ah, you have to order it in fairly large quantitys?

I just assumed, when you mentioned oddball colours, you could get it by the board, my denseness kicking in again, lol!

**Freddels** · #7 02-13-2010, 03:22 PM

Rainbow? Colors? Interesting. Tonally like ebony?

Any pics of these oddball colors?

LilRay · #8 02-13-2010, 03:34 PM

They make pen blanks out of the more unusual colors. Not something I'd want personally on a fingerboard (very wild). But I'm more of a classy/understated guy when it comes to my bass choices.

God Bless , Ray

JOME77 · #9 02-13-2010, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freddels

Tonally like ebony?

I've got a fretless with an ebony board and one with diamondwood. IMO the main difference in the tone is that the diamondwood fb has more consistent growl and mwah the entire length of the finger board. The ebony sounds best between the 5th and 15th fret. I also found that to be true on my former jazz fretless with an ebony fb.

In the voice of Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) "I don't want ebony FOB Darn it, I'm a Diamondwood Man!"

Here's a couple cool diamondwood rainbow pic's:

René_Julien · #10 02-18-2010, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freddels

Rainbow? Colors? Interesting. Tonally like ebony?

Any pics of these oddball colors?

Well, IMO and IME it's not close to ebony.

To me the ebony (on my Tony Franklin) feels and sounds a bit different when using more technical left-hand techniques with my left hand. (

)
More warmer.

The diamondwood on my Roscoe reacts differently, more precise and articulate to my experience.

I am talking about two completely different basses though.

Diamondwood is very awesome.
That is the key selling point for another Roscoe.
(maybe this summer)

btw, Gard has a new avatar?
How long was I away from TalkBass?

Darkstrike · #11 02-18-2010, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by René_Julien

How long was I away from TalkBass?

Far too long...

René_Julien · #12 02-18-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Far too long...

And you put your location down in profile?

Man, it has been a while. What else did I miss?

**Freddels** · #13 02-18-2010, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by René_Julien

Well, IMO and IME it's not close to ebony.

To me the ebony (on my Tony Franklin) feels and sounds a bit different when using more technical left-hand techniques with my left hand. (

)
More warmer.

The diamondwood on my Roscoe reacts differently, more precise and articulate to my experience.

I am talking about two completely different basses though.

Diamondwood is very awesome.
That is the key selling point for another Roscoe.
(maybe this summer)

btw, Gard has a new avatar?
How long was I away from TalkBass?

So Diamondwood would sound more like a Pedulla with the coated fingerboard?

René_Julien · #14 02-18-2010, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freddels

So Diamondwood would sound more like a Pedulla with the coated fingerboard?

I wouldn't know.

FWIW, to me this is the nicest fingerboard I ever played.
If it were up to me all fretlesses would be Diamondwood.

(I haven't tried Pau Ferro fingerboards, but some people told me Diamondwood is better.)

Ebony is nice too, don't get me wrong.

But the way Diamondwood feels can't be beaten, for me personally.

I play fretless exclusively so mostly my fretless is doing the job you normally have a fretted for. Diamondwood is totally up for that job.

My next bass will be a Century Standard, mostly because of the fingerboard. (And because of the reviews and raves about the Century Standard line.)

RocketMusic · #15 02-18-2010, 12:18 PM

Fred - this clip ("I Just Want To Make Love To You") captures pretty well the wide open, aggresive fretless tone you can get with diamondwood. The "vocal" line that starts at 0:10 shows off the aggresive, midrangey tone nicely.

I tamed the tone a bit for the actual bass line to get more thump, but I let it rip on the vocal line. It's an awesome tone if maximum mwah is your thing.

**Freddels** · #16 02-18-2010, 12:25 PM

Greg, I've listened to that clip and there's also the CB pickups that play into the tone of this bass.

RocketMusic · #17 02-18-2010, 12:30 PM

Oh, sure, and the Ash body, maple neck, etc. But here in person, you can hear the difference even when the bass is unplugged (say I compare it to my personal ebony-board fretless). The diamondwood is much more lively.

VroomVroom · #18 02-18-2010, 12:34 PM

IME/IMO, diamondwood definitely emphasizes the 'mwah' sound, and accordingly also offers very pronounced mids/upper mids. I hate to overuse the "piano" term in describing ebony, but it does seem to apply. Everything is a bit more crisp with ebony...very pronounced on the attack throughout the frequency range, which sonically emphasizes the lows and highs more than the mids. Again, just my take, so be sure to trust your ears....

....and factor in the other important elements. For the sound of an electric fretless, my preferences lean toward Jaco, Pino, Gary Willis, Richard Bona, etc...as a few examples. In other words...I want fat lows and crisp highs, but it's really all about the mids. Definitely one of the reasons I love my bass so much - the mids are aggressive, but not at the expense of the rest of the bandwidth. No doubt the tightly grained ash body and the Aguilar pre contribute toward this, in concert with the diamondwood board.

svoncampe · #19 03-31-2010, 08:02 PM

What about diamondwood as the nut? What makes it better than the Graph-Tech Graphite nut?

**Bipslapper** · #20 03-31-2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

Fred - this clip ("I Just Want To Make Love To You") captures pretty well the wide open, aggresive fretless tone you can get with diamondwood. The "vocal" line that starts at 0:10 shows off the aggresive, midrangey tone nicely

Just stumbled upon this thread.
Wow, Gard (the apparent closet Cowboys Fan) was right: the Century Standards are (wicked pissah) for fretless. Crap ! Where do I find the $$$ after a long winter & recent used Roscoe 6er buy for the new Diamond Wood Roscoe 5 Fretless purchase?

No stimulus bailout for me

Man Greg, cool playing, great sound & thanks for the Smith strap- me likey!