strange color of rosewood on Fender Custom Shop? - Page 5

mandohack · #81 11-03-2012, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groovy_Gravy

wow they put THAT on a custom shop? id send that thing right back. its hideous, what were they thinking?

that could look nice if it was more uniform and not just running off the edge of the board...horrible decision IMO

+1

wfmandmusic · #82 11-03-2012, 09:25 AM

So this is interesting. I found the same bass listed for sale at Station in Europe.
http://www.station-music.de/bass/pop...Fender%20Bass*

The dealers must trade guitars when a request is put in?

Fuzz Aldrin · #83 11-03-2012, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef

I really like it, but, it's certainly "not the expected norm," and being asked would have been good.
That's going to be a "polarizing" piece of wood, and not everyone will like it.

I think Chef summed it up nicely. I'm also in the 'really like it' camp. You have a beautiful and unique piece of wood on that bass!

ChuckTrucks · #84 11-03-2012, 01:16 PM

LMAO what is Fender thinking.

"Check out Roscoe"

Yeah that guy makes works of art and knows how to implement sapwood properly.

That just looks bad. What is the average consumer supposed to think.

Oracle · #85 11-03-2012, 01:29 PM

I really like sapwood on a fretboard, but that from Fender is pretty lame IMHO...here is a again IMO a good example of sapwood...Wyn has amazing sapwood fretboards too:

and following are just amazing:

Bass Viking · #86 11-03-2012, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

I dig it. Check out the purple heartwood sapwood fingerboard on my Roscoe. Quite intentional, and one of the reasons I bought the bass.

That's a proper sapwood board. The Fender one looks like they're being stingy with the sapwood!

pacojas · #87 11-03-2012, 03:44 PM

half of you are missing the point!

that bass is pretty damn unique looking and that makes it awesome. the only question i have is where is the rest of that board?

Fender,... i applaud you!

(btw, i've seen boutiques with the same narrow sapwood on the edge)

Beej · #88 11-03-2012, 04:02 PM

Maybe it's just because I have giant monitors here, but has anyone noticed that none of those custom shop basses with the sapwood on the treble side of the fretboard are identical? The sapwood is a little different on each one. Starts further up or down the fretboard, extends beyond the G or not quite, honey colour or a little darker, etc. I would hazard a guess that this is intentional and is a design feature on all 15 of them, albeit a little different on each one...

jlepre · #89 11-03-2012, 04:24 PM

I don't like it, and would send it back.

wfmandmusic · #90 11-08-2012, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beej

Maybe it's just because I have giant monitors here, but has anyone noticed that none of those custom shop basses with the sapwood on the treble side of the fretboard are identical? The sapwood is a little different on each one. Starts further up or down the fretboard, extends beyond the G or not quite, honey colour or a little darker, etc. I would hazard a guess that this is intentional and is a design feature on all 15 of them, albeit a little different on each one...

I agree. Anyhow I sent it back to Musicians Friend. Not because of the sapwood though. It just was not meant for me. Contact Chriss if you want to buy it.

antontanzil · #91 11-08-2012, 08:27 PM

I have a pile of Rosewood lumber with sapwoods, they look great I agree, but I rarely use them for necks or fingerboards since the sap part of the wood is softer compared to the dark 'solid' part. Even the dark parts next to the sap is softer compared to the all dark cuts.

I tried to use them as fretboards and necks, but the result is they're less stable and IME if used for fretboards the sap part can 'sank' because of the pressure of the strings pressing the frets, hence the frets pressing the board.

Roscoe uses Sapwood Purplehearts, which is a harder/dense wood compared to rosewoods, so the sap part is not as soft as the sap part of a rosewood.

Again, this is IME and IMO, I work in a guitar factory. I hope the Fender guys tested the hardness of the overall board, not just put 'whatever' wood they have at the time, that is bad production method. But if I were to build a High-End series of a brand, which I do sometimes, I wouldn't use rosewood with saps for fretboard or necks, for tops, they're fine.

glorth2 · #92 11-08-2012, 08:50 PM

I think that's gorgeous.

**ebannist** · #93 11-08-2012, 09:02 PM

I think it looks great! I believe all instruments should have character. See my CS Reggie Hamilton IV fret board.

pacojas · #94 11-08-2012, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebannist

I think it looks great! I believe all instruments should have character. See my CS Reggie Hamilton IV fret board.

wÖw!!!

that is fantastic, IMO!

Brad Johnson · #95 11-08-2012, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wfmandmusic

Let me clear a few things up. The bass is brand new. It is not a one off, it's a 15 off. It is a limited edition run of a 1960 Precision in a closet classic finish. They made 15 of them in 2011. Pictures I saw of the instrument before purchasing were stock Fender photos. The fretboard just took me by surprise as in "wow, I didn't expect that!". I have never seen this much of a variation in wood grain on a Fender. This wood was hand selected so yes, someone at the shop thought it would look pretty cool. It was just a little shocking to me like you had a really weird looking baby or something like that. I had really psyched myself to get this bass, so I was just a little taken back. Now I'm one of the most natural kind of guy you would ever meet, so it doesn't bother me that it happened, but I still don't know if I like it or not. And yes if it was on the board anywhere else but the edge, most likely I would have instantly loved it. But it's wood created by nature and it's wood that is disappearing. I believe it is Madagascar Rosewood. I was wondering what other people would say and I think Chef was correct in saying it's polarizing!

That kind of fingerboard, like it or not, is not something you "spring" on a buyer. Receiving a new bass is kind of like Xmas for a lot of folks... you can't assume someone will open the case and love it any more than you can assume they'd hate it... it's a pretty dumb gamble IMO and easily avoided by giving the buyer a heads up prior to shipment.

If you could deal with it, it does make for what I'd consider a pretty rare Fender... not necessarily a bad thing.

BYW the best figuring I've seen on a Fender bass was on a recent $300 Squier... I was amazed they put a Rosewood board that sweet on a bass in that price range.

Munjibunga · #96 11-09-2012, 12:54 AM

Remember this 'board from the LeCompte build? I can live with it.

lowphatbass · #97 11-09-2012, 02:55 AM

As long as we're talking about Squiers, here's an 'IC' Squier neck. The bass was less than $150 so I can deal with it. I understand that it's a faster growing, less expensive(more abundant)species of hardwood that's in the Rosewood family.

And there's even a couple creepy figures...here's one of them....

xroads · #98 11-09-2012, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antontanzil

I have a pile of Rosewood lumber with sapwoods, they look great I agree, but I rarely use them for necks or fingerboards since the sap part of the wood is softer compared to the dark 'solid' part. Even the dark parts next to the sap is softer compared to the all dark cuts.

I tried to use them as fretboards and necks, but the result is they're less stable and IME if used for fretboards the sap part can 'sank' because of the pressure of the strings pressing the frets, hence the frets pressing the board.

Roscoe uses Sapwood Purplehearts, which is a harder/dense wood compared to rosewoods, so the sap part is not as soft as the sap part of a rosewood.

Again, this is IME and IMO, I work in a guitar factory. I hope the Fender guys tested the hardness of the overall board, not just put 'whatever' wood they have at the time, that is bad production method. But if I were to build a High-End series of a brand, which I do sometimes, I wouldn't use rosewood with saps for fretboard or necks, for tops, they're fine.

Finally someone who comments based on technical/functional, and not on cosmetic grounds.

I would send it back as well, for a Fender custom shop instrument, this is not acceptable, as it is a fingerboard of inferior quality.

**WoodyG3** · #99 11-09-2012, 07:57 AM

Some random thoughts: Aesthetically, I think the streak looks weird on the edge like that. I'd rather it ran down the middle or something. I've never worked with rosewood, but I would wonder about the difference in hardness between the dark and light grain. In some woods I have worked with, pieces like this are more likely to twist or bend. No telling how long this wood has been allowed to sit and dry, and that's another part of the equation.

mp40smg · #**100** 11-09-2012, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wfmandmusic

I agree. Anyhow I sent it back to Musicians Friend. Not because of the sapwood though. It just was not meant for me. Contact Chriss if you want to buy it.

I would have done the same thing.

I really like the idea, but IMO there was not enough of it to make it look like anything else than a mistake. looking at some of the other implementations, that was pretty anemic.

In this case I would say that "Closet Classic" looked more like "factory second". There is no way Fender would have ever let something looking like that leave the factory in the 60s. if that was what they were going for, I'd say they failed.