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Am I nitpicking?

cv115505

cv115505

Supporting Member
Commercial User
Sep 14, 2012
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1,198
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Pittsburgh
www.bandmix.com
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Reverend Guitars ; SIT Strings ; Trickfish Amplifiers ; LK Straps ; Rattlesnake Cables
#1
So I recently purchased a Gould Beeswing 4. It is the nicest bass I have ever owned. Sounds great, looks incredible, and if it weighed any less it'd float. All is not well though. It has an ebony fingerboard that has several cracks. Some of these cracks run under frets. I have contacted Geoff Gould, and he seems pretty receptive to fixing the issue though he is under the weather as of late which makes him spotty about answering emails. I purchased it from The Bass Place. I have not contacted them yet as I simply emailed Geoff when I noticed the issue. My question is will these cracks become an issue down the road, or am I just being overly detail-oriented. For the record, I have no complaints about Geoff or The Bass Place. Wood is unpredictable (ebony especially) and things happen. The cracks are big enough to catch my fingernail on if i slide it over them which has me concerned. That, and I did pay almost $3K for an instrument (the most I have ever paid for a single piece) so I am sort of on-edge about it.
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#2
Ebony does that this time of year. Don't be surprised to find tiny flakes of it on your hand. I think one of the guys on the Alembic site named jazzyvee recommends using real lemon oil(not lemon oil treatment).

Anyway, don't worry just oil her up. Nothing out of the ordinary with that beauty.
 
#11
OldDirtyBassist said:
Ebony does that this time of year. Don't be surprised to find tiny flakes of it on your hand. I think one of the guys on the Alembic site named jazzyvee recommends using real lemon oil(not lemon oil treatment).

Anyway, don't worry just oil her up. Nothing out of the ordinary with that beauty.
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I have an ovation viper bass with a super black ebony board, owned it since 1995 and the board has never shown signs of splitting or cracking. And I live in Chicago. Listed at 2.8K, I would send it back.
 
#12
Little cracks like that are a fairly common thing with ebony. It's the nature of the wood that it takes a long, long time to dry out and as it drys, it will shrink and develop little cracks.

They aren't a real problem, but you should do something to seal them up. If moisture gets down in the cracks, either from humid air or finger grease, it can cause the wood to swell and crack more.

Lemon Oil is okay, but I personally prefer Stew-Mac's Fingerboard Oil. It's not really an oil, it's a thin polyurethane varnish, which it soaks into the grain of the wood and then hardens. Wipe it on, wait 15 minutes, wipe off the excess. Overnight it fully hardens. No need to keep re-applying it, unless you see some fresh cracks. I use ebony fingerboards on all the basses I build, and I coat them all with the Stew-Mac oil.

But get something on there to seal it up.
 
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#13
Bruce Johnson said:
Little cracks like that are a fairly common thing with ebony. It's the nature of the wood that it takes a long, long time to dry out and as it drys, it will shrink and develop little cracks.

They aren't a real problem, but you should do something to seal them up. If moisture gets down in the cracks, either from humid air or finger grease, it can cause the wood to swell and crack more.

Lemon Oil is okay, but I personally prefer Stew-Mac's Fingerboard Oil. It's not really an oil, it's a thin polyurethane varnish, which it soaks into the grain of the wood and then hardens. Wipe it on, wait 15 minutes, wipe off the excess. Overnight it fully hardens. No need to keep re-applying it, unless you see some fresh cracks. I use ebony fingerboards on all the basses I build, and I coat them all with the Stew-Mac oil.

But get something on there to seal it up.
Click to expand...

Invalid Link Removed which one is it?
 
#14
Bruce Johnson said:
Little cracks like that are a fairly common thing with ebony. It's the nature of the wood that it takes a long, long time to dry out and as it drys, it will shrink and develop little cracks.

They aren't a real problem, but you should do something to seal them up. If moisture gets down in the cracks, either from humid air or finger grease, it can cause the wood to swell and crack more.

Lemon Oil is okay, but I personally prefer Stew-Mac's Fingerboard Oil. It's not really an oil, it's a thin polyurethane varnish, which it soaks into the grain of the wood and then hardens. Wipe it on, wait 15 minutes, wipe off the excess. Overnight it fully hardens. No need to keep re-applying it, unless you see some fresh cracks. I use ebony fingerboards on all the basses I build, and I coat them all with the Stew-Mac oil.

But get something on there to seal it up.
Click to expand...
Here are pics of my ebony board. Nothing but lighter fluid and finger grease in 20 years. Not doubting your expertise as I know what you are saying is right however a $3K bass should be perfect IMO.
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#16
The product I use (and have been using for 20+ years) is Stew-Mac's Fretboard Finishing Oil. I notice that they now also carry their own brand of Lemon Oil too. Per their descriptions, the Fretboard Finishing Oil has dryers to make it harden. The Lemon Oil has to be reapplied regularly, and if you apply too much, it can get sticky feeling. I prefer the Fretboard Finishing Oil.
 
#19
#20
cv115505 said:
So I recently purchased a Gould Beeswing 4. It is the nicest bass I have ever owned. Sounds great, looks incredible, and if it weighed any less it'd float. All is not well though. It has an ebony fingerboard that has several cracks. Some of these cracks run under frets. I have contacted Geoff Gould, and he seems pretty receptive to fixing the issue though he is under the weather as of late which makes him spotty about answering emails. I purchased it from The Bass Place. I have not contacted them yet as I simply emailed Geoff when I noticed the issue. My question is will these cracks become an issue down the road, or am I just being overly detail-oriented. For the record, I have no complaints about Geoff or The Bass Place. Wood is unpredictable (ebony especially) and things happen. The cracks are big enough to catch my fingernail on if i slide it over them which has me concerned. That, and I did pay almost $3K for an instrument (the most I have ever paid for a single piece) so I am sort of on-edge about it.View attachment 507063 View attachment 507064 View attachment 507065 View attachment 507064 View attachment 507065 View attachment 507066
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I'm normally pretty picky about neck and fingerboard flaws, especially in a 3K instrument, but judging from the photos I wouldn't worry about these. Just my opinion.
 

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