Block Inlays

[Water buffalo]

Well, I appreciated your post as it disclosed that you worked for Tobias/Steinberger (Gibson) in the mid nineties which I was unaware of. That's pretty damn cool!

I did my time (Gibson too). I have stories...

 

[JIO]

I did my time (Gibson too). I have stories...

I bet.

 

[bucephylus]

I must be missing something. The string stop occurs on top of the fret, which is cemented into the wooden fingerboard; WITH OR WITHOUT block inlays. No doubt that the material change of the inlays affects the overtone characteristics in some subtle way; but, that is surely secondary. The string is NOT stopped on top of the inlay. I very much doubt any of us could discriminate in a blind test.

 

[bucephylus]

I'm with everyone else on this. However...

I worked for Tobias/Steinberger (Gibson) in the mid nineties. They built a fretless 5 string Steinberger (XL-25?) for an upcoming NAMM show. They decided to inlay "STEINBERGER" on the fingerboard in large white mother of pearl block letters.

When the bass was played (even acoustically) you could here a noticable difference between the pearl inlays and the composite fingerboard.

That happens because the hardness of a fretless surface has a strong influence on the damping characteristics of the stop. Blocks on a fretted bass still have the string stop on the metal fret.

 

[Water buffalo]

That happens because the hardness of a fretless surface has a strong influence on the damping characteristics of the stop. Blocks on a fretted bass still have the string stop on the metal fret.

Yep.

 

[Dust2Dust]

Blocks are just to make the bass look cool


Well, at least to me they look cool

 

[JIO]

Blocks are just to make the bass look cool


Well, at least to me they look cool

And that's the only reason they are there.

 

[JIO]

Everybody's talk'n bout inlays!

 

[kyral210]

Ah, back to the tonewood debate!

 

[pfschim]

it's like coming home again

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yeah, fretless boards are a whole different kettle of fish. A coated board definitely sounds different than raw wood. how thick are the typical Fender block inlays, 1/8" or less?

 

[joebingo]

I didn’t want to bias any replies, so I didn’t include my thoughts on the matter. I never really thought maple or rosewood made much difference, so I didn’t really think the inlays would either, but I was curious what other people’s experiences was.

I think similarly to how maple looks sounds brighter than rosewood, and gloss finished fretboards look sound glassier than satin, block inlays look sound bright and glassy.

 

[Stewie]

Shucks! Neither of my fretless basses have even dots, let alone blocks. But maple is definitely maplier than rosewood for sure

 

[Faith Nicole]

I love my tonal inlays. They really improve my sound and technique. Very similar result as putting a new sound system in your car makes it run better. I'm personally more partial to the darker tone of black inlays, ivory just isn't the same. Thus, while I like my current bass and how it sounds, it's destined for a neck with black block inlays.

 

[Crusher47]

What is best inlay for Metal ?

 

[JIO]

Don't forget your fingers -

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

What is best inlay for Metal ?

Uh....heh-heh.... Metal.

 

[Malak the Mad]

Uh....heh-heh.... Metal.

And, for the Speed Metal players and lovers out there...

As for "inlays", I have no idea if they affect sound/resonance/whatever, but damn do they look great!

And if looking great makes me want to pick it up and play it even more, I fail to see how it's a bad thing.