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Bog oak fretboard?

LennyPenny

LennyPenny

Mar 14, 2011
369
41
Belgium
#1
Hi all,

I'm having a custom Marusczcyk 6-string built as soon as I have the money, and obviously I've been thinking of what/how it's going to be.

I'd like it to be an ecological bass, so with only European woods/hardware to reduce intercontinental transport as much as possible.
This, however, does cause a problem regarding the fretboard: maple would be an option but I really don't like the look of pale fretboards, so Adrian (the builder) suggested a maple fretboard but painted black.

I've heard of bog oak ('Mooreiche', I think that's what it's called in English) being used for fretboard on classical guitars and binding/skunk stripes. It's supposed to be of a similar density as ebony, but Adrian hasn't used this wood before, so he can't say if it would work.

My first question: do any of you have experience with this type of wood?
Secondly, what other (preferably dark) European woods are there that would be suitable as fretboard?

Thank you!
 
#7
Teacher said:
For those not familiar, bog oak isn't a species of oak; it's oak that was buried in bogs centuries ago and was both preserved and colored by the acidic peate.
Click to expand...

To add to that, from wikipedia :

Bog-wood may come from any tree species naturally growing near or in bogs, including oak (Quercus – "bog oak"), pine (Pinus), yew (Taxus), swamp cypress (Taxodium) and kauri (Agathis).

So I guess we can have bog pine and Bog swamp cypress (???)
 
#8
I had a fretless fingerboard made from bog oak installed on a Precision copy many years ago. The guy who did the work said it was pretty difficult to work with due to its density and inherent hardness. As best as I recall, when finished, it resonated like one of those high-sheen epoxy fingerboards on the old MV Pedulla basses.

Have also had a red oak fretless 'board on another Precision copy - it was durable enough, but sounded flat and lifeless compared to the bog oak.

Biggest problem with the bog oak was finding a large enough piece... And I live in a country with lots of bogland!
 
#10
Wow. Bog oak is a new one for me (and I've played, considered and heard about lots of exotic woods). Until I read Mal 1905's post, I was ready to suggest you just bite the ecological bullet and settle for nice, ultra-dense, hard-to-work but manageable ebony. Too often really exotic woods don't deliver what's desired. But Bog Oak sounds kind of interesting. Let us know how you like it if you go forward. :p
 
#11
Darnell Jones said:
There's a European walnut, also instead of staining or painting you can veneer a fingerboard with some very pretty stuff and have maple underneath.
Click to expand...

I could've come up with that myself, don't know why I didn't. Walnut is a great idea!

bassman10096 said:
Wow. Bog oak is a new one for me (and I've played, considered and heard about lots of exotic woods). Until I read Mal 1905's post, I was ready to suggest you just bite the ecological bullet and settle for nice, ultra-dense, hard-to-work but manageable ebony. Too often really exotic woods don't deliver what's desired. But Bog Oak sounds kind of interesting. Let us know how you like it if you go forward. :p
Click to expand...

I'm a bit thrilled to have come up with a (relatively) new idea :D I should mention density doesn't really matter that much to me, I've played mostly rosewood and tried ebony just to get an idea of the difference in feel. They do feel a bit different but I'd be happy with either one, so I reckon any dark wood would be good, unless it's really soft.
 
#12
The builder said veneers aren't a good idea for fretboards, and I'm going to trust his judgement. He also said he could maybe make the whole neck out of bog oak, but he's not sure if it's going to work.
He normally uses walnut from the Caucasus, mainly for body tops, so I don't know if that'll fit the concept of an ecological bass. I reckon it's borderline Europe so it's still an option.
 
#14
Painting fingerboards is nothing new- my Kay M1 upright has an "ebonized" fingerboard that's actually rosewood which was darkened to resemble ebony.

A luthier had to plane it down due to some groove issues under the A string and told me "I just located your ROSEWOOD fingerboard under all that stain!".
 
#15
bassman10096 said:
Wow. Bog oak is a new one for me (and I've played, considered and heard about lots of exotic woods). Until I read Mal 1905's post, I was ready to suggest you just bite the ecological bullet and settle for nice, ultra-dense, hard-to-work but manageable ebony. Too often really exotic woods don't deliver what's desired. But Bog Oak sounds kind of interesting. Let us know how you like it if you go forward. :p
Click to expand...

Depends on what you call exotic, doesn't it? It's a wood native to Europe, so to me it's not exotic. I don't know if it's readily available in the US or wherever you're from.
However, if by exotic you mean 'rarely used in bass construction', then I agree it's fairly exotic.

That being said, I'm starting to question the whole idea of an ecological bass. Is it worth going through with it? I've never heard of a bass (or any instrument) designed around this concept of 'local materials/components only', so it's either genius or plain stupid.
The main point is this: yes, it's possible to make a perfectly good instrument with European woods/electronics/hardware, but perhaps it's a bit too restricting. Since all the traditional dark fretboard woods (ebony and rosewood) are out of the question, I'm pretty much left with plum wood or bog oak. The luthier in question doesn't have any experience with the latter, he said he can make the whole neck out of it but can't guarantee if it'll work.
Also, I'm finding it extremely difficult to decide upon a color, so I'm starting to look more into nice tops that require only a clearcoat (if even that, I came across a bass with a stunning satin walnut top). However, most tops that appeal to me are far from local wood species. This brings me to buck eye burl: in general, how much does it add to the overall price of an instrument?

This is almost turning into a rant, so I'll end here.
 
#16
I turned a pen out of ancient bog oak once. I don't know what species of oak it was, but it was pretty much like working with ordinary oak, except that it was black like Ebony. As far as I could tell, it was no harder or different to sand and polish.

Personally, I can't stand the concept of an open grained wood like oak or wenge being used as a fretboard or fingerboard, but that's just me. If you're not opposed to unnatural appearances, you could easily apply a dye or stain to some other wood with the feel you prefer. Or you could paint Maple black, if you're not opposed to a finished fretboard.
 
#17
LennyPenny said:
Depends on what you call exotic, doesn't it? It's a wood native to Europe, so to me it's not exotic. I don't know if it's readily available in the US or wherever you're from.
However, if by exotic you mean 'rarely used in bass construction', then I agree it's fairly exotic.
Click to expand...

Seems like people tend to use both criteria interchangeably. It irks me to hear North Americans say things like "exotic 5A curly maple.":rollno: There are only two types of wood; domestics from your own region, and exotics from elsewhere in the world.
 
#18
LennyPenny said:
The main point is this: yes, it's possible to make a perfectly good instrument with European woods/electronics/hardware, but perhaps it's a bit too restricting.
Click to expand...
Walnut is a beautiful tone wood, dark and woody sounding. If you get Crotch (Claro) Walnut, you get a highly figured top as beautiful as it gets.
Maple is pale, but birdseye is beautiful too and you can tone down the stark lightness of it with walnut block inlays.
That would make a very nice bass indeed and those materials are available I assume.

You have to be willing to make compromises if you want to keep the materials local. In this case you would have a beautiful instrument and keep to your goal of continentally available materials... not a bad compromise. Maple and walnut would be a very nice sonic pairing of materials, Walnut dark and woody, Maple snappy and bright... could be very nice and visually stunning.
W_figuredclaroCalifornia-blackwalnut.jpg
 
#19
Walnut is a fine fingerboard material.

I am also looking at building ecologically responsible basses. Here in the US, that basically means I have walnut if I want a dark-colored fingerboard. But that's not a bad thing, as I see it. There are few woods more beautiful than a well-worked and finished piece of chocolate brown west coast Walnut.
 
#20
line6man said:
... Or you could paint Maple black, if you're not opposed to a finished fretboard.
Click to expand...

That's what the luthier (Adrian Maruszczyk) suggested. I wouldn't really mind as long as it's not too glossy. I'd prefer non-finished over finished though.

Dbassmon said:
Walnut is a beautiful tone wood, dark and woody sounding. If you get Crotch (Claro) Walnut, you get a highly figured top as beautiful as it gets.
Maple is pale, but birdseye is beautiful too and you can tone down the stark lightness of it with walnut block inlays.
That would make a very nice bass indeed and those materials are available I assume.

W_figuredclaroCalifornia-blackwalnut.jpg
Click to expand...

That's not exactly the kind of walnut I had in mind, but still very pretty! I was thinking of something dark like this: Invalid Link Removed
 

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