Double Bass Cheap bass fingerboard question

[tbplayer59]

The entry level Engelhardt C1 comes with an "ebonized" maple board. Is this just paint or something else that's supposed to replicate the hardness and sound of a real ebony board? In other words, is it purely cosmetic?

 

[GretschWretch]

Cosmetic. Ebony is much, MUCH harder.

 

[El Thumpo]

"Ebonized" is just a marketing term for "made dark". Either dye or paint is usually involved. The effect is transitory.

Now, close your eyes. Is the sound the sound you want to hear? That's all that matters.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

It's not even dye. It's house paint. The recent ones have Brazilian cherry fingerboards, which is a HUGE improvement.

 

[JoeyNaeger]

It's not even dye. It's house paint. The recent ones have Brazilian cherry fingerboards, which is a HUGE improvement.

I have scraped paint off a few Engelhardt fingerboards to discover beautifully figured wood underneath. It's crazy to me they spray it black. The feel under your fingers of paint vs lightly oiled wood is so different.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

They seem to enjoy doing things "the old way," for good or ill.

 

[tbplayer59]

Thanks for the answers. My luthier scraped the "ebonizing" off of my board to reveal maple because he wanted to carve a camber into the board. Like I said, I didn't know if it was purely cosmetic or something along the lines of Jaco's epoxied fretless Fender. Like Joey said, the feel of the wood is a great improvement over that of paint. Even though it's just maple, the light oil with a rubdown with 0000 steel wool has it feeling super smooth.