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Ebony fretboard for slapping?

A

Agito

Jun 27, 2009
742
3
#1
Yo

I'm currently thinking about getting a bass with Ash body and Ebony fretboard (Maple neck) it's a Jazz style bass as I've opened in some other thread (Bacchus Standard 5)
Anyhow, I'm very concerned regarding the bass and the Ebony FB in particular, I slap a lot and looking for a bridge pickups Jazz Bass sweetness.

I have no option to listen to the bass and I'm almost clueless regarding the combination of those woods.

I'm mainly playing Jazz and Funk.
I'm sorry for opening another thread regarding almost the same issue but this is more specifically regarding the Ebony FB with the Ash combo.

Thank you in advance,
Danny.
 
#2
If you play a fretted bass, the difference in fretboard woods is pretty moot beyond aesthetics.
Ebony is one of the hardest woods used for fretboards, so if you're worried about physical damage, it will be built like a tank.

Most people with Ash bodies claim they are very bright sounding, which is what you'll likely want for slapping. I don't forsee any issues as long as the pickups are decent.
 
#5
Snipper! said:
Maple Fretboard to be considered for slap zing ala Miller, Johnson etc. It is brighter sounding than rose or ebony.
Click to expand...

Really? Ebony is very dense, and the classic claim is a "faster attack" and zing. I don't know about that too much... yes, tonewoods provide a basic 'flavor', but between pups, electronics, and amp, you can make very, very similar sounds with different basses.

Choose fretboard based on feel! Personally, I like ebony because it's smooth and slick. Really pays off when playing for long periods of time.
 
#6
Snipper! said:
Maple Fretboard to be considered for slap zing ala Miller, Johnson etc. It is brighter sounding than rose or ebony.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... I think you got that backward - I've always understood (and observed) that it goes...

Rosewood
Maple
Ebony

in order of brightness (lowest to highest).

That said, on a fretted bass, the difference from Rosewood to Ebony is about 5% of the sound, since your strings are never touching the the wood. I'd say the body wood makes a bigger difference, but neither compares to the difference electronics, strings and technique make.
 
#8
The problem with ebony's density is that it compresses the resonance, it may accent more zing but it won't transmit the body of tone as well as lighter maple, but it will sound brighter, harsher and compressed.
 
#9
Snipper! said:
The problem with ebony's density is that it compresses the resonance, it may accent more zing but it won't transmit the body of tone as well as lighter maple, but it will sound brighter, harsher and compressed.
Click to expand...

Well, won't it actually focus the vibration towards the body then. Basically strings are vibrated, transmitted to bridge, which moves about the wood, which moves the pickups in a specific way, creating the effect of tonewood as far as electric instruments go.

So a dense fretboard and relatively ''dull'' wood like maple (what I mean is low velocity of sound on acoustics...with the lowest being ebony) let the body woods play a slightly greater role than before?
 
#10
CFclef said:
Well, won't it actually focus the vibration towards the body then. Basically strings are vibrated, transmitted to bridge, which moves about the wood, which moves the pickups in a specific way, creating the effect of tonewood as far as electric instruments go.

So a dense fretboard and relatively ''dull'' wood like maple (what I mean is low velocity of sound on acoustics...with the lowest being ebony) let the body woods play a slightly greater role than before?
Click to expand...

But the string's witness point is the fret - not the board - so the board has very little to do with the way the string vibrates.

Fretless? Whole different thing. I prefer ebony on fretless basses for this very reason... But I'll bet that if we took three basses that were identical save for the fretboard and did a blind sound test, no one could tell the difference.
 
#12
BigOldHarry said:
But the string's witness point is the fret - not the board - so the board has very little to do with the way the string vibrates.

Fretless? Whole different thing. I prefer ebony on fretless basses for this very reason... But I'll bet that if we took three basses that were identical save for the fretboard and did a blind sound test, no one could tell the difference.
Click to expand...

True, forgot about frets. Actually, fretboard does have a SUBTLE effect on tone. I can attest to that firsthand.

Check out youtube...there's a guy by the s/n "jollybeggars" who changes the necks on his P bass and plays the same tune on the same amp/cab combo. You can definitely tell there's a difference, albeit the ebony neck is fretless.
 
#13
CFclef said:
Well, won't it actually focus the vibration towards the body then. Basically strings are vibrated, transmitted to bridge, which moves about the wood, which moves the pickups in a specific way, creating the effect of tonewood as far as electric instruments go.

So a dense fretboard and relatively ''dull'' wood like maple (what I mean is low velocity of sound on acoustics...with the lowest being ebony) let the body woods play a slightly greater role than before?
Click to expand...

Since denser woods compress, what you get is a compressed tone transmitted to the body on a tighter frequency range...not an open sound but thinner, I've played a few boutique basses that when plugged into an amp sound as if they have a compressor in line, JMHO.
 
#16
CFclef said:
True, forgot about frets. Actually, fretboard does have a SUBTLE effect on tone. I can attest to that firsthand.

Check out youtube...there's a guy by the s/n "jollybeggars" who changes the necks on his P bass and plays the same tune on the same amp/cab combo. You can definitely tell there's a difference, albeit the ebony neck is fretless.
Click to expand...

If the point of the video is to display differences in fretboards, then it should be instantly dismissed as unscientific and does nothing to prove your point. At all.

1) There will be obvious tonal differences in a fretted sound vs. a fretless.
2) The necks are not identical, and since they contain considerably more material than a fretboard, the difference in necks are likely more to blame.

Blind tests have been done on these boards and the results were about 50/50 right and wrong, proving nothing more than the ability to aimlessly guess. If you're hearing a difference on a fretted instrument, you're probably hearing the subtleties of the neck, not the fretboard.

Build a bass with the ability to interchange fretboards only, and then try the blind test.
 
#17
Personally I felt the difference between Maple and Rosewood and that's why I'm asking about the Ebony, I don't know why, but it seems brighter and clearer then rosewood (on fretted basses)
Now regarding Ebony, I don't really know, can't experience it or feel it so I'm asking you guys...
 
#19
Agito said:
Personally I felt the difference between Maple and Rosewood and that's why I'm asking about the Ebony, I don't know why, but it seems brighter and clearer then rosewood (on fretted basses)
Now regarding Ebony, I don't really know, can't experience it or feel it so I'm asking you guys...
Click to expand...

If we ignore frets, it's going to look dark like rosewood and be much brighter. It will require very little maintenance, look snazzy, and be smooth to the touch.
 
#20
There is a definitely difference in tone between the three. Maple is a less dense wood with a faster attack and more airy sound. Ebony is much denser buth still with good high end resonance, due to being denser more vibration is required to produce the same amount of resonance so the sound is more compressed with a slightly slower attack. East Indian Rosewood is the standard for fingerboards on most instruments and is in between maple and ebony in density, producing less compression than an ebony board and less attack than the maple board. This leads to rosewood being slightly less defined and more traditional. The fingerboard is what carries the vibration of the strings from the frets into the wood of the body and neck. Strings and frets with no body wood would make a drastically different tone. I have had great results with ebony and maple boards for slapping but would suggest avoiding rosewood if you really play that much slap.
 

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