Double Bass fingerboards

[Dave Irwin]

anyone tried Bob G.'s fingerboards or can recommend a source for good ebony boards?

thx,
dave

 

[notabene]

I've had good luck with these folks. You can talk on the phone with them, and they speak bass. I've gotten two fingerboards from them, middle priced, and both were very good.


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Steven

 

[powerbass]

I bought one of Bob G's Brazilian Cherry boards which is also called jatoba. It was excellent, very stable, well shaped, excellent service.

 

[bassrome]

International sells nice fingerboards but make sure to check the moisture content before glueing.

Jack

 

[MIKMAN]

I've had good luck with these folks. You can talk on the phone with them, and they speak bass. I've gotten two fingerboards from them, middle priced, and both were very good.


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Steven

Excellent service,nice guys, reasonable prices!!!

What else to look for?

 

[Dave Irwin]

thanks for the responses. I'm told one of thr risks of getting a bad board is a lot of extra time/work for the luth. I need to figure out if the savings is worth the risk from not bying the board from the Luth's shop.

thx again

 

[MR PC]

One advantage of getting it from the luthiers shop is that it will already be adjusted to the humidity of the shop environment where your bass will be worked on. This is of course assuming that the luthier has the board in his wood stash already.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

thanks for the responses. I'm told one of thr risks of getting a bad board is a lot of extra time/work for the luth. I need to figure out if the savings is worth the risk from not bying the board from the Luth's shop.

thx again

Hey Dave,

I don't know the specifics of your bass/board/luthier situation but in my shop I won't install and dress a board I haven't supplied. There are just too many potential drawbacks and no upside.

Say the board warps/splits/cracks in six months - what then? You say "I paid a lot of money." I say "You supplied the board and it was junk". Nobody's happy and there's no good resolution to the problem - you go around saying what a dick I am and I tell people how dumb you are...

If I put on a board from my supplier and something does go awry, at the very least I can go back to my supplier and, because we have a relationship, we can work something out.

Jeff Bollbach has a good story about the perils of false fingerboard economy on his site: Jeff Bollbach Luthier, Inc.: Luthier Rant

 

[Dave Irwin]

After discussing with them, I figured buying the board from them would be the way to go. when I asked the first question, I should habe mentioned I wouldnt be doing the work.

thx again

 

[robobass]

I've had good luck with these folks. You can talk on the phone with them, and they speak bass. I've gotten two fingerboards from them, middle priced, and both were very good.


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Steven

+1 for International. I haven't purchased boards, but I recently ordered some adjusters. The guy who answered the phone knew every detail about the product and they shipped the same day. Cheap too!

 

[RCWilliams]

I know a guy in Pensylvania wit several 4 x 4 ebony billets not sutr what he wants for it

 

[1st Bass]

I get all my fingerboards from IVC, and have been very pleased with them.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Hey Dave,

I don't know the specifics of your bass/board/luthier situation but in my shop I won't install and dress a board I haven't supplied. There are just too many potential drawbacks and no upside.

Say the board warps/splits/cracks in six months - what then? You say "I paid a lot of money." I say "You supplied the board and it was junk". Nobody's happy and there's no good resolution to the problem - you go around saying what a dick I am and I tell people how dumb you are...

If I put on a board from my supplier and something does go awry, at the very least I can go back to my supplier and, because we have a relationship, we can work something out.

Jeff Bollbach has a good story about the perils of false fingerboard economy on his site: Jeff Bollbach Luthier, Inc.: Luthier Rant

Great post. I take the same stance with my woodworking and wood finishing. Thanks for the link to the Bollbach site; fun read!