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Fodera Club Part XIII

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#601
Because it is fairly hard to find the wood in a good enough and wide enough grade to use for instruments...

Regards,

J


Johannes Oehl said:
This one looks very classy. I wonder why masur birch is not used more often, I have played some basses with mb top and they all sounded great (european brand "Neuser" uses mb a lot).
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#602
Cheers!

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#604
45J in Richard's...40J is what we use for a "normal" Richard Bona Imperial. Please keep in mind that the wider 45J's were used because Richard's bass originally had Duncan's in it and in order to make it look as good as possible, the wider 45 J's were used...

J


Rich Treat said:
Which EMG pups does Richard Bona have in his bass? Is it 2 of the 40j pick ups?
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#607
Funny that this conversation about Ebony came up here so recently. I just spent a couple of days last week sorting through and rearranging our usable Ebony in the shop and then spent the entire day today at one of our suppliers picking ebony boards and billets for use in the future.

Based on what we have remaining in stock and what we purchased today, the more "colorful" / figured stuff is going to start appearing on our instruments fairly soon -- certainly within 4-5 months.

We purchased enough material for roughly 225 FB's today and to do so I must have gone through 100 billets (each good for an average of 2.5 FB's) and 1,000 FB's today (it was a LONG day!). Of the material that we ended up purchasing, 95% of it was NOT jet black. This is almost a complete reversal from what Joey and Vinny would have purchased just 5 years ago.

The good news is that I am thrilled with the way the ebony that we purchased today sounds...some simply killer material. And, truth be told, Vinny, Joey and I actually personally prefer the look of a figured Ebony FB...it adds another dimension to the overall aesthetic of the instruments...

Cheers,

Jason


steubig said:
sorry, business section of the l.a. times.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-taylor-ebony-20120607,0,7945909.story

basically laying out what this vid is saying.

i'm impressed and like what they're doing.

i could dig a white ebony fingerboard . . .

jason, how does this work with you guys?
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#609
Please know that there are many, many different ways in which color can appear in Ebony. All of the material that I sorted through were of the same "grade," however, of the roughly 1,250 worth of material that I looked at, we purchased just 225 (under 20%). The selections that we make are BOTH sonic and aesthetic. Coloration in the ebony or not, a Fodera needs to be a blend of great tone, great feel AND great looks. So, fear not, your instrument will be visually stunning!

Cheers,

J

carlis said:
Very sad to hear that, for my own sake.

Very glad to hear that, for the Earth's sake.
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#610
Have a look at the fretboard of my Macassar Emperor - there is a figured part between the 5/6th and the 12th fret - it also continues from the 15th to the 17/18th fret also there're some smaller parts in the higher register which you can't see on the pic....

I'm sure that Ebony boards with some fine figure in it will look pretty nice

I would guess that my fingerboard is Macassar too ?!
 

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#611
Last year when I was ordering a Double Bass the maker was talking to me about the same thing. Mentioned that he will have to reserve his remaining stock for the fully carved instruments. Solid black fingerboards will no longer be standard.


Just Thumpin' said:
Based on what we have remaining in stock and what we purchased today, the more "colorful" / figured stuff is going to start appearing on our instruments fairly soon -- certainly within 4-5 months.
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#612
fivestringdan said:
Last year when I was ordering a Double Bass the maker was talking to me about the same thing. Mentioned that he will have to reserve his remaining stock for the fully carved instruments. Solid black fingerboards will no longer be standard.
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Man, a doghouse bass with a coloured ebony fingerboard is going to look epic.

Personally, I think that, with what we know about ebony now, I would make a figured ebony board a *requirement* for any bass I ordered.
 
#613
And yet, we have already received an email this morning from someone wanting to make certain that their FB would be black and "not figured." While I can completely understand the sentiment, it begs the question....

Given a jet black FB that sounds inferior to a figured one, which do you take? I KNOW what we do here at the shop 100% of the time...we have a motto for it...

"Tone Trumps All."

Cheers,

Jason


roadkill2309 said:
Man, a doghouse bass with a coloured ebony fingerboard is going to look epic.

Personally, I think that, with what we know about ebony now, I would make a figured ebony board a *requirement* for any bass I ordered.
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#614
Tone IS the answer!

This question may not be applicable in 5-10 years given what several builders have told me. Black ebony simply may not exist at a price feasible to use on a production instrument.

I personally prefer ebony with color mixed in. I think it looks fantastic. I love fingerboards with grain and figuring. That is why I spec Pau Ferro for my bass.


Just Thumpin' said:
And yet, we have already received an email this morning from someone wanting to make certain that their FB would be black and "not figured." While I can completely understand the sentiment, it begs the question....

Given a jet black FB that sounds inferior to a figured one, which do you take? I KNOW what we do here at the shop 100% of the time...we have a motto for it...

"Tone Trumps All."

Cheers,

Jason
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#615
Just Thumpin' said:
And yet, we have already received an email this morning from someone wanting to make certain that their FB would be black and "not figured." While I can completely understand the sentiment, it begs the question....

Given a jet black FB that sounds inferior to a figured one, which do you take? I KNOW what we do here at the shop 100% of the time...we have a motto for it...

"Tone Trumps All."

Cheers,

Jason
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I agree. I was riffing off the concept that, at the Fodera price point, you guys wouldn't let an inferior-sounding piece of ebony leave the shop attached to one of your axes.
 
#616
Just Thumpin' said:
And yet, we have already received an email this morning from someone wanting to make certain that their FB would be black and "not figured." While I can completely understand the sentiment, it begs the question....

Given a jet black FB that sounds inferior to a figured one, which do you take? I KNOW what we do here at the shop 100% of the time...we have a motto for it...

"Tone Trumps All."

Cheers,

Jason
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FWIW, I can swing either way. Luthier's choice.
 
#617
fwiw some of the most stunning Rob Allens I've seen have used heavily figured Mac ebony fingerboards. My D4 has a ridiculous jet black piece that sounds freaking awesome. But I also had figured MB-2 fb that sounded great as well.

Bring on the tone - and stripes are fine :D
 
#619
I read your post first thing this morning and as soon as I got home this evening I whipped out your old / my new Emperor 5 elite, Chestnut top. The Ebony board on that bass is so figured it's exquisite to behold and sounds gorgeous.
I'm kind of hoping No: 4178 will have some of that, but I'm not bothered at all, I want Fodera magic and that involves letting you guy's do what you do best. Yep! I've learnt to love that mantra "Tone trumps all"

Cheers - Lugzy

Just Thumpin' said:
And yet, we have already received an email this morning from someone wanting to make certain that their FB would be black and "not figured." While I can completely understand the sentiment, it begs the question....

Given a jet black FB that sounds inferior to a figured one, which do you take? I KNOW what we do here at the shop 100% of the time...we have a motto for it...

"Tone Trumps All."

Cheers,

Jason
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#620
It's so funny but I actually hate ebony fingerboards on anything but a fretless. They always end up sounding too compressed to me. Pure IMO but that has been my experience.

With that said, I like the look of it with or without figure.
 
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