Graphite electric basses

Some have wooden fretboards but it's much more common to find phenolic fretboards on graphite necks.

 

Status Graphite. The finest hand-made graphite basses and guitars. Made in England.

Mmmmmm...graphite

 

Status Stealth! All graphite! All day! Every day!

 

www.zonguitars.com

 

My first ZON had a (I am pretty certain) CF fingerboard, the other two had "phenowood".

 

Apart from it being a guitar, the Bond Electroglide took a different approach.

Body/neck were carbon fibre, fretboard was aluminum.

Bond Electraglide - Wikipedia

 

I know that Modulus, Status and Moses all use the word "graphite".
However, it's really more accurate to use the term "carbon fiber" when discussing structural components such as necks, fretboards etc.
"Graphite" is a much broader term which includes many variations of high-carbon compounds, including the "lead" in pencils,
which is extremely weak and brittle.

As indicated above - most carbon fiber necks have fretboards made from other materials such as phenolic, resin-impregnated wood, or even traditional hardwoods. Carbon fiber is not ideal for a fretboard for a few reasons
-its resistance to abrasion from metal strings is not necessarily as good as phenolic or hardwood
-it cannot easily be surfaced/resurfaced after wear from long-term use
-it requires a finish in order to have an acceptable surface
-it requires much more complicated manufacturing than traditional fretboard materials

Most manufacturers use different materials for these reasons.

 

Great information - thanks. I just visited your site. Beautiful instruments.