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Double Bass Should I have the fingerboard replaced?

phyton

phyton

Oct 29, 2008
16
7
Sofia, Bulgaria
#1
Next week I'm planning on buying my first double bass. It an old Kremona (Bulgarian) hybrid/semi-massive/etc 3/4 double bass with spruce top. I think it was made in the early 90s. I'll be using it only for pizzicato, mostly jazz and some rockabilly.

I've already tried it and I think it sounds and plays well. But one thing I don't like is that the fingerboard is not ebony but some type of hard wood that has been painted black and a lot of the paint is now worn off.

double_bass_kontrabass_kremona_34_1.jpg



I know a very good local luthier who can replace it with good quality real ebony but I'm wondering if it's worth the money? Will it have any effect on the sound and/or playabillity or should I just have it refinished?

Any opinions/advices would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
#2
If it plays and sounds good, embrace it for what it is. It might look something fantastic with the rest of the black removed. Dare to be different! Or put another touch up coat. I don't know your finances, but it might be all around "better" to purchase a bass that already has the specs you want. I think it's foolish to buy money pits, cheaper to get what you want right out of the gate.
 
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#3
Thank you for the opinion. Actually, stripping the rest of the paint and having it look a bit like the fingerboard of a fretless maple Fender p-bass might turn out really cool.

As for buying a better bass, I've been looking into it for the last few weeks but there's nothing I could try in a local store or etc. I can order a brand new Strunal - they have a Invalid Link Removed that is my price range but I'm a bit wary of buying it without being able to try it first.

Plus I prefer buying an old instrument that has seen some playing and natural aging, shiny new instruments are not my thing.
 
#4
The fingerboard on a doublebass serves much more of a structural function than does the fingerboard on an electric bass.

A good, thick ebony doublebass fingerboard does a lot of the heavy lifting of resisting string tension and helps keep the neck from turning into a banana. An ebony board will also last a heck of a lot longer and, to some ears, sound better than a softer wood.
 
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#8
If you like the way it sounds, stick with the board as it is for now. If you want to remove the black paint and oil the board, there's nothing stopping you - I like that look.

At some point in the future you might want to install an ebony board or move into a different bass but if the current board is working well... :thumbsup:
 
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#9
Thank you all for the input!

Don Kasper said:
phyton,
OT - What is that pickup that I see on the bass?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have no idea, pretty sure it's nothing fancy. I plugged it into Roland D-Bass 210 combo, the combo needed a bit of tweaking to tackle the feedback problems but I think it sounded OK.

Eric Hochberg - To me it seems that there aren't any problems with the bridge, tuners and endpin, but I'm far from an expert. The bass is left for sale in a shop that is run by a friend of mine. He had a local luthier inspect it and was told it was a solid instrument with no issues. There was another double bass the luthier found problems with and so my friend returned it to its owner.

Anyway, if I buy it I will either get a new ebony fingerboard or sand the current one down to its natural wood grain (and maybe apply some type of oil, if necessary).
 
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#11
After a lot of consideration and contacting the luthier that had inspected the bass, I decided to pass on it. It's a good instrument at a fair price but it wasn't worth investing in all the "upgrades" that I wanted and I didn't love the finish.

Instead, thanks to some opinions I've read on this forum, today I ordered a Strunal 5/27:
Invalid Link Removed

I plan on putting Spirocore medium strings as soon as it arrives and I have yet to decide what kind of pickup to buy & install. Can't wait! :)
 

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