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Double Bass Wenge fingerboard for new neck

A

Alib8

Aug 16, 2014
75
37
#1
Hi everyone, I searched on the forums (and google) but I couldn't find anything on the subject.

Is wenge wood used on double bass fingerboards? How would it affect tone, would you recommend it?

A local luthier is making a new neck for a 1/8 bass I bought cheap to convert it to 1/2 scale; kind of like a small acoustic bodied eub with piezos. The current fingerboard is maple (painted black). Ebony was expensive and I had to wait for it, the other choice the luthier gave me is wenge, so I thought it would be ok (like rosewood fingerboards), but now I'm not so sure after finding nothing on it.

Thanks.
 
#4
Millettia laurentii
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Millettia laurentii
Millettia laurentii is a legume tree native to the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gabon and Invalid Link Removed. The species is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List: Category EN A1cd, principally due to destruction of its habitat and over-exploitation for timber.[1] Wenge, a dark colored wood, is the product of Millettia laurentii. Other names sometimes used for wenge include African Rosewood, Faux Ebony, Dikela, Mibotu, Bokonge and Awong. The wood's distinctive color is standardized as a "wenge" color in many systems.
 
#5
Wenge is planty hard, has a nice dark color, and wears reasonably well, so it meets those fingerboard requirements; it also has a nice taptone and is used for acoustic guitar back and sides. The only downfall is that it has huge pores- think of a black colored oak, so you will need to do some kind of pore filling, and the splinters can be incredibly large and painful. If I had some in the shop that was paid for, I'd use it. If you search over on the electric bass side, it is not uncommon there, so you'll likley get more responses.

As for ebony being expensive, MET music sells very nice B grade fingerboards for about $190 delivered. How much is your luthier charging to make one out of wenge??? Good luck and post a few photos for us of the finished product.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com
 
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#6
Thanks for the info, the luthier said he was going to apply some kind of oil, I'm not sure if it is for the pores, I will mention it to him.

I would consider getting a pre made fingerboard but I live way overseas :) Not many options here. He is charging me $100 for the whole neck, plus $200 for workmanship, new bridge, soundpost adjustment (moving the bridge and post towards the tail a couple of inches).

I will be sure to share how it will end up once it's finished, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
 
#7
I had a wenge neck/fretboard on my Fender Jazz and absolutely loved it. I played it for over 20 years and I swear it never moved. Never needed a truss rod adjustment. James is correct. It does have an open grain. Not sure if the pores would need to be filled however. But that is considering a BG fretboard. Personally, I think a wenge fingerboard would be cool! Please post pics when done
 

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