Ebony fingerboard

[al swearengen]

Is there any real advantage or benefit to having a Ebony fingerboard over a Rosewood, espcially if it costs more?

[DualRectifier]

I personally love the feel and look of it. My Taylor acoustic had ebony, and I have a Warmoth str*t right now with an ebony board. I like the slightly snappier sound also.

The only downside I've noticed is that ebony is much more susceptible to cracking than rosewood. I've read somewhere that ebony will always crack, it's just a matter of time.

[jackevorkian]

Rosewood will be a little warmer/rounder sound, ebony will be a bit more articulate. Ebony is similar to an all maple neck strat or tele versus a strat or tele with a maple neck/rosewood board.

[Wizard of Ozz]

Sound. I especially prefer it on bolt-on guitars. Ebony adds to the brighter, snappy sound (especially an ebony board on a maple neck). Maple is a close second. Rosewood is a warmer, darker sound that I like better with set necks.

[Nick Patterson]

What everyone has said above is correct. The sound is brighter and the attack is sharper. I like the feel of it, much harder than rosewood.

[Alainlafrance]

Feels like silk but must be well oiled (Lemon oil) regularly.
Sounds as said before

[Austinrocks]

Ebony is the ideal fingerboard, it is extremely hard to cut and sand, which is why you only see it on the expensive guitars, the cheap ones get by with rosewood which is much easier to work in the shop. Ebony is hard, its bright and articulate on an acoustic or electric it is noticible how it improves the sound, I have it on my 85 Les Paul Custom and my Larrivee acoustic, and its really my favorite fingerboard, much easier to play then rose wood, They have said bright and articulate, I call it punchy, the rose wood fingerboard guitars sound dull. Maple is bright and articulate, its just not as good as ebony, and Maple gets dirty, which is why we have rosewood, rose wood does not show dirt, like maple

on an acoustic I would say it makes a lot of difference, on an electric it can be a nussiance, we say we want bright and articulate, however my Custom originally sounded like a horn, yes a frigging horn, the pickups with the ebony neck created a horn sound out of the guitar, changed the pickups to get a blues sound, but I still have the punch so I can get a horn when I want, and a great golden tone that I trully love. However I tend to prefer the warn tone on my electrics over the punchyness on my Custom, it nice to have both actually.

[paintguy]

Love the feel!!!

That's good enough for me.:D

[Austinrocks]

The ebony does feel nice, however I play at the frets so I really don't feel the neckboard, unless I am playing the note wrong, the note is actually in tune at the fret, and its off pitch when played between the frets, I notice a big difference when I play.

[Jackaroe]

Feels like silk but must be well oiled (Lemon oil) regularly.
Sounds as said before

Yes, lemon oil to deep clean, but be sure to then use a good fingerboard oil to seal. Just constantly using lemon oil will lead to early splitting and cracking. (Not on you, just on the fingerboard) :messedup

[DWB1960]

Speaking of ebony..........

http://host188.ipowerweb.com/%7Edonniebs/pics/fret_3.jpg

[6120]

I think Ebony lasts longer

[Old Tele man]

...EBONY is denser than MAPLE which is denser than ROSEWOOD.

...the denser the wood the more snap/sparkle from the string because the vibrations take longer to be absorbed by the wood.

[klaetos]

I like both of mine! Ebony on my Taylor and Carvin. I use Lizard Spit Fret Board Conditioner (orange oil base) on mine every time I change the strings. Cleans is up, makes it look awesome black and conditions the wood.

Chad