Laurel and Pau Ferro Fingerboards?

[Sparky Mark]

On 31/12/2022 at 13:51, thebrig said:

Just wondering how many of you are put off buying a bass if the fingerboard is either Laurel, or Pau Ferro.

 

I have to admit that I am, it's the paler colour I don't like, especially as I love a really dark rosewood board.

 

In a blind test, I'm sure most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in sound, or playability.

 

Am I the only one?

For me it depends on the bass. I had a Bongo with a lighter fretboard and I was fine with it. Rickys need to be reddish. However, for my Fender Jazz and Precisions, I want the rosewood to be as dark as possible so I use mineral oils (either fretboard conditioner, lemon oil or woodwind bore oil) to feed and darken them.

I'm often amazed at how bone dry the rosewood is on some of my acquisitions. For an initial feed I use clarinet bore oil which feels slightly thicker to me than lemon oil and really nourishes a dry fretboard and brings out the beauty of the grain.

[Skybone]

25 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

Rickys need to be reddish.

 

IIRC, Rickenbacker have been using Pau Ferro for years (early 2000's?).

[Misdee]

38 minutes ago, Skybone said:

 

IIRC, Rickenbacker have been using Pau Ferro for years (early 2000's?).

I think Rickenbacker have been using the aforementioned Caribbean rosewood for the past few years. Before that I know they had dabbled with jacaranda and bubinga for fingerboard wood, as well as traditional rosewood.

 

I saw that Rickenbacker have recently stopped lacquering their fingerboards. That's a bit of a deal breaker for me. My experience is that to lacquer a board makes much more of a difference to the tone of a bass than the choice of wood. Maple boards with lacquer sound much brighter than those without. I expect that the lacquered fretboard has been a significant element of the Ric tone we all know and love.

[Sparky Mark]

43 minutes ago, Skybone said:

 

IIRC, Rickenbacker have been using Pau Ferro for years (early 2000's?).

My 4003S certainly looked too red to be rosewood but the website says rosewood still. 

 

[Dan Dare]

4 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

My 4003S certainly looked too red to be rosewood but the website says rosewood still. 

 

 

There is rosewood and rosewood - Indian, Brazilian, Madagascan, etc - and colour/grain pattern and density varies between them. Within any type, colour, etc can vary according to which part of the tree it comes from. Or perhaps Rick may be being a little creative with the biology. Pau Ferro is not a member of the Dalbergia family like Rosewoods but it is part of Machaerium, a closely related genus.

 

Given that they lacquer their boards, any wood with the right hardness should do the job.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Dan Dare

[asingardenof]

Sadowsky have used Pau Ferro fingerboards for years, and while I might prefer a different wood the use of PF certainly wouldn't put me off buying a Sadowsky!

[BigRedX]

So long as it looks right to go with the rest of the bass and it is structurally sufficient, I really don't care what the fingerboard is made out of.