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Posted
On 13/06/2025 at 21:23, Lfalex v1.1 said:

IIRC the Fender Roscoe Beck had a Pau Ferro board. And they're quite desirable. 

True. This is often described as the holy grail of Fender 5 string basses and I've never heard anything negative about the fingerboard in that context. They're so rare however that I've never seen one.

Posted
On 13/06/2025 at 09:21, admiralchew said:

I have pau ferro on a fretted Warwick Streamer and on the Fender Jaco fretless jazz and I like it a lot on both. In fact, I liked it so much on the Warwick that I was giving serious consideration to using it on a custom bass. I loved how warm the tone was, albeit it’s difficult to discern how much of that is down to the fretboard wood and how much is down to other factors.

Wow I had no idea Warwick used PF. Is this a German or import Streamer out of interest?

  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I had it on a Fender Stu Hamm signature model. Was all good.

Me too, my early USA Fender Stu Hamm signature "Urge" 32ins scale bass had pau ferro fret board, great finish, very closed grain, absolutely fine.

Posted
2 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Wow I had no idea Warwick used PF. Is this a German or import Streamer out of interest?

It’s one of their Teambuilt (so German-made) annual limited models where they change things up a bit in terms of spec. It’s the bolt-on LX model and has a black korina body and Bartolini soapbars in it.

 

IMG_3698.thumb.jpeg.94bbd5d61d7d66bc557959fd5aadc32f.jpeg

 

Here’s a demo (playing at 2:09 onwards):

 

 

  • Like 2
Posted

Before it came into use as a ' substitute' for rosewood, I'd always assumed pau ferro was a premium option, seeing it on Sadowskys and higher spec Fenders (such as SRV strat) etc.

 

I've never owned a bass with a pf board, but I from what I've heard suspect I would like it!

  • Like 2
Posted

It's a blessing for fretless.

I actually thought it would be rosewood (like it's supposed to be according to the database of Ernie Ball) until I got another one of which I knew for sure that it's got a Pau Ferro fingerboard.

Plays nice, feels warm and looks good.

 

2025-06-16 8.37.36 pm.jpg

  • Like 4
Posted
On 13/06/2025 at 09:13, neepheid said:

I don't even notice the fingerboard when I'm playing and I don't think I'm particularly delicate when I'm pushing down on strings.  Ignorance is bliss, I guess.  It's a purely aesthetic choice for me, and it sounds like I'm fortunate, because agonising over what a thin strip of wood is made of sure seems to torture and torment a few folk out there.

 

It changes the tone ….

 

🍿

  • Haha 5
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

You lower the tone... ;)

I only scoop out the lower mids, like a blessed piece of fairy wood (ie. ‘62 alder, touched by Saint Leo)

Edited by Geek99
  • Haha 4
Posted
39 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

I only scoop out the lower mids, like a blessed piece of fairy wood (ie. ‘62 alder, touched by Saint Leo)

"Saint Leo" only used alder because it was cheap and available but fairy wood still made me laugh 😃 

  • Haha 1
Posted
1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

"Saint Leo" only used alder because it was cheap and available but fairy wood still made me laugh 😃 

I know - in 100 years time people will be ascribing magical qualities to fender Japan 62 reissues made of bog standard poplar.
it makes me laugh 

  • Haha 2
Posted
2 hours ago, tauzero said:

As ferro is iron, is it good for metal?

As metals go, it’s fairly good 

Posted

I've had a few fretless Stingrays, all with Pau Ferro boards and found them all well suited to the job.  I don't think it looks as cosmetically nice as ebony but that's a minor point.  One thing I did note though is that it's a bit on the brittle side, I had the board resurfaced on a SR5 as it had a little wear and when the nut was removed a bit of the board at the back of the nut popped off and had to be glued back into place.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 12/06/2025 at 14:49, BigRedX said:

Unless the bass is fretless you shouldn't be pressing down on the strings so hard that you come into contact with the fingerboard.

 

For me fretted bass fingerboards are chosen for looks and nothing else.

Nailed it. 

  • 3 months later...
Posted

I really like the way Paul ferro looks, a nice bit is quite pinkish, like they use on Fodera, Sadowsky and USA-made Spector basses. I can remember when pau ferro was considered an upmarket upgrade on rosewood. It doesn't put me off in the slightest.

 

Take this with a pinch of salt if you like, but Roger Sadowsky says that forty-odd years experience building basses has taught him that fingerboard wood makes much more of a difference to the tone than body wood.  Furthermore, he is a big fan of pau ferro (or morado, as he calls it) for it's tonal properties. It's supposedly a bit brighter than rosewood but warmer than maple and without the "clackiness" you can get from ebony. If it's good enough for Roger, it's good enough for me. Fodera reckon it's a great-sounding wood for the same reason and it's their default choice if you are ordering a fretted bass from them.

 

 FWIW, my own personal experience is that whether a fingerboard is lacquered or not makes a much bigger difference to the sound of the bass than what the wood is. A lacquered maple board sounds very different to rosewood, whereas as maple fingerboard without lacquer does not so much.

 

  • Like 1
Posted
17 minutes ago, Misdee said:

I really like the way Paul ferro looks, a nice bit is quite pinkish, like they use on Fodera, Sadowsky and USA-made Spector basses. I can remember when pau ferro was considered an upmarket upgrade on rosewood. It doesn't put me off in the slightest.

 

Take this with a pinch of salt if you like, but Roger Sadowsky says that forty-odd years experience building basses has taught him that fingerboard wood makes much more of a difference to the tone than body wood.  Furthermore, he is a big fan of pau ferro (or morado, as he calls it) for it's tonal properties. It's supposedly a bit brighter than rosewood but warmer than maple and without the "clackiness" you can get from ebony. If it's good enough for Roger, it's good enough for me. Fodera reckon it's a great-sounding wood for the same reason and it's their default choice if you are ordering a fretted bass from them.

 

 FWIW, my own personal experience is that whether a fingerboard is lacquered or not makes a much bigger difference to the sound of the bass than what the wood is. A lacquered maple board sounds very different to rosewood, whereas as maple fingerboard without lacquer does not so much.

 

My sadowsky metro has a Pau Ferro board. If I was only able to play one bass for the rest of my life and could choose any - I would choose that bass... so yeah Pau Ferro is fine

  • Like 2
Posted
On 12/06/2025 at 14:49, BigRedX said:

Unless the bass is fretless you shouldn't be pressing down on the strings so hard that you come into contact with the fingerboard.

 

For me fretted bass fingerboards are chosen for looks and nothing else.

Yes but if they are made of tonewood🍿

Posted
35 minutes ago, Misdee said:

FWIW, my own personal experience is that whether a fingerboard is lacquered or not makes a much bigger difference to the sound of the bass than what the wood is

 

Agreed, IME the variability in wood is far greater than the variability in lacquer. My preference on a fretless is lacquered maple, although I have an un-lacquered maple that is also nice. I used to be 100% into ebony but am increasingly finding it a little characterless/sterile, while I still find rosewood a bit tame. I must revisit Pau Ferro which I had on a mid 90's 'Ray FL and quite liked 

  • Like 1

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