Jackson Ebony Boards, beh...

[Gibsonmac]

Has anyone else noticed that alot of the ebony boards on recent USA Jackson's look more like rosewood they're so faded dried/washed out? Almost all of the "NEW" USA Selects on ebay are like that, at least from what I can tell in the pictures, anyway... Even locally, a good share of the USA Selects that show up at the shops are the same way, 'brown' ebony... WTF happened to the quote "blackest ebony fretboards" being used on USA models from the 2003 catalog?

All I'm Saying is that it has been kinda hard to find a decent USA Jackson outside of the custom shop lately. It sucks.

[straycat]

Ebony does have some brown in it.

[Grandturk]

I'm pretty sure all ebony is naturally streaked and is dyed black.

FWIW - the ebony board on my Adrian Smith is fantastic.

[DonP]

I've seen this as well, and it's not just limited to Jackson. Gibson has an issue as well.

Two choices - buy some dye from Stew Mac or some other source (leather tanning), or buy older guitars, like I do.

[Dannyjoe Carter]

Two choices - buy some dye from Stew Mac or some other source (leather tanning)

Yep when I worked for Ed Roman he had us dye fingerboards a lot and claimed most guitarist wouldn't know the difference and sold them as ebony. Though many did and he always made an excuse.
But if you want to take the brown out of your ebony fingerboard use satin black saddle dye.

[Kisonen]

Guitar companies dye ebony to hide imperfections in the wood. Personally I like to see the wood grain and see what quality the board actually is.

[TommyD]

Jackson Ebony Boards, beh...

> It's WAY harder to find totally black ebony than you think,trust me I'm constantly looking for it. When I do find it,a 1 3/8 x 1 3/8 x 14" stick like you would use to make a pool cue blank costs about 120.00. Ebony fretboard blanks are usually cut from a 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 by 18" square that would cost maybe 300 bucks,and they only get 5 maybe 6 boards from that. Let's say they pay 60 bucks for a primo blank. The streaked ebony,which is the same wood,probably no difference in tone,costs 3.00 in bulk.

Cost effectiveness-wise,there is no way they could justify the cost unless they saved wood like that for CS stuff.

Plus,they would have to pay someone to travel full-time because wood that nice can only be found IN PERSON and in small amounts,not coming in on a pallet that regularly brings in raw materials to a factory. The person picking it out is going to be knowledgable enough that his time wouldn't be anywhere close to cheap.

I'm waiting to see a cocobolo fretboard. The stuff is WAY nicer looking than ebony,downright wild at times,would cost about the same in raw form,and tonally probably about the same,both are extremely dense. The only drawback is that cocobolo dust is poisonous in large amounts,just use gloves and a paper mask when working it. Tommy D.

[Larz]

Yep when I worked for Ed Roman he had us dye fingerboards a lot and claimed most guitarist wouldn't know the difference and sold them as ebony. Though many did and he always made an excuse.
But if you want to take the brown out of your ebony fingerboard use satin black saddle dye.

Ha ha, just when you thought Ed's reputation couldn't get any worse around here.

[Gibsonmac]

Yeah, that dude seems Shady Deeluxe!! I had a few dealings with him, a few years back about making my PRS "Awesome" by "Romanizing" it... and every time I talked to the guy I was always left with a bad taste in my mouth...

plus the dude babbles half truths and whole lies about 24 fret guitars, 25" scale, and the line of nodes... (which in his examples is only true with playing an open string, as the node moves with every fretted note)

OK I'm done ranting about Roman, and his infinite knowledge.

[Matt_B]

When Ed Roman eventually passes away, it will indeed be a great loss to the buffet community.

[Gibsonmac]

When Ed Roman eventually passes away, it will indeed be a great loss to the buffet community.

HAHAHAHA... holy shit thats awesome...

[etepbbb]

Different localities of Ebony is darker, or others have more streaks. I think the nice dark types are now harder to get for whatever reason. As a consequence, the worlds Ebony market is stuck with a lower grade(streakier) wood, then what was previously available. I only know this because I was looking for some, and one of the lumber companies had mentioned the tighting market on the nicer material. The nicer stuff is still around, but really expensive compared to other streakie boards.

[Dannyjoe Carter]

Ha ha, just when you thought Ed's reputation couldn't get any worse around here.

Yep I worked for him for 14 months and had to quit because he was always cheating me. Shorting my checks, you name it. Plus I was really blown away with how crooked he really was. Making tons of forgeries and selling them as originals.
I was in fear of bad karma myself because of the way he was ripping people off and myself and others had to do the work!!

[rattlehead74]

Yep when I worked for Ed Roman he had us dye fingerboards a lot and claimed most guitarist wouldn't know the difference and sold them as ebony. Though many did and he always made an excuse.
But if you want to take the brown out of your ebony fingerboard use satin black saddle dye.

Could that be done to rosewood without huring it?

[Gibsonmac]

hurting it? well probably not, but that doesn't mean it would be a good idea.