Changing bass fretboard?

[StephenR]

Now that we have seen the bass and it already has a dyed fingerboard I think that perhaps Woolimwoo was actually asking about changing out the pau ferro fingerboard for ebony because he likes tonal color and sound of ebony better.

I have one of the early G. Gould GGi5 basses and it has a pau ferro fretboard. The neck is wood reinforced internally with graphite, not the graphite neck he makes now. I generally prefer an ebony fretboard but the pau ferro feels nice and sounds good. The color compliments the cocobolo body and headstock which is probably why it was chosen.

Nice looking bass Woolimwoo! Hope you can find a way to make it work for you 100%.

[Woolimwoo]

That's a great looking bass!  Do you like how it plays and sounds?  Tell me again what it is that's bothering you about it.

Jimmy J

I want to change its pau ferro fretboard to ebony. And I want to figure out it has  "sacrificial veneer", which make it easier to change fretboard. But its neck is painted in black, so I can't see It has sacrificial veneer. Is there any other way to figure out it?

[Woolimwoo]

That's a great looking bass!  Do you like how it plays and sounds?  Tell me again what it is that's bothering you about it.

Jimmy J
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[Woolimwoo]

Now that we have seen the bass and it already has a dyed fingerboard I think that perhaps Woolimwoo was actually asking about changing out the pau ferro fingerboard for ebony because he likes tonal color and sound of ebony better.

I have one of the early G. Gould GGi5 basses and it has a pau ferro fretboard. The neck is wood reinforced internally with graphite, not the graphite neck he makes now. I generally prefer an ebony fretboard but the pau ferro feels nice and sounds good. The color compliments the cocobolo body and headstock which is probably why it was chosen.

Nice looking bass Woolimwoo! Hope you can find a way to make it work for you 100%.

Thanks!

[keith_h]

Mica should be able to chime in to tell us if they were still using sacrificial veneers in 2003. Two of my basses were built in the early 2000's and neither have a sacrificial veneer so I doubt yours will have one.

[JimmyJ]

That's a great looking bass!  Do you like how it plays and sounds?  Tell me again what it is that's bothering you about it.

Jimmy J

I want to change its pau ferro fretboard to ebony. And I want to figure out it has  "sacrificial veneer", which make it easier to change fretboard. But its neck is painted in black, so I can't see It has sacrificial veneer. Is there any other way to figure out it?

Well, again, and I could certainly be wrong, I think that changing that fretted fingerboard from pau ferro to ebony for "tone" would be a costly and time consuming exercise which would result in a very subtle change in the sound of the bass.  I would tend to agree with Bill's suggestion that if you MUST have ebony you might want to keep an eye out for a different bass and trade around.

But I'm not trying to stop you!  Anything is possible, especially with Alembic.  The "Mica" that Keith is referring to is the daughter of the company founders and she knows all the answers.  Watch for her to post in this thread and you'll get some good guidance.

Meanwhile, I hope you've been playing that bass for hours on end!

Jimmy J

[mica]

If your fingerboard is Pau Ferro it wasn't dyed here - we never dye the fingerboards.

I don't believe the sacrificial veneer was in use in 2003, but it may have been. There isn't a master roster of these events, so we have rely on memory for that. It should be quite obvious, even against a natural Pau Ferro. If everything was dyed later it may not be easy to find.

We should check the serial number to see what materials the build record has. Do you know if the bass was black from our shop?

[Woolimwoo]

If your fingerboard is Pau Ferro it wasn't dyed here - we never dye the fingerboards.

I don't believe the sacrificial veneer was in use in 2003, but it may have been. There isn't a master roster of these events, so we have rely on memory for that. It should be quite obvious, even against a natural Pau Ferro. If everything was dyed later it may not be easy to find.

We should check the serial number to see what materials the build record has. Do you know if the bass was black from our shop?

I painted bass and dyed fretboard at G-cat guitar, korea. Its serial number is 03X13026. Is it possible to send my bass to Alembic and change fretboard?