Ebony or...

[Martbass]

Hi there!
 
Need your help here... My '93 essence has an Ebony fretboard, the spec's say. But it's not nearly as black as with my fretless Orion.
 
I've looked it up on the site here, I think it looks more like Pau Ferro. Or how many shades of black are there?  
 
I've included a picture, what do you think?
 

 
(Message edited by tinus on May 19, 2014)

[tubeperson]

Ebony that appears very black is often stained that way. Mistakes can happen, but I would trust the spec sheet if it was issued by Alembic.  More importantly, does it give you the clarity and high end that Ebony normally would?

[Martbass]

Thanks for the reply - And I DO believe the spec's, don't get me wrong. But I'm not the first owner... You never know, people get crazy. One of the previous owners did some strange things, drilling holes and stuff. But if Ebony can look like this (without the blackness on the Alembic site), than I'll forget all about it!
 
I love the tone of this bass. I would love to play fretless 6 string though, I was thinking maybe defretting is an option (or do I sound like that previous owner now? ;-) 'Let's give that running horse soms new legs'?)...
 
Without frets, it might sound a little like my fretless 4-string Orion.

[FC Bass]

If the spec sheet (supplied with the bass like   this ) says Ebony, it most likely is Ebony.
Specs on the Alembic site are standard specs and can be changed in the custom order process.
 
(Message edited by fc_spoiler on May 19, 2014)

[Martbass]

I know, but I was referring to this picture!
This is the same 'blackness' as on my Orion.
http://www3.alembic.com/img/ws_fg_ebonyL.jpg
 

[jazzyvee]

That streaky appearance reminds me of Madagascar Ebony.
Jazzyvee

[xlrogue6]

Mother Nature is a notoriously inconsistent manufacturer.

[lbpesq]

Ebony isn't always black - in fact only about one out of ten trees is all black.  In Cameroon, where much of guitar ebony comes from, the forests are full of felled trees that were just left there because they weren't all black.  Taylor guitars recently bought a mill in Cameroon and is leading the effort to harvest the previously felled non-all black trees and educate the guitar and instrument world to accept non-all black ebony.  You can read about it on the Taylor site.
 
Bill, tgo

[bigredbass]

Someone better versed in wood than me could supply the details as to the species, but I had several Yamaha BB basses that were indeed ebony fingerboards that had brown streaks running the length of the fingerboard, slightly wavy.  They looked somewhat similar to the picture you posted.
 
I liked the way it looked instead of the perfectly black fingerboards.  And yes it's often died to look that way, StewMac sells a fingerboard stain for just such an application.
 
You could post a serial number request, and next time Mica works through a batch of them, Alembic's Build Record would supply the answer.
 
J o e y

[bigredbass]

I hate it when my Spell Checker is on siesta:
 
'It's often D Y E D to look that way'.
 
J o e y

[Martbass]

Thanks all! I love this club.  
 
Mica's search did say Ebony - so Ebony it is!

[rustyg61]

When was the last time it was oiled? Maybe it's just drying out.

[mica]

Not just my search - I looked at a picture and identified it as Macassar Ebony, which is almost always striped. It's also usually what we use on wide fingerboards, though there are a few Gabon Ebony 6-string fingerboards out there.

[Martbass]

Rustyg61: Just done with that! After the picture was taken... And a new set of strings, even did some brass polishing! She's up and ready to go!  
 
Mica: Thanks again!

[Martbass]

:-)