Fingerboard wood - humidity and temperature

Alper Yilmaz

Alper Yilmaz

Supporting Member
Dec 5, 2005
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Istanbul, Turkey
www.alperyilmaz.net
#1
Hi,

I am looking for information on how different fingerboard wood would be affected from changes in humidity and temperature. For instance, my experience with ebony is pretty bad on one of my basses. Despite the fact that the ebony used on that one is quite old, it still works like crazy and causes the frets sticking out particularly in winter months. It is almost impossible for me to keep the temperature and humidity consistent over the course of the year at home. And therefore, I need to do some fret-end work every year. The need is getting less and less each year, but hopefully, some time soon, there won't be much nickel left at the end of the frets to stick out any more! :)

At the moment, I need to decide on the fingerboard wood for my most recent bass order. As I will be using this bass predominantly for travelling and touring, it needs to be stable, and of course, CITES-immune. I have figured out the CITES part (no Brazilian Rosewood or even Pau Ferro), but the stability against temperature and humidity is an important issue at stake.

Any advice would be appreciated. Best,

Alper
 
#4
+1 on Modulus, Status, Steinberger or other carbon/graphite neck. It simply a superior material for a neck all around (IMHO), nearly impervious to changes in humidity and temperature. The consistent material decreases incidence of deadspots and the lack of movement increases tuning stability. My Steinberger is EXACTLY the same every time I pick it up, no surprises, regardless of the weather. Some people say they sound "sterile", whatever that means. Personally I can't hear any notable difference in tone vs wood, your ears may be better than mine. The phenolic "ebanol" fingerboards are supposed to be pretty stable, though some report differential expansion on lined fretless that raises the "lines". That would probably prevent fret spout, but laminating a phenolic fretboard to a wood neck negates some of the advantages of all-carbon graphite. Necks with carbon graphite stiffeners like the Warmoth "Super Bass"are in theory more stable, never owned one, so I can't say if it's true, and they still have wood FB prone to fret sprout.
 
#5
Thanks for the responses and suggestions, folks.

For the time being, I would like to go with wood, as far as the neck and fingerboard goes. Just to open up my question a bit further, my most recent custom acquisition is a Fodera with ash body, ash neck, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, and a koa top. It is a single pickup design with all the controls in the cavity with only a jack on top of the bass. The reason I go for this is simplicity; on my other basses including a 5-string MG back from 2001, the controls just collect dust as I set everything once and almost never touch again. The bass has the shape of an MG but I went for a bolt-on design (first of its kind) and I love it!

Flame Koa Imperial 5 Bolt-On - Fodera

The bass is so stable that it did not need any neck adjustment in the last year and a half I have had it, and the fingerboard does not seem to be working at all despite the temperature and humidity difference between summers and winters in Istanbul, Turkey. In other words, the frets did not need to be re-worked on at all.

Based on the experience with this bass, I am having Fodera build a new bass for me with similar specs with the exception that:

- I would like to have it headless (to fit it in a guitar gig bag) - I have two headless basses (my signature model from Erkan Sızarlar) and they are so practical to carry around;
- I would like to have a fingerboard other than Brazilian rosewood for CITES reasons even though I love it! I stay away from ebony though, as my previous experience has not been very pleasant. I know I am not supposed to generalize based on just one adverse example, but I am not a big fan of ebony's brightness anyway. So I would like to have a tad of warmth in my tone.

So, based on the given above, what would you think?
 
#7
Actually, not Bass Viking... I should have done that, you're right... Even playing an instrument on a daily basis may keep the fingerboard humid enough at times. But once you start playing different basses and the problematic one stays untouched, it starts getting angry at you! :)

Thanks for the advice, by the way. Best,

Alper


Bass Viking said:
Do you oil your fingerboard from time to time? That's supposed to help prevent the board from shrinking in dry weather.
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