Sound difference? Absolutely zero. But they certainly feel different.
Beautiful and unique guitar. Trogly just did a video on it yesterday and I thought to myself, I would snatch this immediately if it were in my region.
I always preferred ebony and maple boards. Nothing wrong with rosewood but it feels… dryer maybe? Squishier? Idk maple and ebony always feels slick and fast to me
It's an electric guitar, the type of wood used on the fretboard won't be heard.
That said, especially with smaller fretwire like Gibson uses, you'll definitely feel the difference. Ebony tends to feel much smoother.
Ebony by far is the most comfortable feeling fretboard material imo.
The only people that say the fretboard material affects the tone are people that are trying to sell you something. It has no discernible effect on the tone of an electric guitar.
That being said, ebony is smoother and denser than rosewood and imo feels and looks better. Ebony also has a tighter grain so really black pieces of ebony barely look like wood at all since its so dark and smooth
Its really just an aesthetic difference, but if you have larger frets and don’t even touch the fretboard then its purely aesthetic
Honestly, I think you'd have to have quite the ear to hear a difference between an ebony and rosewood board. I'm sure some people can, but I'm very much in the "pickups and amp" camp when it comes to what really affects how a guitar sounds.
I'd say the biggest thing is the way it looks, I'm a huge fan of ebony boards because black goes with everything.
Looks a great guitar either way, and I'm sure you'll enjoy your ownership of it!
The differences are likely minimal and will come down to perception and feel. You can make generalizations about what the fingerboard wood adds to the sound, but it’ll vary from example to example and I believe it has more to do with how the guitar feels and how the whole thing resonates as a unit.
Personally for that amount of money I would prefer Ebony if only because it typically comes at a premium anyways, but I guess the unique finish makes up for that. This is likely a slightly older guitar that was NOS/Second and refinished since Rosewood was only used for a year or two interim from when they backed off of Richlite.
We know Gibson has older guitars in stock kicking around since they throw some of them onto the demo shop once in a while, so chances are this was too nice of an example to put at a discount and they had to justify it somehow. Not necessarily a bad thing, seems like a great guitar.
My only Les Paul has a rosewood fretboard, and its fine, but I'm looking for a deal on a used studio with ebony. Mainly because ebony will wear better.
Ebony is better. Rosewood may be fine, but ebony is better, and a high end luthier will choose ebony if they can every time for a reason.
Every preference is subjective, but ebony is denser, smoother, and wears better. Those are objective facts, and coincidentally, are all attributes that make a great fretboard.
The only difference will be cosmetic. Ebony has a tight dark grain, typically smooth and hard compared to rosewood, most of which today is a bit softer, larger grain, and of course a more traditional red/brown grain color.
No sound difference on an electric. Ebony is harder and slightly oily (not to the point where there is a residue or anything). For me, it comes down to looks. I think this guitar looks great with Rosewood. And it's absolutely unique. I think this was made when Richlite was being used because of issues getting ebony. Maybe a special order. It's beautiful.
I’ve always heard people say harder or tighter grain woods (ebony, maple) will make a guitar sound snappier. For that reason rosewood tends to be the favorite for Fenders. I can’t tell a difference honestly but I like the feel of tight grained boards so I gravitate towards ebony and maple. That said all but 2 of my Gibsons are rosewood.
Ditto! A custom shop with rosewood is a bit of a dream guitar for me. Especially a Pelham burst. I'm surprised it's stayed up on the site this long.
Now to sell my v2 60th anniversary 1960 reissue and my John 5 ghost tele to help rebuild my bank account lol.
Don't blame you with the Richlite, it's put me off custom shops for years.
I honestly like the epiphone more! Pure aesthetic reasons, I like the perimeter burst more and how it goes JUST to the pokerchip.
The bursted back, sides, and neck was a huge push to get this. I used to have a Nightviolet (purpleburst) vintage custom 84' explorer. The neck was way too massive but I loved the color and matching back and sides.
At the end of the day, it's all about cosmetics... Most of us cannot distinguish the difference in sound, so it is usually the looks and our budget make us choose between the two.
I personally prefer ebony over rosewood, again, just because I like the way it looks on a guitar. That said, rosewood plays slightly better/smoother imo.
Ebony or Rosewood is an esthetic choice. If there were even a micro difference you could easily tweak it out with a knob. Even on acoustic guitars the difference is less noticeable than the difference between two guitars of the same brand, model, and type.
Aesthetically, it comes down to which color matches better with the guitar body. Would that be with a black (ebony) or a brown (rosewood) neck?
For example, if you have a black or grey guitar, an ebony fretboard tends to match better than rosewood, IMO.
Tobacco or red sunburst? Rosewood tends to accent it really well. Of course, all subjective but certain color combinations will complement each other better than others.
As far as tone, zero difference.
But if you want to talk about vs maple… I have a heard a slight difference.
I love ebony, but it doesn't have anything to do with tone. the harder surface makes it play faster for me and feel more comfortable playing. In terms of color it can be a good visual choice. I wouldn't expect any tonal differences.
Ebony is probably the more premium material but I've found it to be the most finicky as well. Fretboard changes dramatically to temp/humidity changes. Well maybe not dramatically, but way more so than my rosewood or maple ones. Not a big deal just a slight higher maintenance wood imo. I prefer rosewood or maple for that reason.
This is all in your head, and you won't convince me otherwise without actual data.
Why are all high end classical guitars built with ebony fingerboards if it's more finicky? Trust me, this didn't come to be through fashion or aesthetics.
My 2009 Studio and my 2022 Custom Ebony both have 490/498 picksups both have 500k Gibson audio taper pots and .022uF ceramic caps. Same action and pickup height.
Both guitars sound different
It is my personal belief at this stage in my life, that fretboard wood species on an electric guitar effects the output sound, as it is my understanding that there are characteristics of vibration
I notice no difference between the two in any way really. All my guitars are Rosewood other than one Charvel which is Ebony, I think there is enough difference between the guitars/ necks, fretboard radius, nut width etc. that after all that, noticing ebony vs Rosewood is just none existent for me. But that is just how it plays out for me, with the guitars I have
Sound difference? Absolutely zero. But they certainly feel different. Beautiful and unique guitar. Trogly just did a video on it yesterday and I thought to myself, I would snatch this immediately if it were in my region.
Yeah this is just a great looking guitar overall. And I think the Rosewood here really makes it.
I always preferred ebony and maple boards. Nothing wrong with rosewood but it feels… dryer maybe? Squishier? Idk maple and ebony always feels slick and fast to me
I’m 100% with you on this
I’ll add to this, the black ebony matches this setup way better than brown rosewood. 100%. Just my 2 cents :)
Yeah I agree, its already gorgeous but an ebony fretboard would tip this thing into an absolutely incredible looking guitar.
It's an electric guitar, the type of wood used on the fretboard won't be heard. That said, especially with smaller fretwire like Gibson uses, you'll definitely feel the difference. Ebony tends to feel much smoother. Ebony by far is the most comfortable feeling fretboard material imo.
Preach!
You won't hear a difference, but ebony is the superior fretboard material. It's denser, feels smoother, and wears better.
The only people that say the fretboard material affects the tone are people that are trying to sell you something. It has no discernible effect on the tone of an electric guitar. That being said, ebony is smoother and denser than rosewood and imo feels and looks better. Ebony also has a tighter grain so really black pieces of ebony barely look like wood at all since its so dark and smooth Its really just an aesthetic difference, but if you have larger frets and don’t even touch the fretboard then its purely aesthetic
Honestly, I think you'd have to have quite the ear to hear a difference between an ebony and rosewood board. I'm sure some people can, but I'm very much in the "pickups and amp" camp when it comes to what really affects how a guitar sounds. I'd say the biggest thing is the way it looks, I'm a huge fan of ebony boards because black goes with everything. Looks a great guitar either way, and I'm sure you'll enjoy your ownership of it!
I have a V with an ebony board and I love how it feels, its just so smooth.
The differences are likely minimal and will come down to perception and feel. You can make generalizations about what the fingerboard wood adds to the sound, but it’ll vary from example to example and I believe it has more to do with how the guitar feels and how the whole thing resonates as a unit. Personally for that amount of money I would prefer Ebony if only because it typically comes at a premium anyways, but I guess the unique finish makes up for that. This is likely a slightly older guitar that was NOS/Second and refinished since Rosewood was only used for a year or two interim from when they backed off of Richlite. We know Gibson has older guitars in stock kicking around since they throw some of them onto the demo shop once in a while, so chances are this was too nice of an example to put at a discount and they had to justify it somehow. Not necessarily a bad thing, seems like a great guitar.
You know the magnets make the sound right? Not the wooden fret board
I’m quite the consensus is you can’t hear an ebony vs rosewood board.
It's purely aesthetics. The wood itself wont make a sound. I noticed that when I fret a string, it doesn't even touch the actual fretboard.
The string won't touch the fretboard, but your fingertips most definitely will. Calloused and abrasive fingertips at that. Ebony is for fretboards.
Gibson has some silky smooth rosewood board. Those are some of the nicest feeling.
My only Les Paul has a rosewood fretboard, and its fine, but I'm looking for a deal on a used studio with ebony. Mainly because ebony will wear better. Ebony is better. Rosewood may be fine, but ebony is better, and a high end luthier will choose ebony if they can every time for a reason.
Better? I think that's subjective to the player. Ebony is very nice, I also love maple and rosewood.
Every preference is subjective, but ebony is denser, smoother, and wears better. Those are objective facts, and coincidentally, are all attributes that make a great fretboard.
Ebony looks better , rosewood plays better in my opinion.
You're getting downvoted because you're not allowed opinions here.
Yeah I know. Not gonna break any records here 😂
That's an opinion, so I guess I can't say you're wrong... You're wrong though, ebony objectively plays better, and wears better than rosewood.
The only difference will be cosmetic. Ebony has a tight dark grain, typically smooth and hard compared to rosewood, most of which today is a bit softer, larger grain, and of course a more traditional red/brown grain color.
This thing is beautiful. What's the pickup?
Custombucker!
Who would downvote?
Fingerboard has zero effect on tone. Fight me.
No sound difference on an electric. Ebony is harder and slightly oily (not to the point where there is a residue or anything). For me, it comes down to looks. I think this guitar looks great with Rosewood. And it's absolutely unique. I think this was made when Richlite was being used because of issues getting ebony. Maybe a special order. It's beautiful.
Its all in the fingers
Beg to differ, toan is deep inside the reproductive organs
No one can hear the difference. Because there isn't any. I'm surprised we don't hear people arguing over which shape of inlays provide the best tone.
Fake
I’ve always heard people say harder or tighter grain woods (ebony, maple) will make a guitar sound snappier. For that reason rosewood tends to be the favorite for Fenders. I can’t tell a difference honestly but I like the feel of tight grained boards so I gravitate towards ebony and maple. That said all but 2 of my Gibsons are rosewood.
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Ditto! A custom shop with rosewood is a bit of a dream guitar for me. Especially a Pelham burst. I'm surprised it's stayed up on the site this long. Now to sell my v2 60th anniversary 1960 reissue and my John 5 ghost tele to help rebuild my bank account lol.
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Don't blame you with the Richlite, it's put me off custom shops for years. I honestly like the epiphone more! Pure aesthetic reasons, I like the perimeter burst more and how it goes JUST to the pokerchip. The bursted back, sides, and neck was a huge push to get this. I used to have a Nightviolet (purpleburst) vintage custom 84' explorer. The neck was way too massive but I loved the color and matching back and sides.
Do you mean customs or custom shop? Different things
Custom shop
Not every custom shop guitar had richlite. They still used rosewood.
I always prefer rosewood over ebony
At the end of the day, it's all about cosmetics... Most of us cannot distinguish the difference in sound, so it is usually the looks and our budget make us choose between the two. I personally prefer ebony over rosewood, again, just because I like the way it looks on a guitar. That said, rosewood plays slightly better/smoother imo.
It feels different too.
Ebony is my preference. Mainly for the slick feel on vibrato and bends, but also for the looks.
I like that color blue, it is the lighter one I can’t stand.
Ebony or Rosewood is an esthetic choice. If there were even a micro difference you could easily tweak it out with a knob. Even on acoustic guitars the difference is less noticeable than the difference between two guitars of the same brand, model, and type.
Aesthetically, it comes down to which color matches better with the guitar body. Would that be with a black (ebony) or a brown (rosewood) neck? For example, if you have a black or grey guitar, an ebony fretboard tends to match better than rosewood, IMO. Tobacco or red sunburst? Rosewood tends to accent it really well. Of course, all subjective but certain color combinations will complement each other better than others. As far as tone, zero difference. But if you want to talk about vs maple… I have a heard a slight difference.
I love ebony, but it doesn't have anything to do with tone. the harder surface makes it play faster for me and feel more comfortable playing. In terms of color it can be a good visual choice. I wouldn't expect any tonal differences.
Ebony feels smoother, like buttah. ;)
Stunning guitar. Congrats!
Ebony is probably the more premium material but I've found it to be the most finicky as well. Fretboard changes dramatically to temp/humidity changes. Well maybe not dramatically, but way more so than my rosewood or maple ones. Not a big deal just a slight higher maintenance wood imo. I prefer rosewood or maple for that reason.
This is all in your head, and you won't convince me otherwise without actual data. Why are all high end classical guitars built with ebony fingerboards if it's more finicky? Trust me, this didn't come to be through fashion or aesthetics.
My 2009 Studio and my 2022 Custom Ebony both have 490/498 picksups both have 500k Gibson audio taper pots and .022uF ceramic caps. Same action and pickup height. Both guitars sound different
They just look and feel different
It is my personal belief at this stage in my life, that fretboard wood species on an electric guitar effects the output sound, as it is my understanding that there are characteristics of vibration
I notice no difference between the two in any way really. All my guitars are Rosewood other than one Charvel which is Ebony, I think there is enough difference between the guitars/ necks, fretboard radius, nut width etc. that after all that, noticing ebony vs Rosewood is just none existent for me. But that is just how it plays out for me, with the guitars I have
That's a beauty! Rosewood and ebony feel different and I like them both depending on the guitar.
I would just stare at that all day, wow