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Carlis Hsu
05-27-2012, 05:53 AM
I've got my Ken Smith BSR5EG from Basscentral in August last year. The bass was built in 2009.

Today when I looked at the fingerboard I found there were many "grains" all over it:

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w423/Carlishsu/Ken%20Smith%20Fingerboard/IMG_4708.jpg

The whole series of pictures is here, from frets 1 to 24: http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w423/Carlishsu/Ken%20Smith%20Fingerboard/

Is that normal/acceptable? I've checked some pictures of ebony board but none of them look like that...

Ken Smith
05-27-2012, 06:03 AM
I've got my Ken Smith BSR5EG from Basscentral in August last year. The bass was built in 2009.

Today when I looked at the fingerboard I found there were many "grains" all over it:

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w423/Carlishsu/Ken%20Smith%20Fingerboard/IMG_4708.jpg

The whole series of pictures is here, from frets 1 to 24: http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w423/Carlishsu/Ken%20Smith%20Fingerboard/

Is that normal/acceptable? I've checked some pictures of ebony board but none of them look like that...

This is Macassar Ebony and it has open grain. Very normal. Some pieces have more and some have less. It is just the wood. NOT cracks.
http://www.kensmithbasses.com/woodpages/ebony.html

Richard Pearson
05-27-2012, 08:56 PM
It's kinda funny, I have a MIA Fender P( yes I do have a Smith too:)) with a rosewood board and noticed the same thing the other day, with slight concern....the back of my mind and slight knowledge of wood I have told me that was normal.

Ken Smith
05-27-2012, 09:16 PM
It's kinda funny, I have a MIA Fender P( yes I do have a Smith too:)) with a rosewood board and noticed the same thing the other day, with slight concern....the back of my mind and slight knowledge of wood I have told me that was normal.

I have a MIA Fender P? Your Fender is Missing In Action? :eek:

Seriously guys, most players have seen a few pieces of wood comparatively. I have handles thousands of pieces and if there is something wrong with the wood, it will not end up in a Smith Bass. Usually, it becomes firewood if defective.

Carlis Hsu
05-28-2012, 04:36 AM
Your Fender is Missing In Action? :eek:

Seriously guys, most players have seen a few pieces of wood comparatively. I have handles thousands of pieces and if there is something wrong with the wood, it will not end up in a Smith Bass. Usually, it becomes firewood if defective.

I have 100% faith in your wisdom about woods. What I was afraid of was that I did something bad or failed to do something good to the fingerboard, causing those grains.

I have another question about wood combination but since it's off the topic I will open a new thread for discussioin.