[Hýrukante]

i know how great ebony fretboards are but what does it mean when you see Bound Striped Ebony?

it seems to be on alot of Jackson Stars guitars.

[Pablo]

The binding on the Jackson Stars is the light coloured plastic running along the edge of the fretboard. "Striped ebony" simply means that you are not getting a pitch black ebony board (as on a USA Jackson), but one with lighter shades of brown in the figuring of the wood. Pitch black ebony is simply more expensive than slabs with cosmetic "flaws", which - I suspect - is why it is used on the relatively inexpensive Jackson Stars. However, the different colour doesn't make a difference in tone, it's purely an aesthetic issue (and if you want, you can always dye it black ).

Cheers

Eske

[Hýrukante]

Thanks alot!

[xwmucradiox]

Most of the time its actually a different species and macassar ebony, which is striped, is very common on basses.

[dpm]

Macassar is common as far as striped ebonies go

The jet black ebonies are getting very rare, and as they get harder to source the price goes up. I actually prefer the look of stripey ebony and find the Macassar and New Guinea more stable and less prone to cracking than the blacker ones. Ebony trees are generally quite small, very slow growing and yield little heartwood (that's the usable stuff in the middle).

[xwmucradiox]

Also, a lot of ebony used on guitars is already dyed to make it more consistently colored.

[dpm]

^ absolutely

[bazguitarman]

I also noticed this when looking at the Jackson Stars Rhoads 7. I assumed it was a compromise for cost reasons. As stated above most people want pitch black enony with no variations in grain color. This is most commonly found in African Ebony and can be hard to source and therefore more expensive.

There are varieties of ebony that have wildly varied grain coloring though. Macassar ebony is one. And from my experience is actually considered more of a premium and pricier species than African ebony.

I would guess the "striped ebony" that is used on Jackson Stars is normal African ebony that may be deemed less than premium due to the variations in color. I know that a lot of players prefer the black look of ebony, but that is the least of the reasons to use it as a premium tone wood. It`s very dense and has superb attack and sustain. It is great when used with mahogany as it adds a snap to picked notes.

It is a commonly known secret that Gibson uses a lot of "striped ebony" on their models featuring ebony fretboards. After all, there is nothing wrong with the performance of the wood. It`s just a cosmetic thing. They commonly use black fretboard dye on the ebony they use, to even up the coloring.

Eric

[zimbloth]

My Custom Rico Jr has jet black ebony board, but has a spot or two of brown, I kind of like it actually.