Ebony and temprature changes.

[Thrash]

Hello fellow esp players. I have a problem.
I am the proud owner of 2 LTDs and 1 ESP.
My two Ltd's works like a charm. Especialy my DV8r one, what an amazing guitar this is. And my good ol '98 m200 (ORF and EMGs replaced the original crap) works awsome aswell.

Both of them have Rosewood fretboards.
My ESP SV std on the other hand have as you know Ebony.

I live in sweden, where the temprature changes alot, all the time. And my damn SV just cant stay in tune. As soon as summer turns to fall all hell breaks lose and my guitar decides to bend like a banana and the bridge just points straight down. My Ltd m200 (with Original Floyd) never does this.
Im not a pro on handling guitars but I do know some when it comes to floyd rose bridges. But I dont wanna mess around with the trussrod, cos I dont know how that works and it's a pain in the ass if you are not experienced with it with all the tuning and then and... you know what I mean, you have to retune as soon as you touch it and then you realize you pulled abit to much, retune all strings again, frustration++, (ye im a noob dont hit me :) )

Anyway, enough rant. I asked the guy at the guitarstore why my Ltds never does this and he said it was the Ebony in my SV and its alot more sensitive to temprature then Rosewood. Is this true or false? I need to know this cos if it's true I guess I will sell my SV cos I cant be arsed anymore with this :( and then I will stay away from Ebony forever, even though it looks so nice.

Can anyone enlighten me?
Thanks.

[ESPVIPERCAMO]

false dont listen to this guy

[Metfuk]

Unfortunately I don't know more about this YET.
But I've seen Gibsons with ebony fretboards and the fretboard had become wider than the neck! :eek: There was this SG I saw and the fretboard stuck out like 1 mm at both sides of the fretboard.
It's also happening with my Gibson EXP now but you can only see it if you look closely. So it's not gone wild yet.

All I know is that ebony is very dense and I don't know if that's good or bad in this situation.
(argh I hate myself, I'm supposed to know!)

[Gfunk]

Get yourself a temperature/humidity sensor in the same room where you keep your guitars. Then try to keep the temperature and humidity as consistent as possible (for example @ 67-72F / 40-45% RH). I keep my guitars on racks and have never had a problem. Good luck!

[thrill74]

Usually Ebony in a dry or exceptionally cold climate will shrink quite a bit. It's not a dense as Maple, but close. No where near as porous or naturally oily like Rosewood either. Ebony is a great fretboard wood no doubt. It just needs to settle in one climate more or less. A few companies will seal Ebony boards with a "laquer". Nothing as drastic as a Rickenbacker fretboard but just a small amount, satiny. I had a couple of custom guitars made and on each one I had the fretboard finished just because I chose Ebony. Stays in tune fine wherever it goes. Maybe a little shifting here and there but nothing major.

[guitarsatbmusic]

The NECK won't change shape due to the fingerboard being more prone to temperature. Your neck is maple, let's not forget that.
For all we know your truss rod is not doing anything. Has it even been professonally setup, and I don't mean the factory setup.

[Thrash]

thanks everyone for your replies

The NECK won't change shape due to the fingerboard being more prone to temperature. Your neck is maple, let's not forget that.
For all we know your truss rod is not doing anything. Has it even been professonally setup, and I don't mean the factory setup.

ye the neck is maple on all my guitars and it's only the SV that f**ks up. And it has been professonally setup 3-4 times since I bought it summer 2005.

[Metfuk]

Maybe there's something else wrong with it?
A fucked up neck joint or weak bridge/tail piece studs.

[Armitage]

You guys... :rolleyes:

Ebony IS alot more sensitive to temperture and humidity changes then Rosewood.

That's why you'll find all kinds of guitars with ebony fretboards with the frets sticking out the sides, that's because it continued to dry out long after the frets were installed. Can anyone say "Gibson Faded" series? They were all rushed out before the fretboards had dried to the usual 44%.

Ebony is a hard wood, with a beautiful classy black, but it needs more attention then rosewood. Depending where you live, every rosewood or ebony fretboard should get a touch of light mineral oil, (or lemon oil or some such, once or twice a year).

This slows the effects of humidity changes.

Ebony cracks too...

[TheDevilHimself]

^^ yes...

But I would find it strange to find that the neck's stability comes from the FRETBOARD. I think it should come from the wood of the neck, the maple piece. Maybe the neck is fairly thin on this guitar so it reacts rather sensitive?

My Ibanez always reacted much more quickly to climate changes than my SG. Pain in the ass, too...

[thrill74]

Roughly over 1/3 of the neck as a whole is made up of the fretboard. If the fretboard wants to twist or shrink then the neck, as a whole is going to go through some stability changes. If the fretboard wasn't bonded to the rest of the neck with glue then technically yes, it shouldn't affect the neck's stability.

[KH Guitar Freak]

Instead of just speculating what is and what isn't, why not just get it setup and end this conversation??? :p

[KFW]

As stated in the Chris Broderick Ibanez thread, he was quoted as saying he chose dyed Rosewood over Ebony for his custom Ibanez's because ebony is too temperamental.

[Thrashman]

Pissed off ebony wood haunts you my dear!

[Armitage]

^^ yes...

But I would find it strange to find that the neck's stability comes from the FRETBOARD.

It's the instability that comes from the wood exposed to the rapid changes in humidity. :hat

[TheDevilHimself]

Ok, that sounds reasonable enough to me. Thanks.

[DarthPhineas]

Have ebony fingerboards on 3 guitars (2 Kramer and 1 ESP) ranging in age from to the late 80s to early 90s. To date, have had no problems. Hope it stays that way.

[idpmofo]

havent had my guitar long, but i have an ebony fretboard. hope i dont run into this problem, no problems so far