Ebony fretboard on a Tele?

I love the feel and look of ebony boards...I’ve had a couple of G&Ls with ebony fretboards, and that’s amongst my favorite “feels”...

I notice no difference in tone, however.

 

I have an ebony fretboard on a Tele I built. The guitar is modeled like a ‘72 Fender Tele Deluxe with wide range humbuckers. It is bright. The neck came from Warmoth and is mahogany with the an ebony fretboard. I made the body out of mahogany with a Texas mesquite top book matched. It is quite bright.

 

I have an ebony board with two different fret sizes on a homebrew asymmetrical neck on a chambered Tele I built. You cannot get more non-Tele than that, and it still sounds like a Tele.

build thread here:

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/for-my-next-trick-sawing-the-lady-in-half-with-a-twist.993606/

 

My homemade pride and joy

 

It's an ELECTRIC guitar so a thin sliver of ebony would definitely make no difference,still I adore ebony,best feeling and playing fretboard out there IMHO.

 

My 1966 Esquire has an ebony board and alder body... great combination of snap and woody tone....

 

It's awesome. I've a Micawber (spec, not look) Partscaster with a neck from an Am Pro Tele like this one. Tall, narrow frets and ebony- in a word 'Slick'. A fantastic compliment to my rose Am Std.

 

Here's mine, alder body, maple neck with ebony board. I LOVE it!

 

Ebony is my choice but I buy used guitars in the $500 range so I dont see a lot of it. I love the feel and the attack.

 

Ebony’s no sacrilidge just another wood type. Here is mine with ebony albeit not a Tele but something more profound

 

Very pretty.

 

Almost ordered ebony fretboard for my last project, but they were out of stock. Happy with the rosewood though.

Some say say (on the internet) that some may have had some issues with some maple + ebony necks, but have no clue is it really any riskier structure than anything else?

 

Man, that's a beautiful guitar. Good call on the inlay, as long as it's got side dots!

 

Looks great.
Recalling the "What colour is the dress" kerfuffle from a few years ago, is that a black strap or a blue strap?

 

No sacrilege . Ebony is my number one wood for all fretboards behind Brazilian rosewood, It's purely about feel and style. Fretboards have no tonal qualities. Some people believe maple is brighter I have to throw the B.S. flag. The frets and the strings along with the player and pickups create the tone . Throw in pedals and amplification into the mix. Now how a guitar even a solid body resonates acoustically is all about the wood choices.

 

Levinson Blade T3 had ebony board. Haven't played one myself, but I own an R4, which is basically the same, but a Stratalike. Would love to get a T3. Proper works of art.
As for ebony/maple structure... Mine's 32 years old and as good as new.
75-83 Les Paul Customs used ebony on maple, as did same era 355s.
It's only a bad combo when made by people who have no idea what they're doing.

 

View attachment 788828 NOthing but ebony would have fit on this tele.

 

The Tele I built has the default maple 'board but the Strat got un-inlayed ebony. I can't really speak to the tonal properties since both are chambered and I don't think the 'board's influence on tone is influential enough to discern from other factors affecting tone. Mainly, I much prefer the look and feel of ebony. Is it sacrilege on a Tele? Who cares? I fantasize about an ebony 'board on a set neck Tele with a chambered body and P90's. Let the purists cringe and howl!

 

It's only sacrilege if you don't play it because of what someone else thinks. I have two Teles and a Strat with ebony. I like the feel and the snap and the fact theres no finish on the fretboard.

 

Not with P90's and a Marshall it doesn't.