PSA - 60s Vintera Jazz Bass

[Dave W]

Firemist Gold on sale for $599 at Adorama. Regular street price is $840.

[ilan]

Nice looking bass. They have every spec listed there, other than the fretboard. "Period-Accurate Fingerboard", that's their new name for pau ferro?

[Alanko]

It's a weasel-ish way of saying the fret count, fret size and fretboard radius are all period correct... maybe not the wood type.

Fender have brought back rosewood for the Vintera range so I imagine more Pau Ferro Vintera stuff will be on blow-out deals soon enough.

[slinkp]

Is there actually any significant difference between rosewood and pau ferro aside from the latter being usually a lighter color, and bragging rights?

I've always been in the "tonewoods are overblown" camp though

[Alanko]

Pau Ferro is harder than rosewood, in my experience, and can be finished to a smoother playing surface. With Danish oil or similar you can get some nice 3D effect in the figuring. It can't easily be stained darker (it gets redder, if anything) and can't be ebonized with ferric acetate.

I like the feel of it, but it doesn't look right on vintage Fender designs. Especially next to mint pickguards, parchment plastics etc; the instruments end up looking sickly.

[Dave W]

It's a weasel-ish way of saying the fret count, fret size and fretboard radius are all period correct... maybe not the wood type.

Fender have brought back rosewood for the Vintera range so I imagine more Pau Ferro Vintera stuff will be on blow-out deals soon enough.

That must be what's behind this. The $840 street price you see on a lot of sites is already a 30% reduction from the former street price of $1199. Adorama must have too many of the Firemist Gold in stock. It must be authorized by Fender.

Is there actually any significant difference between rosewood and pau ferro aside from the latter being usually a lighter color, and bragging rights?

I've always been in the "tonewoods are overblown" camp though

I don't know one way or the other about any tonal difference. Pau ferro is a bit stiffer than Indian rosewood. What I find funny is that pau ferro was considered a premium wood that higher end builders used -- until the rosewood shortage. As soon as Fender brought in a bunch of unusually light colored pau ferro and started using it on their non-USA lines, it suddenly was considered inferior.

[gearHed289]

I really like the look of pau ferro. I've got it on my Player series P. It's gotten very slightly darker after a year of playing.

[Dave W]

If I were in the market, I'd buy a bass with a pau ferro board without hesitation, no matter how many purists it offends. It's a fine fretboard wood.

[doombass]

My Gibson SG-Z bass has a Pau Ferro fretboard. It's smoother but not that much lighter in color compared to most Rosewood.