Sorry if its a stupid question, but which models have ebony fret boards? USA only? The import BOP page says abony but some one here said its ebony stained rosewood.

I guess what I'm really looking for is a import Bolero ot BOP with an ebony board. Or should I just quit messing with imports and go US?

From what we were told the import BOP has real ebony and the bolero's were ebonized rosewood. The site used to list it as this too. Now they all say ebony which disappoints me alittle because it's gonna be a bit misleading to potential buyers and hurt DBZ guitars credibility. I can't see a buyer being upset about buying ebonized rosewood but I can see someone getting upset when they find out they have rosewood not ebony.

I will have to see if there is a difference between my bolero which is listed as ebony and my imperial which says ebonized rosewood. Either way, I've been happy with both guitars regardless of whatever the fret-boards are. I don't anyone should be disappointed with them.

There should be a difference. The ebonized rosewood is rosewood that is dyed while the ebony will have a tight grain and will be like glass.

Yep, and all the import BOP's and Venoms have ebonized boards, not ebony.

DBZ is still getting this wrong on their new products and website. One of the new Darkside pointies said "mahogany body" on DBZ's website which is something that has been wrong for about a year now on a bunch of guitars.

Yeah..spec errors lol.

My guitars still sound good to me.

I htink the sound is really what matters anyway.

Rosewood and ebony have different tonal qualities

With humans having some of the shitiest hearing capabilities in the frequency range compiled with every other items in the chain of electric guitar sound, can we really tell that much difference in fretboard material? I think it's a mind thing. Body material is one thing, but not sure I buy into the fretboard layer other than resonance transfer capability.

True, it produces quite a small percentage of the actual tone. I am just against advertising that is misleading, though looks accidental in this case.

yeah it has to be imean look at all the differen sites lol bout 50/50 on whichversion you see advertized

I agree, is there really a difference or are we just trying to split hairs?

Fretboard Pic Bolero Premier

Here is a pic of the fretboard on my Bolero Premier.

On a side note, anyone else having trouble uploading pics as a post attachment? I've got the pic as a jpeg and under 500K but just gives me an upload fail, contact admin note.

Definately rosewood. Ebony is void free usually.

Not void free although it's close. The grain is super tight.

Hey All -
All Premier series guitars have ebonized rosewood.
You get the feel of rosewood and the look of ebony.
Many people like the rosewood feel because it is more porous and absorbs any sweat
whereas ebony tends to leave it on the surface.
I personally like the black look of ebony...
Dean Z

Thank you for clearing that up

We need a new debate topic now.

Try it now. We had to rebuild the forum cache so all photo uploads are OK now.

Test Pic

Hey there Mr. Z. I was playing my Korina V at me last election and made the front page. I 'll try to get a money shot with my incoming Bolero at a benefit we are playing in April that gets heavy press coverage. BTW, Good Luck on the new venture and thanks for bringing me back into the music scene. I lost interest years ago and my daughter pulled my into giving her lessons. Went out to look for a decent entry level guitar and "discovered" Deans 7 years ago. Now I have 21 guitars, mostly Dean but a new Bolero is on the way. Hopefully I can show it off to some local dealers and get them to pay more attention. Keep it coming! I love it!

Mayor Bob www.newarkohio.net

Good to see you around here Mayor. What kind of bolero did you snag?

Hey man, saw your avatar and figured we would cross paths here sooner or later. BTW, it's a Bolero AB, Black with Gold Hardware. Looking forward to it. side note: I talked with Ed Roman a few weeks ago and he claimed he "gave" the Bolero name to Dean for his DBZ line. Wonder if that is true? Hey Mr. Z is Ed flappin' his gums or is he that decent of a guy after all?

Mayor Bob

Speaking of Ed Roman, What's up with these?

I remember someone else reporting similar designs from ed roman a few months back. He copies from pretty much every company he can find so I'm not surprised.

I like black ebony too.

When string thru "venom" and "bird of prey" body with ebony fingerboard guitars come up, It will be " a new day" for me!

Rosewood is ok but ebony's feeling is awesome. Other guitar brand's import models have ebony fingerboards, string thru bodies and different head stock alternatives even strap locks! Generally X series (cheapest models) have rosewood fingerboard!


I like DBZ and want to see them in collection too, would be awesome!

Damn, that ed roman stuff just stinks. I'll stick with the Venom!