The Phenolic used for fingerboards is dense, stiff and cheap. However...
Phenolic fingerboards are not impervious to temperature & moisture.
Phenolic fingerboards wear out.

Phenolic is used by manufacturers because:
They have not developed a better material.
They can buy it in the correct dimensions.
It is not expensive.
They may believe that it ‘lessens’ string wear.
It looks acceptable when new.

Moses Carbon-Graphite fingerboards are:
Impervious to string wear.
Satin smooth to the touch
Absolutely impervious to moisture.
Tonally consistent and even throughout the entire fingerboard surface.

This has allowed Moses to produce a material designed for optimal
technical and sonic outcomes, not just for ease in making a neck.

And... this is why Ned Steinberger of NS Design and so many others use
Moses Graphite materials on fine upright and electric basses, and guitars.

Phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and
pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic
phenolic resin. These layers of laminations are usually of cellulose
paper, cotton (linen) fabrics, synthetic yarn fabrics, fiberglass fabrics,
canvas and unwoven fabrics. When heat and pressure are applied to the
layers, a chemical reaction (polymerization) transforms the layers into a
high-pressure thermosetting industrial laminated plastic.

All grades of phenolic ( as well as wood) are, to varying degrees,
hydroscopic and not resistant to moisture. The material absorbs moisture
through the exposed ends of the layers of cloth. This is why you see
lighter colored (whiter) lines running in the direction of the strings as
phenolic fingerboards get older. Thus they are not impervious to humidity.
One manufacturer states that they attempt to ‘renew’ boards by applying
WD-40 lubricant. This is because WD-40 displaces moisture on the surface
of parts. However, it does not displace moisture that has ‘wicked’into
and remains trapped in the interior of the fingerboard. Regardless, do
you really want an ‘oily’ liquid on your fingerboard?

Moses Graphite fingerboards do not have any paper or cotton materials that
do this. The boards are composed entirely of moisture-proof epoxies and
carbon-based materials.

Phenolic is not stable. It warps when heat is applied to one side of the
fingerboard. And when the fingerboard cools down, it stays warped. Shine
a 60 watt light bulb on one side of a phenolic fingerboard for a while and
see what happens if you dare. Phenolic fingerboards (along with wood) are
not impervious to temperature.

Imagine the internal stresses (battle) going on in a carbon/graphite or
wood neck, when the neck beam is staying stable or moving at one rate, and
a phenolic or wood fingerboard is trying to pull in another. Why bother
having a neck with this happening?

Moses Graphite fingerboards for classical stringed instruments are
designed to have the overall textbook density of Ebony. Thus, they are
entirely compatible with wood-necks instruments. Moses fingerboards
incorporated into finished Moses electric stringed instrument necks are
designed to be impervious to wear, and for sonic and tonal reasons only.
Stiffness is provided elsewhere in the necks. Thus we have the freedom to
do precisely what is right for the sound and longevity of the neck.

Phenolic and some woods are dense but wear out. Strings and fingernails
dig grooves in these fingerboards. Then the boards need to be re-leveled
or replaced. They are not impervious to wear.

Moses Graphite fingerboards are not reliant on density to deliver a
‘non-wearing’ surface, even when using roundwound strings on fretless
basses over decades of performance. Moses does not have to compromise due
to the perceived hardness and density needs of other manufacturers.

ABOUT THE FIBER USED BY MOSES CARBON/GRAPHITE::

Carbon fiber and graphite fiber composites offer a reinforcement option
that allows higher strength with less comparative weight, due to the
inherent stiffness of the fibers. The fibers are produced in a process
using one of two precursors derived from either PAN (polyacrylonitrile, a
thermoplastic), or pitch that is derived from either coal or oil
byproducts. These precursors are heated and then spun into thin filaments
using textile-type equipment. It is then oxidized around 260ºC under
tension, allowing the carbon chains to align. This is followed by
carbonization in nitrogen above 1000ºC, to produce carbon fibers. The
fibers are composed of 93 to 95% carbon, and have a stiffness (tensile
modulus) of 20 to 30 msi. These are the carbon fibers that are primarily
found in sporting goods. To achieve fibers where the carbon crystals are
further stretched and aligned, and thus can achieve higher stiffness,
graphitization takes place around 2000ºC, even as high as 3000ºC. These
graphite fibers are over 99% carbon, and have a tensile modulus of 60 msi
to as high as 140 msi. The best of these graphite fibers are used
primarily in aerospace applications.

Carbon and graphite fibers are subsequently sized and either woven as
textiles, or bundled together and spun onto spools in unidirectional form.
Combined with either epoxy or cyanate ester resins, they can be cured with
heat and pressure to form composite structures that are aligned to
optimize their strength in one or more directions. Pre-impregnated
composites have resins combined with the fibers in unidirectional sheets.
They are spooled and stored frozen until close to the time of use.

Graphite is a polymorph of the element carbon. diamond is another
polymorph. The two share the same chemistry, carbon, but have very
different structures and very different properties. Diamond is the
hardest mineral known to man, Graphite is one of the softest. Diamond is
an excellent electrical insulator, Graphite is a good conductor of
electricity. Diamond is the ultimate abrasive, Graphite is a very good
lubricant. Diamond is usually transparent, Graphite is opaque. Diamond
crystallizes in the Isometric system and graphite crystallizes in the
hexagonal system. Graphite is the stable form of carbon. All diamonds at
or near the surface of the Earth are currently undergoing a transformation
into Graphite. This reaction is extremely slow. All of the differences
between graphite and diamond are the result of the difference in their
respective structures. Graphite has a sheet-like structure where the atoms
all lie in a plane and are only weakly bonded to the graphite sheets above
and below. Diamond has a framework structure where the carbon atoms are
bonded to other carbon atoms in three dimensions as opposed to two in
graphite. The carbon-carbon bonds in both minerals are quite strong, but
it is the application of those bonds that make the difference.

Graphite is one of the softest minerals (a very slippery lubricant) and is
the high-strength component in composites used to build automobiles,
aircraft, and golf club shafts and many other products. It is the weakly
bonded sheets that slide by each other to yield the slipperiness or
softness. Yet when those sheets are rolled up into fibers, and those
fibers twisted into threads, the true strength of the bonds becomes
apparent. The threads are molded into shape, and held in place by a binder
(such as an epoxy resin). The resulting composites have some of the
highest strength-to-weight ratios of any materials (excluding diamond
crystals and carbon nano tubes).

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