'ebony'

[Adrian Levi]

while planing an e-bevel out of this board I discovered after the black dye was gone that that the wood was not a great specimen at all / it looks kind of like rosewood to me , but also could be ebony . Any advice on wether or not to change the board :confused:

[Ken Smith]

while planing an e-bevel out of this board I discovered after the black dye was gone that that the wood was not a great specimen at all / it looks kind of like rosewood to me , but also could be ebony . Any advice on wether or not to change the board :confused:

There are many species or ebony and several cuts from each log as well. Most ebony is NOT black as the grain is brown if noticed. This piece looks like the wood we use from Indonesia. This is true Macassar Ebony aka diospyros celebica. (http://www.kensmithbasses.com/woodpages/ebony.html)

To me, this is the best and most stable Ebony I have found. I use pieces up to 6 inches wide with no cracking in storage or use. For the Indian and African ebony's I can't say the same.

[Thomas Erickson]

I think boards like that looks kind of nice - nobody will notice it from the audience anyway, so why not have a little character. Take the micromesh to it and get a mirror polish!

Few things irritate me more than playing a bass and coming away with black/purple fingers from a dyed fingerboard either - I just don't see the point in being vain about a jet black board!

Ken - do you have good ebony in sizes for DB fingerboards that you'd sell, or is your stuff reserved for your own instruments?

[Ken Smith]

Ken - do you have good ebony in sizes for DB fingerboards that you'd sell, or is your stuff reserved for your own instruments?

I have a bit of Lumber in stock but replacing it is easier said than done. The last time I sold a chunk it was a barter with Mike Pecanic as I shipped him a board cut up in 3 pieces and he made me a TP I needed and kept the other two pcs in partial trade.

If this stuff was readily available to me I might consider selling BUT, my big wide stock is what I use to make Ebony Tops. It's basically 'black gold' to me.

The middle shelf over my left shoulder (http://www.kensmithbasses.com/ft/lumbersection/images/layout.jpg) near the shop vac shows some ebony boards from 3-5ft in length x 6" wide (http://www.kensmithbasses.com/ft/lumbersection/images/woodwax1.jpg). I have used 'some' of that so far and that lumber dates back to about 1993. In 1998-1999 or so I was able to get another load of it. I haven't seen any since.