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I'm getting confused on my ebony. Seems like in the old days there was just ebony... dark black, hard as steel or harder, and no visible grain at all to it.

I have been doing research on buying some ebony in bulk for future builds and here is what I am finding:

Gabon Ebony

Intarsia Ebony

African Blackwood Ebony

Macassar Ebony

Phillipine Camagon Ebony

Madagascar Ebony ( may actually be macassar Ebony?)

 

Is the African Blackwood Ebony the "Old Standard" Ebony? if not, which one is and does anyone have any thoughts on the good points/bad points of the others?

I'm SO confuzed!!

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

Gabon or Nigerian ebony is reasonably black, with some brown streaking. If you put some oil to it you can get it to a nice, uniform black if the piece doesn't have streaks in it.

No idea on intarsia

African blackwood is a rosewood, not an ebony

Macassar, my favourite, is striped brown and black with stripes around 1/8" wide following the grain. It's gorgeous but it's the farthest thing from the black you're looking for

Phillipine ebony is kind of streaky, but not as pretty as macassar and I don't think you could get it to as deep a black as some of the others

Madagascar ebony is the classic, jet black ebony you're thinking of. It's extremely hard to get now in any quantity with good color. If you were going to 'invest' in an ebony, that's the stuff that you won't be able to get in a few years.

There's also Indian plantation ebony which is a pretty uniform colour and turns a pretty good black with a rub of oil or a buffing, and it should be available for some time although the prices are constantly increasing as demand increases while supply does not.

They're all really hard and, to me, seem to work roughly the same. The dust from all of 'em burns like a hot poker if it gets into your nose or eyes, and it tastes like pepper mixed with poison.

That's about all I have to say about ebony.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

   I remember Hesh using Baboon ebony on one of his guitars, but I've never been able to find it! Maybe he'll chime in?

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Macassar is usually striped like Bob says, but I got some from Larry Davis that is jet black.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

True ebonies are genus Diospyros.  That includes good ol' american persimmon (which is anything but black, and not quite as hard as african ebonies).



There is also mun ebony and pale moon ebony (which may be the same)
from Asia, like macassar but with a larger proportion of light colored
streaks.  Also not quite as hard as african varieties.

I'm pretty sure Gabon is the ebony you are thinking of. That's what most "standard" ebony fingerboards are made of.

Like Paul said, I use Gabon (sometime sp. Gaboon) for fingerboards, very black. In my limited experience the drawbacks are it cracks easy, twist with moisture, has some grey streaks. I've been told that Madagascar, when sanded to a finish, gets so black that it can look like plastic instead of wood. I may try Maccasar for fingerboards, it's less expensive, relatively easy to find in rough lumber, works easier than gabon, seems more stable, doesn't crack as easy, but it's not as black--streaky brown.

[QUOTE=Billy T]    I remember Hesh using Baboon ebony on one of his guitars, but I've never been able to find it! Maybe he'll chime in?[/QUOTE]

Billy...you may be thinking of the baboon butt wedge! I think the material is seasonal.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Gabon and Madagascar both are usually the blackest, but they, too, can vary. I have both and some pieces are jet black and some have a few gray streaks. Fretboard oil, however, will render them jet black.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Thanks for all of the replies! It looks like Madagascar and Gabon is what I am looking for after all.

I didnt realize until the last few days just how many species of ebony there were, but now my buying will be limited to those two. If I am goign to use ebony, I want it jet black.

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Reguards,

Ken H

[quote]Here is a shot of a fret board that I did out of Macassar. [/quote]


    I don't understand the symbolism of the monkee with no... eyes! Does this refer to man's blindness to his inhumanity to man?     (Let me say it for you, "Is this finally a picture of Billy? )

[quote=J.J. Dyn-o-mite Donohue] Billy...you may be thinking of the baboon butt wedge![/quote]

    No! No I wasn't!!

Ron - Where do you get your fretboard oil?

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

A lot (a lot....) of off-the-shelf pre-cut ebony fretboards are Gabon with the lighter streaks dyed black with fretboard stain.

full black ebony is really pretty rare and has been for a quite a while. Like the others have said Gabon Ebony is the most common used for black fret boards. Gabon may have a bit of a green tint to the black and lighter dark gray streaks but oils out to a nice even dark black. Ebonizing or dying black has been around for a century or better. Even back centuries ago a small percentage of a billet would be near all black. True black has were select cuts.

StewMac

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I lied! The macassar I have is striped all right, it was another stack of fretboards that I got from BobC that was all black (Gabon?), I just checked. Sorry about that...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Here are some examples from my collection
1st Macassar Ebony

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Here are some examples from my collection
1st Macassar Ebony
I find that Mac has nice browns and darks



The next one is Black and White ebony I got from the zootman. I would love it if he could tell me more about this wood. The light are much lighter than mac ebony and are a bit blond in color

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com