Alternative woods for fretboards?

[Bernie Daniel]

Well we have quite a few woods that can be substituted for Ebony, many of the desert Acacias make great fingerboards and tuning knobs. I think many are superior to Ebony because they are harder. Not black, but are lovely dark reddish browns. From top is Western Myall (Acacia papyrocarpa), Lancewood (Acacia shirley), NSW Ironwood (Acacia excelsa), and Gidgee (Acacia camnagei). There are many others that I don't have samples of. No shortage of trees, just a small market so not so easy to get the wood, but is not impossible to source if you know where to go. I have used NSW Ironwood and Gidgee and they make excellent fingerboards or tuning knobs. Gidgee can be so dark that after a coat of oil is difficult to distinguish from Ebony.

Beautiful woods! I guess you could stain them black to look like ebony -- but I think they look outstanding unstained. I expect the look much like rosewood on the fretboard? Do you use them for bridges too?

[peter.coombe]

I have only tested Lanewood in a bridge and as far as sound goes, as far as I could tell, it sounded identical to Ebony.

[Rob Grant]

Bernie,

Thanks for the URL on our local Ebony. We have around three or four different species here. D.ferrea is my "dry" country species and is found locally on rocky, rugged ground and limestone karsts. Another, "wet scrub" species, tends to have a slightly more stable core, but it is more a silvery black or grey then dead black. The contrasting white sapwood with a slight hint of red of D.ferrea is really beautiful in combination with the black centre, but the sap's high starch content makes it very "unstable." I've use a lot of D.ferrea, but one also has to have a good supply of "superglue for the inevitable cracks that appear.

As Peter mentions, we have some incredible woods (mostly dry country species) that are excellent for fretboards, pegs, veneer, etc. The local Cooktown Ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys) is my favorite.

Here's my latest F5 black top which has both Cooktown Ironwood (bridge, fretboard and pickguard) and local Ebony (points, binding and peghead veneer)...

[Bernie Daniel]

That is a stunning mandolin -- I really like the contrasts! I guess the sides, neck (and back?) are maple? What is the top wood?

[Rob Grant]

Bernie asked:
"That is a stunning mandolin -- I really like the contrasts! I guess the sides, neck (and back?) are maple? What is the top wood?"

The sides are "Queensland Scented Maple" (not an Acer, but Flindersia laevicarpa). The neck is highly figured "Queensland Maple" (Flindersia brayliana) in a three piece laminate with a thin slice of "Cooktown Ironwood" ( Erythropleum chlorostachys) up the guts. The back is "Queensland walnut" (not a Juglans, but Endiandra palmerstonii). The top is a bit of Yank Spruce (Sitka).

[Bill Snyder]

I have some osage orange from a tree felled several years ago. I cut a couple of fretboard size pieces over two years ago but I have never used them.
When freshly cut this stuff is YELLOW. It mellows out some. The two photos show it freshly cut and now going on 2 1/2 years later.
This piece is 2 5/8" wide and a bit over 2 feet long. It is quarter sawn and it has not moved a bit that I can tell.