Sustainable Ebony

[Mike Black]

This is a great video about the facts about Ebony and how we all as builders, as well as musicians, need to view it.




More info here:

http://www.taylorguitars.com/about/s...m_medium=email

[George R. Lane]

Mike,
Thanks for the video. It is interesting when I had my Vintage A made in 2008, I chose ebony with color for my fingerboard and headstock overlay. Bruce Weber and I talked quite abit about the streaking in the wood and how beautiful it was. I would like to think I was a visionary in using this so called lower grade of wood but, in reality I just thought is was wonderful to look at. Hopefully more people will appreciate it like I did.

[Joe Mendel]

I like ebony with some color variation, too. Not saying the really black stuff isn't pretty, but I like to see the patterns in the grain more. Good on Bob.

[Dave Cohen]

I've been using 2nd grade W/ African ebony for as far back as I can remember. I even ask suppliers for the stuff with lots of gray and/or tan streaks in it. The only problem is that it is hard to keep the irregularities featured for two reasons. One is that most finishes tend to darken the irregularities. The other is that in fretboards, the dirt and oils from fingers tend to eventually make the entire playing surface uniformly black anyway. As far as hardness and durability, the 2nd grade ebony is fine.

http://www.Cohenmando.com

[Fretbear]

Good on him, and good that someone with a global conscience like he has is in the position to make the call.

[Tavy]

Good to see someone is trying to tackle this! Personally I wish more figured ebony was available - I assume that structurally it's all the same - and some of the coloured stuff would make a wonderful tonewood.

[John Flynn]

Personally, I like the look of the multi-colored ebony, but for those that want black it would seem to me there would be a way to take B-grad ebony and stain it black. It might have to be some new type of stain that would not bleed, but it would seem possible.

[BradKlein]

I find this video very thought-provoking -- even moving.

Bob Taylor is trying to drive marketplace acceptance of the product he sells - and of course that affects the bottom line of his wood business. But his ecological arguments seem sound to me, and the problems he describes are very real. I can't imagine the challenges of running an Africa-based timber business, and doing it legally, let alone ethically. But I like the marketing efforts that I see in this video.

[Goodin]

Personally, I like the look of the multi-colored ebony, but for those that want black it would seem to me there would be a way to take B-grad ebony and stain it black. It might have to be some new type of stain that would not bleed, but it would seem possible.

Stew Mac makes a black fingerboard stain. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishin...xst=3&xsr=2540

I use 2nd grade ebony fingerboards from LMI and once a bit of fretboard oil is applied the gray streaks are barely noticeable.

[Ed Goist]

Great video!
Also, as has been mentioned, it is easy and inexpensive to stain any irregularities in the Ebony.
Moreover, some instruments are striking with the irregular boards! My daughter's double bass has brown spots on the Ebony board (she calls them "freckles"). In combination with the bass' classic 'violin' stain, the speckled board makes for a truly striking instrument. She was immediately attracted to the aesthetic of the "freckled" board.

[foldedpath]

I have a custom Holst semihollow archtop guitar with quite a bit of brown streaking in the fingerboard, pickguard, and tailpiece. It's especially dramatic in the pickguard. That guitar was built over 8 years ago, so luthiers selling high-end instruments have been pushing the idea on at least aesthetic grounds, for some time. I asked Steve if he did this often, and he said only certain customers would go for it, but maybe efforts like Bob Taylor's will be changing that.

Personally, I'm much more interested in the grain pattern than the color anyway. There's a lot of ebony being used for fingerboards where you can see open grain and pores, instead of that almost glass-smooth tight surface in the best ebony fingerboards.

One thing I noticed in the Taylor video though, was no mention of the word "sustainable." So, this is basically increasing efficiency of the harvest until it's all gone? Then what? I guess this is just one of those situations like Brazilian rosewood where the trees grow too slowly to farrm.

[JMUSIC]

Remember , Bob is first and foremost a sales person....

[Tom Wright]

Bravo Taylor for a non-commercial decision, although it may prove to be so in time if the company stays in good relations with suppliers and regulators and gains a bit of competitive advantage.

A huge demand on block ebony of highest quality is that for clarinets and oboes. Most professionals will invoke superior tone as a defense for exhausting the supply. A clarinet would need a thick block that can be bored, and must have few and preferably zero grain imperfections to avoid splitting. And unlike a guitar fingerboard or bridge saddle, these instruments do not last, they eventually split, with 10 yrs being typical for a professional oboe before cracks develop to make it unplayable..

Some players are trying to promote reformed ebony that uses scraps bound together after pulverizing. Buffet Crampon's Greenline clarinet material is 95% ebony powder and 5% carbon fiber. These instruments should last longer, but most top players stick to solid wood. Luthiers should investigate if a Greenline product could be used for fingerboards, at least, that don't need high mechanical strength. Buffet also uses Mpingo for clarinets, which might be good as bridge material or cello and bass fingerboards, which need large blocks of strong ebony. A version of Greenline with more carbon fiber component could probably be very strong and usable for bowed-instrument fingerboards.

I do not mourn the absence of tortoise shell, and I would be ok with whatever wood was sustainable. I use carbon-fiber bows in my "day" job. What matters most is the music and the playing.

[nobullmando74]

I remember in the mid 90s working for a Taylor dealer that we would get some models in with streaks in the fretboard. The reaction was either: Oh thats cool, unique, etc. or Is that a defect?, etc. Personally it didn't bother me but i can remember calling my rep because of a customer complaint about it and him telling me to use a large sharpie maker to stain it all black. I didn't do it but I'm sure it wouldn't be much trouble to stain a board black.

[robert.najlis]

good for him! Thanks for sharing the video.

[foldedpath]

A huge demand on block ebony of highest quality is that for clarinets and oboes. Most professionals will invoke superior tone as a defense for exhausting the supply. A clarinet would need a thick block that can be bored, and must have few and preferably zero grain imperfections to avoid splitting. And unlike a guitar fingerboard or bridge saddle, these instruments do not last, they eventually split, with 10 yrs being typical for a professional oboe before cracks develop to make it unplayable..

Are you sure it's ebony (Diospyros sp.) used for clarinets, and not African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon)? Blackwood is sometimes called grenadilla.

I thought clarinets were primarily blackwood, which is a different species than the ebony used in fingerboards, and has a different conservation status. It's a smaller tree, and there are a few efforts being made in tree farming, including one outfit apparently having some success farming it in Florida.

I got interested in blackwood while researching a purchase of an "Irish" simple system (non-keyed) flute recently. Apparently it's used instead of ebony/Diospyros because it's more moisture-resistant, less brittle and easier to turn. Like ebony, it can also include brown streaks and a few trad flute makers are starting to use that variety.

Anyway, if this is a different species and harvested differently, then we can't blame the clarinet players for adding to the fretboard supply problem. We can still blame the piano makers, though.

[pickinNgrinnin]

Very interesting video. Taylor is taking a very sensible approach to the dwindling supply of natural resources. Madagascar Rosewood is also in danger of being harvested out of existence.

[Joe Mendel]

I was at Hibdon Hardwoods a couple of weeks ago and the owner told me they gave up on ebony and are selling African blackwood for fingerboards. He said it's much easier to get good wood from a log of African blackwood than ebony, and that it is more stable. I've used some for headstock veneers and it looks great, I'll be giving it a try for fingerboards soon, I'm sure.

[Glassweb]

I didn't hear any talk at all of planting/growing new ebony. Is this something that is being done... can be done? Perhaps there's just no longer enough environment to do that... anybody know what's going on with ebony cultivation?

[Michael Lewis]

As Foldedpath mentioned, African blackwood is a dalbergia family member like Brazilian rosewood, and makes outstanding fingerboards.

[Appalachia]

I didn't hear any talk at all of planting/growing new ebony. Is this something that is being done... can be done? Perhaps there's just no longer enough environment to do that... anybody know what's going on with ebony cultivation?

That was my thought throughout the whole video. This is an awesome step forward, but I don't think it's a good sign that re-cultivation wasn't even mentioned. This will slow the rate that ebony disappears, but unless new trees are grown, or this gets us below the natural growth (which I doubt), this isn't technically sustainable.

[delsbrother]

What happened to the B grade trees under the old system? Did they just burn them?

[Fretbear]

It's hard to believe that even those B grade trees didn't have enough small sections of black wood in them to make guitar and mandolin bridges out of. A mandolin bridge and saddle is not alot of wood. Maybe it was not the business of the wholesalers previously to worry about such things and now with Bob's initiative, those B logs can now be graded into smaller blanks to fashion parts from.

[Jim Rowland]

Not much to argue with Mr. Taylor about here,even though,reduced to its essence, he is saying: I've cornered the market on legal Ebony,so if you want some,you'll have to take what I offer you. I have no problem with that,but I'm sure some will continue to demand the very black kind which will logically aggrandize in price over time while acceptable substitutes will multiply. All in all,a good thing,I think.
Jim

[foldedpath]

Not much to argue with Mr. Taylor about here,even though,reduced to its essence, he is saying: I've cornered the market on legal Ebony,so if you want some,you'll have to take what I offer you. I have no problem with that,but I'm sure some will continue to demand the very black kind which will logically aggrandize in price over time while acceptable substitutes will multiply. All in all,a good thing,I think.
Jim

I'm not sure it's such a good thing. There is no discussion about sustainability or alternatives in the video, so what Bob Taylor is talking about is essentially duplicating the trajectory of Brazilian Rosewood. We're gonna maximize exploitation until it's all gone.

Moreover, the extraction process is being discussed as if there is no other impact on the forest. These are entire ecosystems affected when roads are cut into the forest for access to the trees. Other trees are cut to create draglines and paths; it's not just the impact on the valuable species. Any new road immediately creates incentives for further forest clearing for agriculture. I've seen this for myself in Brazil, Venezuela, and other Central and South American countries, years ago when I was working down there.

What steps are being taken by Taylor Guitars to promote alternative woods for fingerboards? Without a mitigating effort like that, I don't see that more efficient use of the resource is all that admirable. It's just a delaying tactic until the last trees are gone. Since Taylor has a near monopoly on supply, they'll be in a position to profit from the inevitable steep rise in price when the best true-black Ebony achieves Brazilian rosewood status. It may be good business tactics, but I'm just not feeling the warm eco-fuzzy vibe that Bob Taylor is trying to project in that video.