Ebony

“Ebony is the strongest and densest of all wood species in the world. I love it as a fretboard material, but one of the most overlooked details of all time in guitar making is the effect ebony has elsewhere in a guitar. Certain wood species, such as Spanish Cedar – or genuine Honduran Mahogany as well – are extremely responsive and vibrate strongly. Now, perhaps some of you have noticed, that I have put thick ebony headstock veneer in ALL my guitar designs that have Spanish Cedar necks. If I would use mahogany for necks, I would do exactly the same. It does miracles to even out the resonance peaks of the neck by adding bend strength, mass and density to the neck/headstock transition area. So, the genuine ebony headstock veneer is not there because it’s pretty. It’s there to serve an important structural function.”

- Juha Ruokangas

EBONY CAN’T SWIM
Ebony is one of the very few wood species in the world that doesn’t float on water. It’s heavy, dense and has superior bend strength to any other wood. Whereas a guitar doesn’t necessarily need such an extremely stiff fretboard to function perfectly, ebony does have many qualities that make it fantastic wood for this particular use. Ebony is very durable – the only wood that can take decades of use in violins and other fretless instruments. Ebony sounds slightly brighter than Rosewood, but not as bright as Maple.

Availability of top quality Ebony is becoming more and more scarce. We have reliable suppliers for this wood, co-operation dating back nearly 20 years. In skillful hands, carefully selected and patiently dried, Ebony works beautifully and holds its place in our choice of options.