I’ve spent plenty of time (and money) exploring different tone wood, looking at the way the work under tools, how they interact with different elements of the guitar, and how they look once finished.

Ebony is a timber that I absolutely adore - not the jet black stuff that a lot of people expect, but the stripy kinds that show plenty of character.

I had been working through a stash of Gabon Ebony, which is now depleted, and grew to love the variations in colour, and it’s fine grained hardness. I decided to order a batch of Macassar Ebony, which is often quite brown with distinctive stripes running throughout, and have been enjoying what I’m getting from that species!

I’ve come to see that they both have their place - while harder than Rosewood, Macassar Ebony has a similar look to it, with rich brown tones and a more open, coarser grain. I’ll offer this as an alternative to Rosewood, which is still hard to import/export, despite the CITES regulations being lifted.

When it comes to Gabon Ebony, that’ll be my default. I think the black/grey tones are a nice contrast to the brown-ness of Tas Blackwood, and helps break up the colour palette a bit.

Which ever species you end up with my boards are dry and stable, CNC slotted, and sourced from a sustainable harvester. Gotta look after this precious resource!