Ebonize fretted fingerboard?

[walrus]

So now I'm curious. How would one know? For example, I have had a PRS with ebony tuners, and my Sadowsky I have now has ebony tuners and an ebony TRC. In all of these examples, you could see some grain, etc. Certainly not totally black.

My Guild '84 D64, now in the very capable hands of wileypickett, had a very black ebony fretboard. Below is the best photo I have to try to show it, but are you all saying that even Guild could have made their ebony darker?

As you can see from the fretboard divots, it's very black all the way through.



walrus

 

[AcornHouse]

So now I'm curious. How would one know? For example, I have had a PRS with ebony tuners, and my Sadowsky I have now has ebony tuners and an ebony TRC. In all of these examples, you could see some grain, etc. Certainly not totally black.

My Guild '84 D64, now in the very capable hands of wileypickett, had a very black ebony fretboard. Below is the best photo I have to try to show it, but are you all saying that even Guild could have made their ebony darker?

As you can see from the fretboard divots, it's very black all the way through.



walrus

As supplies of the really good stuff has diminished due to the demand over the years, the practice has become more prevalent. As for how you could tell? I don’t know. That’s the goal, for it to look naturally black.

 

[davismanLV]

Older guitars and makers had options. They also wasted more than 90% of the ebony that was cut down. These days since Bob Taylor has pretty much taken over ebony forestry in Camaroon things are slowly changing. I just saw a super high end Taylor with a beautiful black and beige streaky and striped ebony fretboard and bridge.

Here's Bob Taylor talking about what's happening with ebony harvesting in the world. If you go to about 7.30 in the vid he talks specifically about value and coloring and what's happening. A very good video!! I highly recommend this.

 

[adorshki]

Geez, I was going to suggest a black Sharpie, but you all have must better responses!

walrus

Sharpies are for finish options, such as autographs...

 

[bobouz]

Gibson most likely has, and still does, blackens their ebony fretboards. So, not really ebonizing but still using a dye to get rid of any streaks.

So folks, we are now talking about a different subject as opposed to the ebonizing of non-black fingerboard woods. We have veered towards a discussion about the historical supply of ebony, and it's impact on color.

When we talk about older Gibsons, Martins, and Guilds, the historical standard for ebony was based on violin construction - and that standard called for a uniformly black fingerboard and bridge. Boards & bridges were not typically dyed by these major manufacturers because the supplied ebony already had a uniform appearance - and occasional dark brown streaks were allowed to stand because their visual impact was minimal. I have seen examples of this many times in older instruments, including my current 1922 Gibson 'A' mandolin and 1973 Guild F-30R. They simply didn't need to dye ebony to achieve a uniform appearance. That said, yes, highly uniform black could indeed be found on instruments by quality makers, because that's what they were demanding from suppliers - at a time when the supply of uniformly black ebony was still plentiful.

Remember too, that the use of ebony by major manufacturers was typically reserved for top of the line instruments, so for decades, they weren't exactly blowing through the stuff. Of course Bob Taylor knows all about ebony because guess who significantly impacted that dynamic? Taylor started putting ebony fingerboards & bridges on just about every guitar they produced (as did Larrivee in smaller numbers). By the late '90s, things had certainly been changing, because Martin started sourcing striped Asian ebony for a number of their instruments. This could range from uniformly black to something more akin to a dark rosewood color, and often had many dark brown hued streaks. Very good stuff, but the acceptable range of color for ebony was becoming wider as years went by - and today, Taylor has flung the door wide open. A move that was dictated strictly by supply.

My guess is we have now reached a point where any uniformly black piece of ebony might well have been dyed. But my long-winded point above is that historically, this was not a common practice because of the quality of wood available at the time.

 

[Stuball48]

Veer slightly - The black keys on a piano (older or quality) are usually ebony. Some or a hard wood stained black. The white keys are a hardwood with thin ivory covering ----- I THINK!

 

[fronobulax]

Veer slightly - The black keys on a piano (older or quality) are usually ebony. Some or a hard wood stained black. The white keys are a hardwood with thin ivory covering ----- I THINK!

In acoustic pianos, the keys themselves are made of wood—often spruce or basswood. It is only the thin top of the white keys that is made of ivory or plastic. (The black keys are made of ebony or another hardwood that's been stained black.)

(from https://context.capp.ca/articles/2019/feature_petroleum-in-real-life-piano-keys one of several similar sources).

Other sources indicate plastic all around and the general answer is that it depends upon both when the instrument was made and what part of the market it was targeted for. Ivory, like Brazilian rosewood, is a controlled substance today and is used sparingly if at all.

@bobouz 's point about the evolution of acceptable appearance for ebony is noted

 

[AcornHouse]

Favorite fretboard materials that I like to use are Macassar ebony, which is always beautiful stripey, and ziricote, which is just a stunner.

 

[lungimsam]

I remember in the 80’s my fingertips would get blackened the first time or two I played a new Gibson electric. I wondered what it was.
More recently, my luthier stained a rosewood board with black stain to darken it for me (a 2000 SG). Worked. Looked nice. Didn’t blacken my fingers. Still looked like rosewood just darker. But we weren’t trying to black it out.