I believe the species is Pithecellobium flexicaule.

I heard about it from this maker called Hembrook (www.hembrook.com (http://www.hembrook.com)). Sounds like everything you'd want in a fingerboard.

This is not exactly bass related ... Besides bass, I also play nylon-string guitar, and I got the idea of having a guitar made of all US woods (not a political thing so much as a sentimental one, and an interest in having something different). I'm originally from California, so at first I thought all-California, but on reflection I didn't think that would take me all the way there. I'm figuring redwood for the top and claro walnut for the back and sides and neck, and the maker I'm talking to thinks that would work fine.

But I'm stuck for the fingerboard. Hard maple would be hard enough, but the look would be wrong. Ebony is traditional, and I love that look and feel (have it on my basses and my other classicals), but it comes from Africa and Asia, and I was really trying for an American thing, just for the hell of it. (Again, no diss on the tropical hardwoods, which I have on several guitars; this is just a conceit of mine for this particular project.) So I was thinking Texas ebony--if it could be obtained and would work well and could be dyed dead black--might work. Or maybe desert ironwood, with the same "if's."

Anybody have any thoughts/experience?

(True, this wouldn't be a California guitar any more, or even a West Coast guitar ... but at least it would still be a Western guitar!)

Thanks for any input.

Really? I've stumped our expert panel? Do I win a prize?:hiding:

Seriously, no big thing. I'm not trying to give anybody a hard time. Just had a vagrant thought and wondered if anybody outside Texas knew anything at all about using this wood in lutherie. Maybe I'm blazing a trail here....:D

have you e-mailed this fellow?

http://www.birdsongguitars.com/index.htm

later, ron

Why, no. Thanks for the suggestion; I've never heard of them, but they look interesting.

You might also try osage orange it also grows in texas. Persimmon could also be a decent choice same family as ebony (diosporus)

Scott at Birdsong uses a lot of interesting domestics so that might work. I've thought a lot about how to put together an all-domestic bass and as you have found the fingerboard is generally the limiting factor. I have used maple and persimmon.

There's very little in north america that really fits the bill -- good fingerboard woods tend to come from slow-growing trees with year-round growing conditions. Stuff in north america that produce dense, stiff wood tend to be small; a lot of them are orchard trees with twisty trunks and so yield is minimal and often not even big enough for a fingerboard.

I don't know much about texas ebony but if you can get mechanical properties compare them against maple which is probably the least stiff/dense wood you'd want to use for a fingerboard then you could get an idea of if it would work. Desert ironwood seems to be exceedingly difficult to find in large, clear pieces. I vaguely recall hearing it was somewhat brittle but that may be related to drying problems and frequent defects.

Scott at Birdsong uses a lot of interesting domestics so that might work. I've thought a lot about how to put together an all-domestic bass and as you have found the fingerboard is generally the limiting factor. I have used maple and persimmon.

There's very little in north america that really fits the bill -- good fingerboard woods tend to come from slow-growing trees with year-round growing conditions. Stuff in north america that produce dense, stiff wood tend to be small; a lot of them are orchard trees with twisty trunks and so yield is minimal and often not even big enough for a fingerboard.

I don't know much about texas ebony but if you can get mechanical properties compare them against maple which is probably the least stiff/dense wood you'd want to use for a fingerboard then you could get an idea of if it would work. Desert ironwood seems to be exceedingly difficult to find in large, clear pieces. I vaguely recall hearing it was somewhat brittle but that may be related to drying problems and frequent defects.

This is about all I can find on it, though there's some info out there on ornamental or gardening use:

http://www.hembrook.com/hembrook/woods.html

(scroll to the bottom)

I did find somebody else who's used it:

http://www.kinnairdguitars.com/Kinnaird%20bros%202005.htm

Seems worth looking into for those interested in domestic woods.

You might also try osage orange it also grows in texas. Persimmon could also be a decent choice same family as ebony (diosporus)

From the little I know (and even that is more theoretical than hands-on), both would seem to be very good choices. However, the colors would probably not suit the rest of the guitar (redwood and walnut). If I were to go with different top and back/side woods--say, like Port Orford cedar for the top and myrtlewood or maple for the back and sides--then persimmon or osage orange might fit in pretty well visually. There's maybe a 2-3% chance I might do that, but it's far more likely I'm going to go with the dark woods.

For what it's worth, Desert Ironwood does grow in California--I picked up some good chunks in Desert Center and farther south near the Chocolate Mountains west of Blythe. They make great great pistol grips and knife handles.

For what it's worth, Desert Ironwood does grow in California--I picked up some good chunks in Desert Center and farther south near the Chocolate Mountains west of Blythe. They make great great pistol grips and knife handles.

Thanks, good to know. I thought I had a handle on some Texas ebony, but the prospective seller totally fumbled the ball. So it's looking more likely that I'll go with desert ironwood.