Ebony Fretboard Values
 

Ok. So I've seen all kinds of info from environmental groups, guitar companies getting sued, Wikipedia, etc on the rarity of ebony. I've never used ebony, though I have a 1990 SR 1000 with ebony fretboard coming to me. I'm wondering if Ebony fretboards,being a protected, almost extinct wood increases the value of an instrument. Is it rare enough to make the value of a bass go up? is there enough on a fretboard to justify say selling it for more? Has there been a trend in this with ebony fretboards? Just trying to figure out if ebony fretboards are worth any money from a resale perspective (not that I plan to flip this baby, just curious)

I read an article from 2000 saying that a cubic meter (approx 3.2 cubic feet) of ebony was worth 17,000. my fretboard is 24" by 2" by .25" (ish). I'm sure in 12 years things have changed (I think this means in 2000 my fretboard material was worth $34) haha!

no

No. There was a big hoolpa with Gibson when they knowingly imported illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar when the local authorities had broken down due to some riot or other. (along with some violations on Indian rosewood)

But as a worldwide set of all species of ebony it is not endangered.

Also keep in mind we are talking fretboards here. It used to be you made whole rooms out of premium wood. That's a lot of fretboards.