Pau Ferro

[Zentar]

http://www.wood-database.com/pau-ferro/

This is a link about Pau Ferro wood which is being substituted for Rosewood. This is a very good looking wood grain and color. Read the comments after. They mention allergies and drying issues. However some of the issues don't effect finger board manufacture. The issues are more prominent with lathe work.

Also note Rosewood has allergy issues as well. I watched an Andertons video where the Captain noted Fender was using Pau Ferro.

 

[J.D.]

This is a good fretboard material to substitute for EIRW. Not quite as hard but still harder than Maple, which is sufficiently hard. Correct, Fender is using this material.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

This is a good fretboard material to substitute for EIRW. Not quite as hard but still harder than Maple, which is sufficiently hard. Correct, Fender is using this material.

My early 90's SRV used Pau ferro mine was butt ugly although the way it played was fine .

 

[Zentar]

My early 90's SRV used Pau ferro mine was butt ugly although the way it played was fine .

What do you mean Ferro was ugly? I was curious why I haven't seen more fretboards with Ferro because I thought the examples Ive seen looked better than the various Rosewood substitutes Ive see Gibson experiment with.

There must be a reason Ferro is not used more often today,

 

[AA00475Bassman]

Very light in color nothing like my Cunetto rosewood boards , very light color & bland .
I liked the look of my SG JR with baked maple the board was very dark .
This post is subjective

 

[J.D.]

There are alot of materials suitable for guitar fretboards. As we know, guitar buyers for a large part are pretty resistant to change. They like certain looks.

First off, EIRW (IMHO) is a somewhat cheap substitute for BRW. Madagascar and Honduran Rosewoods are very close in appearance and hardness. But for general use EIRW is suitable.

Not only does the material need to look decent and have sufficient strength and hardness, it also needs to be relatively inexpensive, easy to source, sustainable, easy to work and glue, meet OSHA requirements, etc. to be used in a modern instrument manufacturing operation.

 

[Zentar]

What Rosewood species was used in the 50s. I have a restored Harmony arch top from 57 made in the Chicago plant that has a Rosewood fretboard. It is very dark.

What kind of Rosewood is this?

BTW Rosewood supposedly isn't that easy to glue. Once you read up on Rosewood it isn't perfect yet we salivate over Brazilian Rosewood. We speak of it like it's perfect yet no wood is without drawbacks. For instance Pau Ferro will eat up a saw blade,

 

[Pellman73]

Reb Beach "found" Pau Ferro for his voyager... whatever that means

great kind of spinal tap moment in the beginning of this video where he describes the makeup of his guitar

mahogany is "very bass"

BTW I had one of these... they are really pretty cool guitars!

And I love Reb's playing

 

[Big Al]

It is excellent wood and superb for boards. Color and grain vary. Mexican Rosewood is also SUPERB! I think its called Chenchen or something. Go to Woodcraft and compare for yourself if you can. There are several easily available, real Rosewood and similar grain/hardness typos available. Some, I feel, may be better!

 

[renderit]

Snakewood. I'll try for a better picture with my good camera. Up close it looks 'digital'. Very scale like.

 

[Zentar]

Snakewood. I'll try for a better picture with my good camera. Up close it looks 'digital'. Very scale like.

Snakewood

Pricing/Availability: As a rare and small tree, prices for surfaced and milled Snakewood that display the characteristic snakeskin pattern are perhaps the most expensive of any exotic lumber worldwide in terms of per-boardfoot cost. Less figured sections of the wood are usually sold for much lower prices (under the name Amourette). Snakewood is also commonly sold in full and half log forms, which typically include significant pith checking and areas of both figured and non-figured wood, which can result in high wastage.

That may be hard to read. It says Snakewood is very expensive. It is from NE South America. Thanks for the Snakewood pic. That is the first I have heard of it.