We see it being used as the back and sides on acoustic guitars but only on It does finish up well and can polish to a high luster. It has a rather high oil content so it can make gluing it more difficult than less oily woods. It will dull cutting tools and blades much faster than softer woods. Workability: due to its extreme density, it can be hard to work with. Because of this, it makes for an exceptional fingerboard material that wears no where near as quickly as maple or rosewood. There are only a few other woods on Earth as hard as Brazilian Ebony.

Janka Hardness Rating: Pale Mun sports the lowest Janka Rating for Ebony at 3000, which is still 600 points harder than Indian rosewood. Pale Moon is even showing up on Drop-Top guitars left and right these days because it is supremely cool!Įbony is one of those woods that can look DRASTICALLY different. Pale Moon Ebony is White, Tan, and Khaki colored with interesting black or dark brown spots of grain. Some of the other species have streaks of varying shades of brown offering very interesting contrasting lines. Now, we have species from India, Sri Lanka, West Africa, etc that offer a variety of looks. Visually: Mostly known as a Jet Black wood until more recently. Point being, humans have been hip to this special wood dating back to the 400s. Even Herodotus, Greek author of the first great narrative history produced in the ancient world, claims the Ethiopians sent 200 logs of Ebony to Persia every 3 years as a tribute. It's durability has only a few rivals.Įbony is the stuff that got the Gibson Guitar Company raided in 2012, so it must be valuable, right? Right! So valuable that the Missouri Botanical Garden calls the Madagascar wood trade equivalent to Africas Blood Diamonds! - Wikipedia. Other Names tied to Ebony: Macassar, Gabon, Striped, Black, African, Brazilian, Man, Pale Moon, Ceylon, Mauritius, Myrtle, Queensland.

Height: 30s’ to mid 70s’depending on type, conditions

Janka Hardness Scale Ratings: 3000 (Pale Mun) to 3690 (Brazilian Ebony)

Species Include: Crassifora, Ebenum, Ebanaceae, Melanoxylon, etc… Genus: Diospyros - this genus is responsible for all commercial Ebony. Family: Ebenaceae, known as the Ebony Family.

Pale moon ebony customs