Official Luthiers Forum!

Well not quite twice...Br is between 800 and 1000Kg/m3 and ebony/ABW between 1000 and 1200.

_________________
Build log

You got it in reverse. Ebony has a lot of internal damping. If it favours anything at all, it won't be the treble registers. A lighter, more resonant bridge material (BRW, EIR) will do that.
That's why you rarely, if ever, see an ebony bridge on nylon string guitars. Muting the hard to obtain high registers being the last things a classical builder will want to do.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I always thought that it was easier to get a light object in motion than to move a heavy one. That's why ebony would resonate at higher frequencies (higher frequencies demand less energy) - bright snappy tone- vs rosewoods- less brittle, more sweetness?

Again, ebony has a lot of internal damping. Ebony is also pretty heavy, either BRW or EIR are much lighter in weight. Other rosewoods like cocobolo and Honduran RW are about equal to ebony in weight (on average) but are much more resonant (less internal damping). African blackwood is heavier than all of those.
With my bridge design a Braz or EIR bridge will weigh 21g, Honduran RW and cocobolo about 30g, ebony from 26g to 32g.
Knock on an ebony fretboard blank, you'll get a somewhat dead thud, knock on an African blackwood blank and you'll get a wide range of frequencies and a long sustain.
In any case the choice of wood for the fretboard and bridge doesn't make or break the tone of a steel string guitar. I assume nylon string guitars are much more sensitive to bridge material, though.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Sound isn't like electricity where there are two related parameters, amplitude and frequency are independent. Odds are that the higher frequencies responsible for 'brightness' are higher harmonics, which means they have lower amplitude and will get eaten up by damping first.

_________________
Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Thanks for your responses. I'll see if I can find one with BRW and test first.

Several years ago,I read an article about the owner of a vintage guitar store,(Bee Vintage ???) He bought a new Gibson advanced jumbo,which comes with an E.I. bridge. He made a new bridge out of Brazilian rosewood,and said that the tone was much improved. There could have been other factors involved,needless to say,but he was convinced that Brazilian made the difference.

Newbie naive question.... what are your thoughts on the tap tone of the bridge material? Recently scored some lovely Mad Rose (Baroni), which rings like a bell - like nothing I have head even compared to some very nice BRW cut to similar sizes - does this influence your choice? I am going to try and use this on the next build for the bridge and see what happens... if nothing else it will look nice!

Madrose often sounds gorgeous, I might even like it more than Brazilian (with the caveat I handled a lot Madrose pieces than Braz). Dense Kingwood and Bois d'rose are great too. All my glassy stuff is usually very heavy at about 1000Kg/m3.

_________________
Build log

I'm curious, How does "internal" damping differ from "external" damping?

They are. If they would have been real tone busters, I'm sure rosewood would have been use more often by now...
It is the bridge at the end that matters more.

_________________
Build log

Walter, I just want to say the same as already been said, ebony dampens the sound. there are other species of ebony that are not dampening the sound as much " if you want ebony" macassar ebony is a good choice. so if your looking for more "ring" to the sound, brazilian, cocobolo, might be other good choices. but then again it´s not just the bridge that gives you the sound you have in that guitar, altering the braces will affect the tone a lot same goes for string height and also final setup of the instrument. sometimes players think they have a great setup when they infact do not ! just because a guitar plays, feels great, doesnt meen it cant be fine tuned some more. lots of times the smallest change can make a world of difference.

Lars.

I believe the thought behind using ebony for the fretboard on a classical guitar rather that a more responsive wood such as BRW is to minimise the transfer of string energy into the neck shaft where it is all but lost in comparison to the drive it could give to the top and thereby 'increase' treble response. Of course the desire for wood to be non-responsive is reversed when considering the bridge.

Filippo, my comment concerns the bridge, not the fretboard.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Thank you Lars, I really appreciate the info!