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I've done some looking around and haven't seen many acoustic guitars with walnut for the fingerboard. I'm assuming there's a reason for this, but being new to building (and wood working in general), I don't know what it is. I've got a pile to play with, but this guitar is a gift for a friend and I want to be sure it will play well and last.

Thanks in advance,

Donald

PS. If there's already a thread on this I missed in my search please let me know. Thanks again

Donold: Think you may fine that walnut may be too soft. Doubt it would hold frets well and would tend to wear. Just my opinion. Good luck.
Tom

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Hi Donald,
Welcome to the OLF. I remember reading where Ervin Somogyi liked to use walnut to make bridges. Is it black walnut? I had two black walnut trees blow down in my back yard last May. I cut them up in three foot billets and have been in the pole barn since. Not quite big enough for backs but might get some sides, binding or bridges out of them.

Hope this helped.

Hutch

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Hey chuck, you can get a 3 pce. back out of them, or use a complimentary wood piece for the center (maple, etc...)

Walnut is to soft as someone stated for fingerboards. It also need some type finish unlike rosewood or ebony when used as fingerboards. Ovation used an impregnated walnut for bridges and fingerboards. I believe it was some type of resin.

I figured there was a reason I wasn't seeing many.

Hutch: Yes it is black walnut. I already have some cut up for back and side sets. It's from a tree my grandfather salvaged and milled back in the early 50's. I'm hoping it's cured enough to use now. My dad has been threatening to build something with it since I can remember. Told him I had some ideas.

MRS: I saw a couple listings for Ovations with the resin impregnated walnut fingerboards. Aside from dulcimers and square neck resos those were the only walnut fingerboards I found in a quick google search.

That was the info I needed and thanks for the help!


Donald

I have an 18 year old Art & Lutherie guitar with walnut fretboard and bridge. The guitar has been with me everywhere, it's my 'beater', so I never worried too much about humidity, protection from the elements,...

The frets are still seated. The wood most definitely shows some wear. There's a crack around the 18th-20th fret. But it's still my beater and serves this purpose just fine. So while ebony/rosewood are definitely better suited as fretboard material, from my long-term experience I dare say that walnut does an ok job as well.

Here's my 'darling'



cheers, Christian

I recently got a hold of a few boards of reclaimed black walnut (from an old barn) in the midwest. The wood was cut in 1902 and is now extremely hard and dense with age. If you could get a hold of some aged walnut like this it would definately hold up as a fingerboard.

Me hammered some frets into a radiused and sculpted (scooped out between frets) walnut board about 6 years ago. You wood think that the constant pressing down of the strings into the hollowed out board (for note deflections) wood have loosened the frets which were not glued down.
NO such luck. Frets are as tight as the day I pounded them in and the walnut shows no signs of wear or tear like me, but them me 10 times older.

Icu

Padma

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