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I am working on a sinker Redwood/Dalbergia Cultrata baritone and I was planning on using BRW for the fretboard and bridge. However, the fretboard warped during my last move abd I'm glad I never built with it now. It was Ebay junk but definitely BRW. I havent been able to source Dalbergia Cultrata fretboards thus far and I haven't been able to find any BRW either. Anyone know of a good source for either or have a suggestion on a replacement species? I'd go with Ebony but that seems a bit boring. I do have a matching set of Boise de rose but I'm not crazy about the color scheme. The neck will be laminated mahogany/rosewood/mahogany.

Steve at colonial might have some BRW


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Funny, I'm working on a sinker redwood and D.cultrata 00 with a bois de rose fretboard right now Purpleheart binding really ties it together color wise, so you could do that too. Honduran rosewood might look cool as well, giving a lighter fingerboard against the darker soundboard.

But I do love the cultrata, and want more, and have a couple of BRW fingerboards, so how about a partial trade? I'm not sure what the going rate for BRW fingerboards is these days... maybe $40 for the orange one or $50 for the dark one? Orange is 19 5/8" long, dark is 20 5/8", if the length is an issue due to it being a baritone.


I threw a Honduran board in there as well for color comparison, and incase you want it for $15. That one's perfectly quartered, but it's 1/2" thick so I may never get around to using it because I can't stand to waste that much wood, and don't have a bandsaw to take a slice off first. Honduran does come in darker color as well, which can be had from Colonial or Hibdon.

If you want the dark BRW, I have a matching bridge blank for it as well.

Amazon rosewood from allied is another option.

I used cocobolo for both on a recent build and was really pleased. They have some very nice stuff at Hibdon.

Steve

African blackwood if you can find it.

Madagascar Rosewood from Allied for the headplate, fretboard, and bridge. Just tell them what you want for color and they can usually accommodate.

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I've made eight guitars with Cocobolo fretboards. Cocobolo is a standard for me and has never let me down. Others include BRW, Argentinian Ebony (homogeneous deep tan color - very nice), Ipe, Purple Heart, Ebony, and Wenge.

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Some folks are allergic to coco. Then again, you can find some folks are allergic to almost any tropical wood. I had a student who was allergic to both Indian rosewood and morado.

Zircote can work well.