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I really want to try this stuff as a fiberboard and a bridge but can't find a source. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks!

Good article abt jeffrey an malay blackwood in recent GAL issue.

Gilmer woods has fingerboards and bridge blanks. There is a $100 min order, but buying ABW, you can hit that pretty quick.

Mike

So is this African Blackwood that grew in Malaysia? The ABW Hibdon has came from Mozambique (or at least some of it did). Any quality difference between the ABW grown in the these locations?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Malaysian is an ebony, ABW is a rosewood.

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Build log

Daryl, are you thinking about Malaysian blackwood? Two different species.

Ok, that's what I was asking....is it the same thing. Apparently it's not. Thanks.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

There are a lot of species with a "blackwood" attached to the common name.
Malaysian, African, Tasmanian etc. etc.

Malaysian is an ebony as stated,
African is a rosewood,
and Tasmanian is an Acacia.
There are several others...

I might have a chunk of Malaysian around if you're not in a hurry. It will take me some time to find it, if I can.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

The name "Malayasian blackwood" is only found on tonewood suppliers websites, so don't be surprised at the blank look when you try to source it from other wood suppliers. Timber traders in Malaysia use the term "Kayu malam" (literally "night wood") to describe timber from a number of local true ebonies -- go to http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/databank/woodsearch.asp and search for "kayu malam" and you'll see what I mean. As many ebonies from Malaysia can be traded as "Kayu malam", it is extremely difficult to identify this wood to the species level. In the absence of better information, a more correct scientific designation would be "Diospyros spp. ex Malaysia". It explains to some degree why builders have reported so much variation in the figure and colours of the wood, as there are many species to choose from.

As far as I can piece it together, Jeffrey Yong came up with the English translation "Malaysian blackwood" when he introduced ebony from Malaysia to instrument makers at the 1998 GAL convention*. Where zoot suppliers went too far (IMHO) is when they gave it the scientific name: Diospyros ebonasea. In fact, no such taxnomic designation has been made -- it is totally fictitious! (The Diospyros are all members of the family Ebenacae, which I guess was their inspiration for the name). Personally, I'd prefer to dispense with the fiction and just use the Sabah industry-accepted collective term of "Kayu malam".

Macassar ebony (Diospyros celebica) is certainly a close cousin, but its distribution is said to be limited to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi (formely known as Celebes). Known for its striped figure, the timber is shipped out of the port of Makassar.

*Yarosh, B. (2012) Let's catch up with Jeffrey Yong. Am. Lutherie 110: 36-43.

Thanks for the replies guys!

I actually found Eddy who's a supplier on the LuthierCom website, he hooked me up with an awesome back and sides set with a matching bridge, fretboard and head plate

Awesome!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."