Feedback On Snakewood Fingerboards

[Bobby]

Gday, Fair enough the snakewood fingerboards I have seen are drop dead gorgeous, but how do they feel to play in comparison to ebony, rosewood etc and is the timber harder or much the same to work with than the standards? I have not had the pleasure of playing on one obviously....yet. No good being so attractive if it feels swampy, specially if its a couple hundred bucks for the swampy timber lol.

[WezV]

apparently its very hard - so no issues there

[low end fuzz]

yep, its hard and polishes up nicley;

i played one while it was still in mock up (prior only to body being sprayed and electronics)

it felt alot like ebony (glass like) but i couldnt comment on the sound;

i dont particularlly find it that great looking all the time; if theres a piece that is all that speckled pattern its fine but i usually only see the long strpies with black dots in the background

[Mattia]

Gday, Fair enough the snakewood fingerboards I have seen are drop dead gorgeous, but how do they feel to play in comparison to ebony, rosewood etc and is the timber harder or much the same to work with than the standards? I have not had the pleasure of playing on one obviously....yet. No good being so attractive if it feels swampy, specially if its a couple hundred bucks for the swampy timber lol.

It's very hard, glassy, takes a very smooth polish. It's also quite brittle, prone to cracking, expensive, hard to find in large enough, really nice pieces if we're talking fingerboard blanks. If you're insane, and Sergei de Jonge, you manage to find enough for an acoustic guitar (back and sides) and actually make one, but we mere mortals, well, I'm not averse to using some, eventually, but it's very pricey.

In terms of looks and feel, though, I have no hesitation. The pieces I've tapped (non-cracked) also sounded more resonant than your average hunk of ebony (which really isn't all that fantastic, resonance-wise.)

[fryovanni]

I have used it for fingerboards, acoustic bridges, and binding. It is smooth as glass when polished. It is much more resonant than ebony. it is a bit more brittal than most rosewood, but has never really been an issue when I have worked with it(just watch out for tiny splinters if you run your finger along a ruff edge). If you are really wanting to use one. Give me a PM, and let me know what dimensions you need. You don't need to pay $200 for one.

Peace,Rich

[WezV]

doug at black machine guitars uses it for necks, although its rare to find pieces bi enough for that

http://www.blackmachine.net/

follow the link, then click on 'specials' then check out two guitars he has done with snakewood necks!!

i played the first one last year and it felt great! couldnt really say about sound though, it was at a guitar show, not the quietest place

[Bobby]

damn lol, those snakewood necks are super teh sexay!...awesome, oh pm sent Fryovanni ..Cheers!

[metalwarrior]

[oz tradie]

Lovely looking stuff.

Hmm...........may have to dig deep into my pockets.

And Bobby, you're obviously a Bruce Dickinson fan.

cheers, Stu

[Bobby]

???..how did you guess that Oz?..I have done everything from learning to fence and read books about how to fly 747's to try and emulate Bruce..if only he lived closer so I could stalk the geezer lol. ANyhoo, thats a sweet looking board Metal, beaut speckle pattern. Did you post the pic to show off or you have SW boards for sale here in Oz?...shoot me a pm if you dooz, I wanna get this board done before the cricket season starts....man that board is breath taking and its not even finished to any real degree lol.

[metalwarrior]

Unfortunately it is not mine. The site I saved the pic from isn't even in english. If I remember correctly it was from Germany.

Someone posted a link somewhere saying Germany had a lot of exotic woods.

[Bobby]

ah bummer, no probs, I sent an email to gilmer woods to see about http://www.gilmerwood.com/photo_html09-05/10-06-05iw7624.htm as I have not heard back from Rich yet.. mind you I have not heard back from Gilmer woods either lol

[fryovanni]

Sorry I haven't responded quicker(I have been really busy). Here is a pic of a couple. I don't know if this is the figure you are looking for(looking at the Gilmer and other photos you guys are looking at). Here is a photo(sorry it is poor, I had to take a quick shot before I went to bed)..

Peace,Rich

[Bobby]

Oh loverly Rich thanks for the pic, I ordered piece already though , wasnt sure waiting for your response. The piece I ordered is basically much bigger even than a base fretboard. I thought this would be good also because now I have half an idea to do the cavity covers and maybe headstock as well. That top piece is very very impressive man.

[fryovanni]

Good deal! Did you wind up ordering from Gilmer? They have great Snakewood, and if it is a piece from their musical wood selection it will be super(Marc is a very very sharp fella, and has extreamly high standards). Good luck with the work. It will be nice to see how the final product looks(I am a huge fan of Snakewood).

Peace,Rich

[the telecaster kid]

Sorry I haven't responded quicker(I have been really busy). Here is a pic of a couple. I don't know if this is the figure you are looking for(looking at the Gilmer and other photos you guys are looking at). Here is a photo(sorry it is poor, I had to take a quick shot before I went to bed)..

Peace,Rich

I've also been thinking about using snakewood as a fretboard in my next project. How much would you want for a piece like that?

[low end fuzz]

id bet 200$ cdn