CleverPun Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 I was interested in using a pink ivory fretboard for my first guitar, and I was wondering if anybody knew anything about the wood, and how it plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I am a pink ivory NUT. It is an extremely hard wood, extremely dense, quite oily, and takes a glass like polish. It is PRIME fretboard wood! It's up there with the snakewoods, blackwoods, etc. HOWEVER... I've really gotta deter you from using it for your first build. It's a really expensive wood that's not SO easy to come by, and if something were to go wrong, what a tragedy that would be due to this wood's rarity. No offense, but from a woodworking perspective, it's what I would consider reckless abadon. I've built SEVERAL guitars now, and despite the fact I have a HUGE stash of this stuff and am in love with it, I still am yet to use it cause I don't even think MY stills are worth of it yet. Choose wisely please. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I am a pink ivory NUT. It is an extremely hard wood, extremely dense, quite oily, and takes a glass like polish. It is PRIME fretboard wood! It's up there with the snakewoods, blackwoods, etc. HOWEVER... I've really gotta deter you from using it for your first build. It's a really expensive wood that's not SO easy to come by, and if something were to go wrong, what a tragedy that would be due to this wood's rarity. No offense, but from a woodworking perspective, it's what I would consider reckless abadon. I've built SEVERAL guitars now, and despite the fact I have a HUGE stash of this stuff and am in love with it, I still am yet to use it cause I don't even think MY stills are worth of it yet. Choose wisely please. Chris +1 on what Chris has said. Pink eye is a wonderful work of nature but without good woodworking skills will only be a problem and a tragedy to the wood and your hard earned dollars. If you decide to move forward with it, then take it very slow and practice on at least something like ebony(still expensive but not so much), Boisd'arc (spelling, very hard, cheap wood) Practice , practice , practice. Good luck, MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverPun Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I am a pink ivory NUT. It is an extremely hard wood, extremely dense, quite oily, and takes a glass like polish. It is PRIME fretboard wood! It's up there with the snakewoods, blackwoods, etc. HOWEVER... I've really gotta deter you from using it for your first build. It's a really expensive wood that's not SO easy to come by, and if something were to go wrong, what a tragedy that would be due to this wood's rarity. No offense, but from a woodworking perspective, it's what I would consider reckless abadon. I've built SEVERAL guitars now, and despite the fact I have a HUGE stash of this stuff and am in love with it, I still am yet to use it cause I don't even think MY stills are worth of it yet. Choose wisely please. Chris +1 on what Chris has said. Pink eye is a wonderful work of nature but without good woodworking skills will only be a problem and a tragedy to the wood and your hard earned dollars. If you decide to move forward with it, then take it very slow and practice on at least something like ebony(still expensive but not so much), Boisd'arc (spelling, very hard, cheap wood) Practice , practice , practice. Good luck, MK The main reason I wanted to use pink ivory is because I am making an SG with a very light pink body and a pearloid pickguard, and I was going to repeat the pink and pearl finish on the fretboard. After hearing your advice, and after thinking about it, I agree to hold off on it. I think along with your reasons that it is such a beautiful wood, it belongs with a naturally finished body, where the whole thing can be naturally beautiful. I saw a bass once that some guy did using pink ivory. I'll post it here: http://www.alembic.com/info/FC_duo.html Anyways, can either of you (or anyone else), think of a wood I could use that would go well with the pink and pearl body? I'm going to paint the neck white, and probably use MoP Les Paul Deluxe inlays, but I could always change it. Anthing that would look good with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Not sure on the price, but for fitting your concept take a look at tulipwood, its light colored wood with often pinkish stripes running down it, it might actually fit real well, though it won't be as in your face bright that pink ivory would. Outside of tulipwood I wouldn't know what to suggest, maybe some Bois de rose would look nice. I do think your initial idea of pink ivory is the best suited wood, but as suggested you might want to put some experience under your belt before taking on a wood like that. There are a number of wood that I love and want to use, but I am trying to get some more experience in general woodworking and learning about wood itself, there is really so much info and all of it is helpful in building guitars and working with woods. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and hope that it all works out for you, definitely keep us posted on your projects progress including pictures. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Not sure if you would consider it or not, but maybe you could dye a maple board so that it is a light pink. Easier to work with, cheap and easily available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverPun Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Not sure if you would consider it or not, but maybe you could dye a maple board so that it is a light pink. Easier to work with, cheap and easily available. I'd try it, but I prefer the completely natural look. Thanks a lot for the suggestion jmrents. That tulipwood looks beautiful. Do you know where I could buy a pre-slotted tulipwood fretboard? And of course I'll kep you all posted on the porgress. I jsut have to decide on the kind of P-90 I'm going to use, but no one has really posted in the thread I made about that so far. Any opinions on what kind of P-90 to use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Tulip wood would have nice shades of pink and cream. Redheart Maple has a nice pink shade to it. Redheart or Chatke-kok sometimes has a pinkish red look that can be a dead ringer for PI at an arms length(looking very close you can see the difference). Pink Ivory is going to be a bit more expensive(likely to be in the $100 range(assuming it is not highly figured) which is quite high), but in the grand scheme of a project, and if it is a key feature, I don't see it as being out of the question. I am not sure if this is your first attempt at building, or what your planning and skill level is at. We have seen projects that were challenging, using high priced and high quality materials for first builds. The results can be quite clean and professional looking(of course you can't evaluate much more with pictures). It really comes down to the person doing the work and planning. Good luck, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I am a pink ivory NUT. It is an extremely hard wood, extremely dense, quite oily, and takes a glass like polish. It is PRIME fretboard wood! It's up there with the snakewoods, blackwoods, etc. HOWEVER... I've really gotta deter you from using it for your first build. It's a really expensive wood that's not SO easy to come by, and if something were to go wrong, what a tragedy that would be due to this wood's rarity. No offense, but from a woodworking perspective, it's what I would consider reckless abadon. I've built SEVERAL guitars now, and despite the fact I have a HUGE stash of this stuff and am in love with it, I still am yet to use it cause I don't even think MY stills are worth of it yet. Choose wisely please. Chris +1 on what Chris has said. Pink eye is a wonderful work of nature but without good woodworking skills will only be a problem and a tragedy to the wood and your hard earned dollars. If you decide to move forward with it, then take it very slow and practice on at least something like ebony(still expensive but not so much), Boisd'arc (spelling, very hard, cheap wood) Practice , practice , practice. Good luck, MK The main reason I wanted to use pink ivory is because I am making an SG with a very light pink body and a pearloid pickguard, and I was going to repeat the pink and pearl finish on the fretboard. After hearing your advice, and after thinking about it, I agree to hold off on it. I think along with your reasons that it is such a beautiful wood, it belongs with a naturally finished body, where the whole thing can be naturally beautiful. I saw a bass once that some guy did using pink ivory. I'll post it here: http://www.alembic.com/info/FC_duo.html Anyways, can either of you (or anyone else), think of a wood I could use that would go well with the pink and pearl body? I'm going to paint the neck white, and probably use MoP Les Paul Deluxe inlays, but I could always change it. Anthing that would look good with that? As someothers have stated my next choice would be tulipwood as well. MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverPun Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I am a pink ivory NUT. It is an extremely hard wood, extremely dense, quite oily, and takes a glass like polish. It is PRIME fretboard wood! It's up there with the snakewoods, blackwoods, etc. HOWEVER... I've really gotta deter you from using it for your first build. It's a really expensive wood that's not SO easy to come by, and if something were to go wrong, what a tragedy that would be due to this wood's rarity. No offense, but from a woodworking perspective, it's what I would consider reckless abadon. I've built SEVERAL guitars now, and despite the fact I have a HUGE stash of this stuff and am in love with it, I still am yet to use it cause I don't even think MY stills are worth of it yet. Choose wisely please. Chris +1 on what Chris has said. Pink eye is a wonderful work of nature but without good woodworking skills will only be a problem and a tragedy to the wood and your hard earned dollars. If you decide to move forward with it, then take it very slow and practice on at least something like ebony(still expensive but not so much), Boisd'arc (spelling, very hard, cheap wood) Practice , practice , practice. Good luck, MK The main reason I wanted to use pink ivory is because I am making an SG with a very light pink body and a pearloid pickguard, and I was going to repeat the pink and pearl finish on the fretboard. After hearing your advice, and after thinking about it, I agree to hold off on it. I think along with your reasons that it is such a beautiful wood, it belongs with a naturally finished body, where the whole thing can be naturally beautiful. I saw a bass once that some guy did using pink ivory. I'll post it here: http://www.alembic.com/info/FC_duo.html Anyways, can either of you (or anyone else), think of a wood I could use that would go well with the pink and pearl body? I'm going to paint the neck white, and probably use MoP Les Paul Deluxe inlays, but I could always change it. Anthing that would look good with that? As someothers have stated my next choice would be tulipwood as well. MK I really really like that Tulipwood. It's beautiful. That's what I'm going to use for sure. But does anyone know where you can get it in the right size? And preferably already slotted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 In case anyone is interested gilmer has some really nice looking quartersawn pink ivory fingerboards right now for $75. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverPun Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 In case anyone is interested gilmer has some really nice looking quartersawn pink ivory fingerboards right now for $75. If I can't find any of this Tulipwood, I might as well go for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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