Ebony or Rosewood ?

[Watford]

it does'nt look anything like macassar. i had sh*tloads of it for years. could'nt wait to get rid of it. sold it to eric lewis few years back for his mass produced jobbies.

however, i kept the bits which were in fact very nice....

I was only going off the fact that guitars made of it look stripy. It doesn't look as good as Macassar.

[MikeWooldridge]

it's not particularly stripey. mostly dull browns although some stripey/grainy bits turn up but i never saw any in the 500+ bits i had that were anything vaguely similar to macassar.

as far as i know it's quick grown plantation stuff. not as nice as 'original' naturally grown rosewoods. but maybe i'm wrong, just something i've always been led to believe....

[ChatLag]

Here I have some pictures of the old cue Mike has mentioned...

It is a nice cue and a good player but far away from macassar.

[MikeWooldridge]

the pics chatlag posted are a good indication of the type of 'stripes' in sonokeling rosewood.

normally just shades of brown, sometimes 'purpleish', sometimes even 'greenish' colouring. sometimes noticeable/attractive grain lines, sometimes, just 'solid' colouring.

i kept some nice bits that have good strong colouring and grain. they do look nice.

[ChatLag]

To me the look and feel of that cue is similar to walnut wood.

[RGCirencester]

Chatlag... I'm always amazed how many people buy cues to match their carpets

[ChatLag]

Chatlag... I'm always amazed how many people buy cues to match their carpets

I will go the other way round now. This is the rosewood carpet and now I need a ebony carpet. After that i start with carets matching to the splices. But I am not sure if I'd like a tulipwood carpet....

[Dan27]

That's a nice cue Chatlag, simple and elegant.

[ChatLag]

That's a nice cue Chatlag, simple and elegant.

Thank you. Yes, it is nice. And unusual enough to recognizse it from thousands.

[poolqjunkie]

the pics chatlag posted are a good indication of the type of 'stripes' in sonokeling rosewood.

normally just shades of brown, sometimes 'purpleish', sometimes even 'greenish' colouring. sometimes noticeable/attractive grain lines, sometimes, just 'solid' colouring.

i kept some nice bits that have good strong colouring and grain. they do look nice.

Is it hard to match the four splices to the same color/tone then?

[trevs1]

Sonokoling rosewood is a plantation grown timber, as Mike said earlier.

It's the same species as Indian rosewood, but nowhere near as attractive, hard or heavy. Mike has described it pretty much spot on, which is no surprise seeing as he's seen so much of it. All the stuff I've ever had of it is bland and uninteresing too, with only the odd bit having anything going on at all.

As for the OP's question, well, (good) rosewood or ebony is much of a muchness, as either offer good weight, are durable and will produce an excellent finish, so it is just a matter of taste.

On the ebony side, it's pretty much black or macassar (stripey black and brown).

Rosewood is a different thing altogether though because there are just so many of them. These range from pale coloured timber to very dark coloured timber, and, from fairly even drab colouring in a single piece to very contrasting coloures in the same piece, depending on species.

It's a little tricky to be sure that when you order something using a certain species, that it'll actually look like you thought it would, because of big visual variation possible in the timber.

[totlxtc]

On the ebony side, it's pretty much black or macassar (stripey black and brown).

Trevor, Just a quick question as you are here. Have you tried Pale moon ebony?

[trevs1]

Trevor, Just a quick question as you are here. Have you tried Pale moon ebony?

Is that what some comedian is calling the black and white stuff???

Don't like it.

[totlxtc]

Is that what some comedian is calling the black and white stuff???

Don't like it.

Yeah i saw a piece a while ago, but never seen it on a cue. Wondered if it was a true ebony or another type all together.

[trevs1]

The very best stuff can look quite striking, but the paler parts can also look dirty and a little confused. I'm not a fan