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I attempted to cut the taper of the ebony fret board with a coping saw. While doing the first side I the blade ended up drifting towards the cut line, and also twisted a bit resulting in an undercut in two places along the side. The bright side is I now have plenty of scrap to practice inlaying the diamond fret marker. I ended up getting a band saw and cut the other side easily.

I can get a replacement fret board in either ebony ($40) or rosewood ($20). I was hoping I might get a recommendation on one way or another. The money isn’t a concern. Has anybody built similar style guitars (of any kind) with both fret board woods? Is there a big difference in tone? Is the rosewood easier to work with?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

you can bind it

Yep - i've thought of that, and I'll probably attempt that with the fret board i have now. But I think I'll still be buying a new fret board. I just feel a little more secure knowing I have a plan B.

Any preference with regards to rosewood and ebony as far as tone and workability?

chimpotle wrote:Any preference with regards to rosewood and ebony as far as tone and workability?

They are both fantastic. I use ebony more but not by much. It's hard to compare sound wise I do it more for the "look" I want.

I would follow John advice and bind the fret board unless you were already cutting for a bound fret board.
I have used ebony on all of my guitars except the latest bass guitar I am working on. If you are a beginner doing inlays, you cannot beat ebony for the ease of hiding a mistake. If you cut the inlay a little wide, no problem, almost any black filler will disappear. I have used CA with lamp black and CA with ebony dust. On one guitar I sort of slipped with the router and with a fairly large bit cut right through to a fret slot. I repaired it with a sliver of ebony and now that I have forgotten where it is I cannot find the repair. Rosewood shows every mistake.

Thanks guys! So, i'll be sticking with ebony. Will try the binding, and hold off a bit on the back up.

Maybe I'm being dense but why did you use a Coping Saw instead of the Bandsaw or a Japanese saw?

At the time, i didnt have a japanese saw or a bandsaw. I got the bandsaw afterwards.

Also, i'm a total newbie.

chimpotle wrote:At the time, i didnt have a japanese saw or a bandsaw. I got the bandsaw afterwards.

Also, i'm a total newbie.

Oh...I see. That first project is expensive unless you or a friend has a good selection of tools. Of course you are in the Home of Harbor Freight aren't you? :^)

Yes, i'm two minutes away from their main warehouse, and have a friend that works at the corporate offices :)

I should add (for the benefit of other newbies that stumble across this) that the stew mac instructions are geared toward using a bandsaw, but say that you can use a coping saw or hand plane. I should have used the hand plane. I definitely do not recommend a coping saw. Band saw is easy and quick, hand plane is easy and slow.