ebony for nut and saddle

what is your opinion on Ebony as a material for nuts and saddles? how do you like it compared to bone or horn or tusq? I have only used bone thus far and am thinking about ebony purely for looks and because I already have some to use. this would be for a baritone with wound D & G strings by the way.

they seem to hold up pretty good on the vintage Martins

Quality ebony nearly as hard as bone. Some think it may contribute to a "woodier" tone. I have an ebony nut and saddle on my KPK concert that I will never change out.

I've seen a lot about this question on boards and in books and although I have never used it, I think it would work just fine regardless of what people say. One potential problem I do see is that "ebony" can be a loosely defined word in the world of wood. There are at least 7 different species of "ebony" (Diospyros sp.) and even other woods that are not in the genus that may be called "ebony". And then there are the out and out frauds sold which is only hard wood dyed black ("ebonized"). Buying wood can sometimes be like buying fish; hard to tell where it came from. The best species for nuts would be true west African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) also called "Gaboon ebony". This is the hardest of the Diospyros woods. It is sold, but difficult to determine if the wood really is the real deal or not.

I've used it a few times. Hard to say if it's any better or worse than Bone. The only real way to tell is to do double blind tests. I think I can safely say that it works OK, certainly nothing very obviously detrimental. It should hold up with Nylon strings, perhaps not quite as long as Bone.

As soon as you fret any string the nut is out of play, so it doesn't effect the tone at all. On the saddle you might be able to hear a difference between one material and the other. No harm at all in trying them.

There are heaps of woods that are extremely hard, especially in Australia.

As for wearing. Ebony is plenty hard enough to last for years.

can get desert ironwood pen blanks...harder than all of them

Allen said:

As soon as you fret any string the nut is out of play, so it doesn't effect the tone at all.

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Such a good point. I think this question might fall under the "over thinking the problem" category. I am as guilty of this as anyone else I admit. I do love that old saw that wooden nuts make an instrument sound "woodier". Yeah right. We can't forget that luthiers are in the business of selling musical instruments and hype and spurious claims have always been a part of the business since that first caveman made a drum using "special skin". This is not to say woods and construction do not make a difference. Obviously they do. Case in point: I was talking to my neighbor who is into electric guitars. He told me that "flamed" wood (in this case maple) means the tree was struck by lightening. This is an old marketing ploy and lightening struck wood is supposed to give wood that extra "pop" we all want. I just said, is that so? I did not roll my eyes although I really wanted too.

Interesting factoid: Good old American persimmon is a true "ebony" wood of the Diospyros genus (Diospyros virginiana) and isn't dark at all and is highly figured. Would probably make fine nuts.

Most of the old island ukes Nunes etc: have a piece of Koa for the nut and no saddle just a bump on the bridge also Koa..and some of these are over a hundred years old and still playing great.

I wonder what a "woody" tone sounds like. I tried using a peach wood saddle to make my uke sound peachy....but it was really the pits!!

Seriously though...ebony is a nice material for nuts and saddles. I really like the look of a black nut but I don't think it has any effect on tone. Changing saddles is pretty easy on most ukes. You can try several materials and find one you like best.