How to tell real ebony

September 20, 2005 at 05:43 AM · peek under the fingerboard to tell if it's ebony, it will have wood color showing through the sides and bottom if it's stained or painted.

September 20, 2005 at 01:44 PM · Sometimes they stain the underside of the fingerboard as well. Another place you might want to check under the string in the nut grooves, that could be another give away, but not always...

September 20, 2005 at 02:23 PM · Some "ebonized" parts are really easy to see--more like black lacquer. My son's 1/2 size violin is 40 years old, and the ebonizing on the fingerboard was chipping--bad for making good sounds!. So I resurfaced it with scotchbrite. It is hard maple, and works just as well as ebony.

If it is a stain, then that is a bit more difficult.

The best way to learn to spot fake ebony, it to get to know real ebony well enough to know what it looks like :-)

Real ebony often has slight color variations--it isn't neccessarily pure black--but a stain could be varied, too.

The grain is part of the distinctiveness. If it is maple that is stained black, you will see a maple grain (not a "figured" maple but more like a counter-top).

The pegs are easy--take them out and you should be able to see whether the action of tuning "wears" the black off of them. You may have to "force the issue" a bit.

September 20, 2005 at 03:07 PM · If you are afraid of getting ripped off take someone with you who has some experience in purchasing instruments or take the violin out to 'test' and then have a couple other dealers check it out. No dealer in their right mind is going to let you start pulling pegs out, rubbing thinners on to see if the ebony is really paint, etc and if you try any of that at home you are begging to damage and having to pay for the instrument.

September 22, 2005 at 04:01 AM · Go to a wood worker or a place that supplies exotic hard woods to local artisans. Ask for a scrap piece of ebony and a few other of the hard woods. Tell the wood meister what you are trying to figure out, and you should get a very good education on how to identify different woods (even when stained) by the grain. Take the sample scraps with you and you will always have a reference to compare against.

One additional note: ebony is a very dense wood, so the grain should be tight and it is heavy for it's size.

October 6, 2005 at 03:41 AM · I have some expertise--have made my own chinrests and tailpieces. It's very hard, and it's dense. A couple of tests --

1. An ebony peg will sink in a glass of water. Ebony is one of a few tropical woods that are dense enough to sink in water.

2. Dead black ebony is generally stained a bit to get a uniform color. Unstained ebony, even of the best quality, will often have brownish areas on close exmination, even if the overall impression is still "black."

3. Trying pushing your fingernail against a sharp edge. Most woods will yield a little dent if you push hard--rosewood will, ditto boxwood. Cheap woods stained black certainly will. Ebony will not. Stuff's hard.

4. Many ebony fittings for sale are not very well made and not finished very well. A really well made ebony part is quite beautiful if it has had an excellent polishing job. Somebody once called the best pieces "black ivory".

October 7, 2005 at 03:51 PM · My ebony fingerboard has a red streak in it. :)