Wenge?

[Woody Sound]

Has anyone ever heard of Wenge being used for back/sides/fretboard? I bought a piece to make a pickguard because I like its look, and it seems really dense.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I love wenge for bass necks/fretboards. I also have a strat style guitar with a wenge neck and like it very much too. I’ve never tried it in the context of anything acoustic instrument, only electric.


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[Bob_Ross]

Lots of electric basses use wenge for the neck and/or fingerboard. Warwick and Dingwall off the top of my head.

And nearly any company that offers custom wood facings on their solidbody instruments -- e.g., Alembic, Wal, Warmoth, MTD -- offer Wenge as an option for tops & backs.

But I've never seen a hollowbody instrument with Wenge back or sides.

[Bob_Ross]

Many luthiers liken it to Indian Rosewood for sound and feel.

I find that astonishing, given that the feel of any/every Wenge instrument part I've ever played was nothing like Rosewood!

[Hammertone]

Wenge is brittle and very prone to chipping/shattering. Weighs a ton. Terrible for sides, IMO. Fine for fretboards, solidbodies and the like. And can be less than attractive, as shown on my ugliest plankcaster, which greatly amuses me for that very reason.

[Ol' Fret]

Wood Details: U-Z - Tonewood Data Source, though probably more directed to acoustic flat-top guitar makers, gives some orientation (scroll down for Wenge). Like with all public information I'd take that with a grain of salt.

Wenge can be really heavy, cracks and splinters easily (and splinters tend to go septic more than any other woods). It also has a coarse texture, so requires pore filling. I've seen several 70+ years old Wenge fretboards on postwar archtop guitars, and I have to say that I don't like them too much: even if the wood had a fine and smooth surface in the beginning, due to the specific figure or grain pattern (darker and brighter proportions) Wenge features a significant move in use. Not what I would like to encounter on a fretboard or neck. Industry ... has always been looking for affordable, and above all, readily available substitute materials. Who among them care what tomorrow your guitar will look like? The rest is Big Marketing and willing customers.

Less speaks against Wenge, IMHO, as a pickguard material.

[skykomishone]

Ol'fret, ouch!
This makes me not like it...
"Wenge can be really heavy, cracks and splinters easily (and splinters tend to go septic more than any other woods)."

[GuyBoden]

I had a great Wenge neck/fretboard on my 7 string solid body. Very nice, but installing the Stainless Steel frets must have been very difficult.