Looking for good set of Macassar Ebony

[David Schramm]

What are some good sources for Macassar Ebony? I haven't bought any in a long time and the quality doesn't seem as good as it was 10 years ago.

[Waddy Thomson]

Bob Cefalu has some at RC Tonewoods. On sale. Can't speak to quality, but he's very reliable.

[Bryan Bear]

Hi don hardwoods should have it as well. Their website usually has some sets with actual pictures; they likely have more if you contact them. Jerry is great to deal with.

[Mario Proulx]

That would be Hibdon Hardwoods, correct?

[David King]

http://www.hibdonhardwood.com/pages/macassar-ebony
I don't see any on their backs and sides page.

[Michael Lewis]

Allied Lutherie usually has some listed on their site. I wish someone would offer black locust.

[Bob Gramann]

Tonewood.com has some black locust. I've built a few guitars with some that I obtained locally. It's a nice wood and makes a nice sounding guitar.

[David King]

There's definitely an opening for a mill that wants to specialize in domestic lutherie woods. Between mesquite, mountain mahogany and Osage orange for fingerboards and all the other wonderful native woods I think they'd do very well. I might ask some of the local lutherie wholesale outfits what they have to say about it.
I'm sure it's a chicken and egg problem, you need a demand for there to be a source and you need a source for there to be demand. (And you need a sawmill and a kiln and storage up the wahzoo.) We'll probably have to wait for a Martin or a Taylor to make the first move.

[Bryan Bear]

Yes sorry, Hibdon Hardwoods (autocorrect and poor proofreading got me). David is right, it is not on their website. I'm a bit surprised, they may not cut it for back and side sets. I just picked up a fretboard and peghead veneer from them last month but I didn't ask about sets. Of course, it could be that they don't always have it in stock since they bring in logs, dry and process them. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to call or email them.

[David King]

Waddy's source looks pretty well stocked http://rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store/macassar-ebony-c-1_41/
There's Gilmer hardwoods here in Portland. I tend to get lumber there not sets and the lumber often needs a few years to dry out. Of course if you resaw it it will dry out that much faster but you need to have a plan of action and follow up on it or risk losing your investment.