First and foremost I use African Blackwood, also called Grenadill, which has been seasoned for several years .

Blackwood tree

African Blackwood as delivered

My Wood is not kiln-dried, instead it is dried naturally over time and therefore has less internal tension which results in better sound quality.

African Blackwood, ist Latin Name is “Dalbergia Melanoxylon”, grows in southern Africa, mainly in Mosambik and Tansania. It is one of the world’s heaviest woods, contains a lot of oils and has excellent sound properties. Because of this, slow growth and scarce existence it is getting harder and harder to secure good quality supplies at reasonable prices. From 2008 to 2014 alone the price rose nearly 40 oercent. To use cheap and mostly low-quality wood is out of the question for me.

On request I can use other wood species suitable for musical instruments.

For the mountings I have a large selection of diverse materials available, such as:

• alternative ivory, marbled Polyester
• alternative ivory, Elforyn (developed in Germany )
• Horn
• real ivory with EU-CITES  certification
• Mammoth ivory, which can be sold without restricions
• Aluminum, plain or engraved
• Nickel, plain or engraved
• Sterling Silber, plain or engraved
• assorted coloured wood species
• and many more…
• 

  Mammoth ivory

  

  real elephant ivory