Bois de Rose

[noelk27]

Anyone ever used Bois de Rose (Dalbergia Maritima) for a touchboard?

[Dom in Dorset]

From what I can see it's just another term for rose wood, if that's the case then , yes it's been done before!
There are many species of rose wood, most of them have similar properties.

[harleyheath]

Hi,
Yes it's a rosewood, comes from Madagascar, it's a true rosewood, unlike many so called rosewoods out there.
It's hard an heavy and will need to be wiped with alcohol before it's glued, takes a superb finish.
I've been told it's sound is very similar to old Brazilian rosewood which was considered to be the best about so should sound lovely an bright.
Bloody rare nodays an not so easy to get hold of now they have put all the CITES laws into place! Which sucks!! Love a pic if you use it. It's a beautiful colour!

[Chris Sharman]

How strange - I was reading about this only yesterday on the BBC website. I thought "a bass or even just the fretboard made from that would look amazing" then I read the story about the illegal trade in this wood. You can read it here; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26037626

It does look beautiful though. I wonder if there is an official supply route for it?

[Jellyfish]

I actually have Madagascan Rosewood on my Alpher bass, which I'm certain is what you guys are talking about.

Obviously, with having it on a bass that was built for me, I haven't had experience working with it, but I absolutely love the tonal characteristics of it as I'm a fan of Maple boards[i].[/i]

[i][/i]



[b]And on the finished article...[/b]

[url=http://flic.kr/p/hb3ssx][/url]

[noelk27]

Bois de Rose is a rosewood, most commonly from Madagascar, but it's not Madagascan Rosewood (Dalbergia Baronii/Dalbergia Madagascariensis). Bois de Rose is much darker, with more red tones.

It's probably a long shot, but there might be someone with firsthand experience of using it as a tone wood or touchboard. That it may closely resemble Brazilian Rosewood was also something that I'd read, which is the wood it will, potentially, be replacing.