I would like some opinions, Please

[Sage97]

Dark brown wood.

[Captain Jim]

Curly maple - darker than the top, lighter than the sides, but the light and dark in the curly maple will pull it all together.

[Brucebubs]

Here's another custom build thread with dark binding that works well.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=465572

[Rixter]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Here's another custom build thread with dark binding that works well.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=465572

Wow that build looks familiar! Lol. I was just going to say one of my favorite bindings is classic Ebony!

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Rixter

Wow that build looks familiar! Lol. I was just going to say one of my favorite bindings is classic Ebony!

And yours is a great example - lovely work, looks superb.

[alohachris]

Aloha TEK,

I would suggest using some darker, flat sawn Wenge for binding with those woods. Wenge would provide texture & contrast, & the flat sawn varieties give you a "pheasant wing" visual movement that would work well. Much harder than Hawaiian acacia koa.

http://www.rockler.com/wenge-by-the-...FUiPfgodl7oOyQ

If you had access to it, Kolohala or Hawaiian Pheasant wood would be absolutely perfect for use as binding there. Same qualities as Wenge with more color variations. Also much harder than koa for bindings.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hawa...reilUWb0FNI6M:

RE: Hawaiian acacia koa's lack of binding suitability? One need look no further than the Janka hardness chart to see what Bruce is talking about. Rosewoods, ebonies & maples, even bloodwood, all provide much more dent-prevention & edge protection than would acacia koa. As much as I love Koa, I've rarely used it for binding for the same reasons. It's also why mahoganies are seldom used for binding - it has the same 4.5 hardness issue as koa.

Other hardwoods that would work for binding those woods are Macassar Ebony, Peruvian Walnut, African Blackwood (if you can still find it) or a hard black walnut. Another hard, dark Hawaiian wood is Milo.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...91462148760906

Good Luck with your project, TEK.

alohachris

[TEK]

Thanks everyone for all the ideas.

Chris, Thanks for your suggestions. I have some Wenge and some Peruvian Walnut due in tomorrow. Hopefully one of those will catch my eye.
Travis

[TEK]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I ended up using Wenge for the binding. The color went well with the darker stripes in the back. I ended up putting a cocobolo strip in the purfling on the top to tie in the rosette.


Travis

[Brucebubs]

That already looks good.
Great choice.
Excellent.