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Funny how threads seem to come in groups! I'm about to start my first commission. It will have quilted maple b+s, spruce top and mahogany/walnut laminated neck. The fingerboard, bridge and appointments will be ebony with spalted maple highlights. Do you think ebony binding would go well with that wood combination? What sort of purfling scheme would you use? We're going for a modern, clean look - a bit Kostalesque...

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Ebony binding would look ok, but boring.

Indian rosewood goes nicely with figured maple. I think there's a picture of it in the Cumpiano & Natelson book, if you have that. With some sharp looking WBWB purfs, I think. I'd probably just do .020" white/.020" black for all of them. Or maybe replace the white with 1/16" turquoise on the soundboard.

Fingerboard, I'd do ebony binding with white purfling line... maybe .030" or so. Maple burl block inlays, framed in .020" black/.020" white.

I'd definitely go with a figured maple neck. Could be laminated with walnut. I like maple binding on mahogany guitars, but mahogany neck on maple body... ick.

I'd probably do bearclaw spruce as well, to match with the figured maple.

Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely like the idea of a bearclaw top. But what's wrong with mahogany necks?


Rosewood bindings sound good... What do you think of cocobolo?

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
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Cocobolo is great for binding. Bends like a dream. People speak of glue adhesion issues due to the natural oils but I haven't had any problems. Just wipe down real good with Naptha just before glue up.

Coco bindings are nice. Dark, warm enough to work with the maple, and has just enough variety in the grain to be seen in such a small dimension piece as bindings but not so much as to be distracting.

For myself, I prefer a single light and dark purfling line on the sides, but large enough to show crisply. Maybe the same on the top, or maybe a double line. Probably a highly figured maple purfling line so that it has some shimmer. It won't be distracting as its small, but it adds just that bit of variance to make it interesting.

I also like the colour that varnish adds to maple. Without it, Maples can look sterile, to my eye anyway.

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Plain maple bindings can work well on some maple guitars. With black purfling lines inside and below it can look quite elegant IMO. I'd think with ebony and mahogany on your guitar pretty much any binding will work.

Ok, thanks for the replies. I think we've settled on EIR. It should give it just a bit more colour than ebony. I like the idea of curly maple purfling. Any idea where to get it, or do you have to make your own?

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

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The color combo just doesn't look good to me Now if the maple has some heartwood in the center that matches the width of the heel, that would look pretty cool. But I don't think that would work with quilt, because it would get too much away from flatsawn on the outer edges.

But don't let me stop you from using mahogany if you and the buyer like it.


I've never seen it for sale anywhere. Buy some curly maple veneer and slice strips off with an x-acto knife. But be gentle and make several passes, or you'll split it instead of slicing... and splits follow the curl.

Here's an example of what it looks like.

My favorite binding on maple? Bubinga. But this creates a more earthy, "organic," look, not the modern look you're after. If you're after a very modern look, I'd go with something with strong contrast. This would create the focus on line and shape that kind of defined the modern art movement.

I agree with James Orr. The modern look is all about that sharp classy appearance. I'd go with something dark with some flair in it either Macasser Ebony, BRW, AB (african blackwood) or cocobolo.

For purfling lines, I'd go with holly for the "white" and what ever the binding choice is.

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my choice a main combo of pau ferro binding with 1/4sawn hard maple purfling with flecking with a black veneer backer , simple but elegant.

With maple, my first choice would be curly koa with b/w/b purfling to frame it all.

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For a dark binding you might consider wenge. It looks a lot less like plastic then ebony.

Here is coco on myrtle, which is almost the same color as maple.

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