Time for another Taylor stainless steel refret. This one brought some good pics of the Ebony after sanding. All Ebony is not created equal! But neither is it unequal! What? Ebony comes in grades from 1A to 5A, and it is priced proportionately. 5A is top of the line and used for the best instruments. It is uniform in color, completely black and fine grained. There is no difference in the density of the grades from 3 to 5. Most instruments use about a 3A grade which means it has variations in the color and grain pattern. All manufacturers use the various grades in their instruments. To avoid the variations in color and appearance, dyes have been developed to stain the Ebony to a uniform black, making an attractive Ebony at a more affordable price. These pictures are not meant to go through a full refret, but to show chip out that occurs during a refret and 3A Ebony before and after staining on a higher end Taylor acoustic.
