The Woods: Wenge

Wenge (pronounced Win-gay or Win-gee…but still many say Winj) is a classic ‘dark’ wood that is typically selected based on color.  When finished it has a color of deep chocolate to almost black, sometimes with a lighter brown grain pattern depending on how it was cut. It’s a very hard and heavy wood, surpassing that of Maple and Mahogany. 

In instruments, Wenge is most often used to add a dramatic accent, or sometimes for complete parts like fingerboards.  But while the color is very luxurious, Wenge has a huge pore structure that makes it very difficult to achieve a smooth refined finished.  As such, many pieces done completely in Wenge have an unfinished and rustic feel to them.

Hardness:            1930lbf

Desnity:               54 lb/ft3