Ovangkol / Black Hyedua

Family: Fabaceae - Order: Fabales - Class: Magnoliopsida

Scientific name: Guibourtia ehie

Trade name: Ovangkol / Ovengkol /Black Hyedua

Also known as Amazique, Amazoue, Mozambique, Ovangkol, Shedua

Origin: Central and Tropical west Africa.

Instrumental uses:
Guitar back and sides, fingerboards, bridges, head plates and bindings.

Tonal properties:

Great sounding wood similar in many ways to rosewood’s tonal properties, just with a midrange slightly more present. Great tone wood for all purposes for guitars.

When used in fingerboards gives a great tonal separation and definition in all frequency ranges, favoring the middle region frequency range, giving greater highlights to the notes making their relief easy.

Grain is straight to slightly interlocked and a medium to coarse texture.

Can be sometimes difficult to work if silica is present, which often is the case in this characteristicly diffuse porous wood. Glues and finishes well.

Is stiff and very resistant with an average dried weight nearly of 51  lbs/ft3 or 825  kg/m3. 

Guibourtia ehie is native from Western and Central Africa. Occurs in moderate densities in different forest types, from closed rain forest to drier semi-deciduous forest. It prefers swampy and periodically inundated forests. It is known or inferred that the harvesting of specimens is from wild forests.

The tree reaches a height of 40 m. The bole is occasionally fluted. The trunk diameter attains 120 cm.

The sapwood is greyish white, it has a thickness of 4 to 7 cm. The heartwood is yellow brown to dark brown, it is clearly demarcated. The silver figure is slightly lustrous.

CITES status is unrestricted. Is reported on the IUCN Red List as least concern.