Wenge
Other names: Panga Panga
Latin name: Millettia laurentii
Density: ca. 800 kg/m³
Description:
Coming from the central part of Africa Wenge with its characteristic striped texture and black-brown color cannot be mistaken. It belongs to a group of heavy species with relatively high hardness and provides with bright sound,with the highest frequencies are limited by the presence of natural oil compounds. However, this does not affect the attack, which is exceptionally well defined.
Due to their mechanical properties and generally balanced sound wenge wood is used for all components of guitars - necks, fingerboards, front boards, or even whole bodies. In the latter case, to reduce the weight of an instrument most of guitar builders drill specially shaped sound chambers, which also helps the overall resonance.