1720 L’Eveque new board.

I used to look for the hardest piece of ebony, but these days I am looking for one that is not the heaviest.

1720 Stradivari Evêque, and the new fingerboard before glueing.

When I make a replacement fingerboard, I have to check that the old one had not been reshaped to “fix” a neck that was not perfectly aligned with the body and ff holes. I also make sure that the glue I use is quite thin, not only it makes the process of glueing more accurate, because the fingerboard would not slide left and right (gel effect), but it makes any future fingerboard removal easier. I have worked on several famous instruments that were previously repaired by skilled restorers, and I always found them easier to work on.