I am aware (or have atleast been persuaded to believe) that grenadilla wood is the preferable wood for a piccolo, but what about piccolos made of ebony? Is there anything wrong with ebony?
Thank you

I don`t know why grenadilla ("mpingo", Dalbergia melanoxylon) is more common for instruments than ebony (Diospyros - persimimon family). Some possibilies may include availability, toxins and iritants released during machining, ease of machining and wear on tools, and perceived tone differences (which may relate to surface finish).

(Note that mpingo (homeland name for grenadilla) is sometimes called ebony.)

So overall, grenadilla and ebony both produce a quality sound, basically equal?

According to experiments, so does concrete, plastic, and any metal, providing it is shaped properly for producing a great sound.

However, as I mentioned, some people believe that they perceive - I choose my words carefully - a difference, and according to some references, that is why grenadilla triumphed over ebony. However I have no idea about the reliability of those references. Nothing other than rigorous double blind testing in a controlled situation has much validity.

Many clarinetists consider that Buffet`s `Greenline`, professional, basically plastic clarinet plays every bit as well as the grenadilla model of the same top price. There are also some top model oboes which are made from a plastic material.

If the piccolos were otherwise identical, which is not too likely, then the sound from the two timbers would be difficult to tell apart, if at all.

But considering that marketing forces (i.e. the whims of prospective buyers)like to have some differences to compare and choose between, a manufacturer can easily build in subtle differences in other ways, such as the bore taper, diameter of tone holes, finish of the bore, undercutting of tone holes, and a lot of other things to do with the embouchure hole.

I have never compared the two.
Arak, have you tried a king wood piccolo? Your thoughts?

Sorry, I meant to write kingwood. All one word..

No.