Abalone vr. Abalam

Selection -- purfling -- finger-board -- head-stock
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David L
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:38 am

Abalone vr. Abalam

Post by David L » Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:54 am

I do like both but I prefer Abalam. I find that Abalam tends to be more colorful and more versitile. What do you think?

David L
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TonyinNYC
Posts: 1510
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:00 pm

Re: Abalone vr. Abalam

Post by TonyinNYC » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:18 am

I like ablam. Not a fan of zip flex.
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ken cierp
Posts: 3924
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:23 pm

Re: Abalone vr. Abalam

Post by ken cierp » Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:54 pm

How about cost comparisons? I believe Abalam is only made by one company -- Duke of Pearl?
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TonyinNYC
Posts: 1510
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:00 pm

Re: Abalone vr. Abalam

Post by TonyinNYC » Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:10 am

I like them both, but Ken is right. Abalam is more expensive than real abalone. Abalam is more consistently colored, but real shell can be had for as little as $0.50 an inch where as Abalam is going to run you from $1.40 to $1.70 per inch for straight pieces or more for curved pieces from the usual suspects. If you buy directly from the Duke, its going to cost you a whole bunch more and he only sells sheets so you need to cut your own inlays or purfling strips. $340.00 for a 9.5" x 5.5" sheet. Not sure how much purfling you could cut from that.
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