Mark Jerde wrote...

What do you recommend instead of ebony for a "player's" set?

Hard to say. Walnut and "rosewood" are popular. I put rosewood in quotes
because I don't know what kind of wood those "rosewood" sets are really
made of, but it's much lighter than the rosewood I've worked with
(dalbergia stevonsonii). *That*, by the way, would be an excellent
choice. I absolutely love that stuff, but I suppose any dark wood with
good split resistance would be ok for Black.

I used walnut because I like it, and I had some dark 8/4 material handy.
You might worry that walnut is too soft, but it has held up well for
right at ten years now of fairly heavy use. I play weekly for several
hours at a time.

For White, maple and boxwood are the species I've seen most frequently,
but there are plenty more good choices for the light color. Boxwood is a
little lighter in color and weight and takes detail very well. Maple is
bit difficult to carve, owing to its hardness.

Cheers!

Jim