Ebony is still the favoured material for fretboards, at least on high-end instruments. And rightly so, there is no real substitute imo.

The "antiques" trade discovered many years ago that you could "make" ebony from almost any hardgrained timber by soaking it in Condy's Crystals (potassium permanganate) solution; the paler the initial wood, the longer the soaking required. Being a rather serious oxidant, this chemical darkens the timber as part of the oxidising process. If the "ebony" thus made requires no further shaping, all the exposed surfaces will appear to be "truthful".

Of course, continued fingering of metal strings against a fingerboard will, over time, gradually wear away the surface and expose the inner timber; ebony is the same colour all the way through, while "ebony" won't be. Where there's no wear, I suppose there's no fretting about whether your ebony is the real deal or just oxidised deal.

Just thought you'd be interested.

Cheers, Rowan