Most of the ELBs made and shot here in the UK are triple laminates: hickory backing, core of some contrasting tropical hardwood - typically purpleheart, but ipe increasingly popular, and belly of lemonwood. You can get lemon wood here from specialist wood dealers and from professional bowyers who will also sell a laminated stave.
I think the best combination for a beginner is lemonwood backed with hickory (no core). This is easy to glue up and lemonwood is a joy to work as it has almost no grain. I've yet to see a chrysal in lemonwood, it is very forgiving.
If you want to make a self bow then I agree with the others above - ash or elm, wych elm if you can get it. I've seen ELBs self bows made from osage but it's hard to find a straight piece long enough and I'm told that as a very dense wood the bow tends to kick in the hand because of the weight near the tips - not tried it myself so can't comment. You would need to "chase" a single growth ring on the back of these woods, or even better to get a stave with the bark on, then carefully remove the bark and use the surface underneath as the back of the bow.
I often use ipe backed with bamboo, this is cheap, easy for me to get and very fast, but I think this is a bit more tricky to glue up and work if you've not done it before.
If you want to see examples on line search for bowyers like Bickerstaffe, Boyton, Head, and Greenland.
Have fun and do post some pictures so we can all enjoy your bow!
Stan
