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Zircote as a fretboard
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=13919		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  kente777 [ Sat Oct 06, 2007 12:01 pm ]
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What do you guys think of Zircote as a fretboard?  Does it wear well?  What about cracking issues?

Also, any pics?

thanks.

Ken
Author:  Heath Blair [ Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:09 pm ]
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i wish i could say that i have personally used it... but i cant. i can say that i have played a sergei de jonge guitar that had a ziricote fingerboard. i cant comment on any of the practical issues with ziricote, but it is visually one of my favorite woods. i know people use it as a fingerboard wood though.
Author:  BlackHeart [ Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:25 pm ]
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You have to be careful when you pound in the frets. Its pretty thick so cracking shouldnt be the issue, its strait, not bent. It works nice with a plane.
Author:  Steve Saville [ Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:44 pm ]
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If you can wait a few months, I'll let you know. Here is my current project.

Author:  vachterm [ Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:16 pm ]
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this one(still in construction in the pic) has been completed for about two years now.
i havent experienced any problems with the FB.

Udi.
Author:  A Peebels [ Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:59 pm ]
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I've used it on one guitar. so far no problems.

Al
Author:  Heath Blair [ Sun Oct 07, 2007 4:47 am ]
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hey steve, thats an interesting rosette. is that the completed rosette? tell me more. Big smile
Author:  Todd Rose [ Sun Oct 07, 2007 5:28 am ]
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I've used it on one guitar so far, the one I built in Sergei de Jonge's class. No problems whatsoever in making the fretboard or installing frets. I haven't personally done any research into the hardness of ziricote compared with ebony or other good FB woods, but Sergei made a big point of recommending against using any wood for FBs that isn't extremely hard - he advised against using Indian rosewood, for example, which is indicative of how stringent his FB hardness requirement is. So, I figured, if ziricote is good enough for him, it's good enough for me.



This shot was taken in Sergei's shop. The FB was freshly oiled. It has darkened somewhat since then, but the colors are still lovely and you can still see the figure.

The guitar is now over two years old, but as for how it's wearing, I'm not a good one to test that, because I don't wear divots in FBs anyway. I've got these thick pads on my fingertips, so my nails never come anywhere close to the board, and I don't press so hard that the string touches the board, either. In my case, Indian rosewood or spruce or balsa or whatever would be fine.
Author:  Steve Saville [ Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:05 pm ]
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[QUOTE=hblair] hey steve, thats an interesting rosette. is that the completed rosette? tell me more. [/QUOTE]
Heath,
No, that is a segmented rosette. I'll cut out a standard circle from that spalted maple piece you see there.
Where in California are you? I'm in Murrieta.
Author:  Steve Kinnaird [ Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:40 pm ]
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My experience is like most that have posted so far...I've used it once, loved the look, and no problems at all for the past ten years or so.

Steve
Author:  Dave-SKG [ Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:26 am ]
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I have done several fret boards all turned out really beautiful with nothing bad to report. I have also done several bridges and there I had a little trouble. The wood is hard and somewhat brittle and if you use a router to get your basic bridge shape it's easy to blow out a corner and ruin the whole thing. I probably ruined 3 or 4 blanks before I learned to go super slow...never had a problem after that. It is a very beautiful looking bridge/fret board. Tends to darken and look more like madagascar when French Polished ( I FP my bridges).
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