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I have no comparisons, with only one build, but it seems to sound fine. I was told it is similar in "tone" to EIR, but it certainly isn't as easy to work. The guitar I built with it came out fine, and sounds great.

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Waddy

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I have not built with it but i have sold a few sets.
it has been likend to indian rosewood and it does have a simalar texture density etc.
but to be honest it is hard to compare any wood to another as it will have a personalty of its and should be judged as such.

i often recomend it to beginers becouse it is very cheap and readily available (at least here in the uk it is) i have been told it bends readily but i cant comment on that as i have not tried it for myself.

Its one of those woods you either love or hate.
personly i do not like its looks and it smells bad when cut but it very fashionable at the moment and this attests to the fact that many people like the looks of the wood.

I am sure that many of the forum have built with it and can let you how well it works and what the finished guitars were like,

Joel.

In my opinion, and limited experience, it is not particularly easy to work. Very hard to thickness. Does not like sanding, planing, or scraping, though scraping was best. Easy to gouge out and make deep holes when planing. The soft part is very soft(relatively) and the grain is very hard. It has splinters like sabers, and twice as sharp. Do not, I repeat, do not, check the smoothness of an edge with your finger. It bends fine, but likes a fairly high temperature. I would say that limited water involvement is also a good idea. It wants to cup a bit as you are bending. I hand bent mine on a pipe. However, once bent, it stayed put. I had no issues with spring back. When cutting binding ledges, using a knife edge cutter is very dangerous as it wants to follow the grain. Use a scraping cutter, and it will cut it's own path.

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Waddy

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I am working with some right now for a ukulele that I am building.

The wood looks stunning, especially with the landcape figure, but it isn't without its problems.
I found that the large pale band here was fine, but it is the pale bands between the dark ones that cause the problem.

The pale bands are much softer than the dark ones....
1) A scraper will tear up that pale wood in places. So much so that I gave up with the scraper.
2) Sanding can make some of the pale lines look very soft and porus in places. Think balsa wood. I am wondering how they will take sealer and finish.
3) Jointing was a pain, because the pale bands were softer than the dark ones, and it was a sod to get a good joint with a plane. In the end I finished by sanding the edges for jointing after getting them close with a plane.

But it looks so stunningly "different".







Sound wise... I have no idea yet!

Rod

That's a beautiful piece. It'll sound great.

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Waddy

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My Zebrawood sets are very consitent(actually more than EIR) in density or stiffness. Its density is roughly the same as the lightest EIR but I think Zebrawood has a dryer tone, according to the only Zebrawood guitar I've made. For me it's not very hard to scrape or cut binding ledges by hand.

Rod, zounds that's pretty!
Keep us posted on this little guy as he develops.
Thanks for the pic!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Yes... I just saw that wood and fell in love with it immediately!
I particularly like the landscape figuring in the back between the centre stripey parts and the broader pale band.

Being as it is a ukulele, I am using the zebrawood for the top (lower photo above) as well as the back and sides, and will use an ebony fingerboard and bridge as a contrast. I felt like having a back purfling instead of a straight butt joint, but I wanted something that was "toned back" in colour so as not to distract too much from the beauty of the wood itself. So I used fine b/w/b each side of a centre strip of maple. Everything "scaled down" to uke proportions.

As you can see from my mould (lower picture) it is going to be a soprano similar to a "Dreadnought" guitar shape.

Rod

Hey CW, you have a PM!

warmest regards,
Terence
www.guitarbench.com

We all (or most) want to be supportive. But I, for one, think people regularly go a bit overboard in assuring someone that some piece of wood or wood combination is going to sound great. How can you know? Doesn't it have to be built into a guitar first? Wouldn't it be enough to say it looks nice and it's worth a try if you like it?

Not directed at you, Waddy. Just one example of something I keep seeing that seems to me to be more than anyone can have any certainty about.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

just like any wood Zebrawood can be very different board by board. When selecting you can either go for a very contrasty piece as was pictured for a back but in general there are some things to look out for...

As Waddy said it can be difficult to plane. It can be "rowey" in that the grain can change directions along the stripes every inch or so...this is often a sign that there is runout or that that particular piece has compression wood in it. If you see sections in which the light wood is much darker it can be sign of compression wood.

as most would with other woods, the most stable is quartersawn so fine even striping is better than wild grain. I used to import exotic hardwoods and would stock Zebrawood up to 24/4 and when it is not dry it can have alot of movement.

Having said that if you want to use zebrawood and have pieces you are happy with it takes a finish really nicely and you will see that under a finish it has two levels of contrast, the thin stripes that make up the grain and broader sections of light and shadow that are from the cross grain.

I have seen commercial guitars made of it from Hofner and other lower ranges guitars which looked great but because they were mass produced were no indication of what it would really sound like. Its taptone is clear and distinct so it does not seem to have much dampening so it should at least be a decent alternative wood.

Fortunately the trees it is taken from are in good supply and as such the price is good and sources are easy.

Good Luck

Yes indeed. This is exactly the stance that I am taking with this ukulele that I am building, especially as I am using it for the top too.

As I stated earlier, I have no idea what it will sound like! Its just an experiment with great looking wood, and if it sounds good, then all the better. If it doesn't, then it will be a lesson learned, and I won't use it again.

Rod

It is a very valid point. I should be more selective in my terminology.

Also, I don't mind if it's directed at me.

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Waddy

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