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I understand that ziricote can be prone to splitting. Is it suitable for a bridge?
Thanks,
Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I have not had any problems with it. I like it better than rosewood or ebony for looks and sound. Not as oily either, so better glueing is a plus there as well. Makes a nice looking fretboard too.

I once saw a guitar by Sergei de Jonge with a Ziricote bridge at the first Newport show. It was stunning.
It can't be to bad if he used it...
The cracking seems to be more of an issue with thin plates like backs and sides...and those dark grey/black lines seem to be the weakest elements.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I've used it several times as a bridge with absolutely no problems, in fact when I did some wave transmission test some years ago, ziricote was right up in the same class as BRW, Madrose and Macassar for its low damping quality.

As with all bridge woods make sure that you use wood tending towards rift sawn.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hey, Colin, if you don´t mind some questions: did you use it on a classical? I thought Ziricote had high dampening (never handled it myself).
Would you care to elaborate on this? i thought i was lucky my bridge stock was mostly quartered (not 90º, mind you).

thanks in advance,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I've used it and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It was heavier than what I usually use (brw or mrw) but the guitar sounded great. Here is a pic:

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

OK, after thorough searching the OLF archives it turns out that quarter sawn will make splitting under the saddle easier, as Chris pointed out. Always learning.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I've been using it recently, and like it quite a bit. I haven't been using it for long enough to come across any issues if any are to be found.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

The only bridge ziricote bridge I made cracked. I don't remember the grain direction, but it was a pretty standard 1" pyramid bridge, drop-in saddle, 12 mm string height. To my knowledge, none of my other 50 or so various rosewood or ebony guitar bridges have cracked. FWIW...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

For those of us around when it first came on to the market (LMI I think) it was known informally as 'Mexican Crackwood'
So, some caution is advised, but some people use rift-cut grain on all bridges.