Ziricote

[PDX Rich]

Howdy folks!

I am just getting into building, and starting to gather tools and researching what I want to do. In the meantime, my wife and I are discussing what the first non-test/practice build should be.

Since the first bass will be for her, I showed her several pictures from this forum, as well as other attainable bass builds.

I fell in love with ziricote when I visited Belize a few years back ziricote is very prevalent in pretty much everything wood-crafted there. It is amazing!

So, my wife wants a ziricote fingerboard. I have a couple questions based on that:

- I know it is viable FB material. Is it easy to work with? If it is tricky, are there any suggestions for cutting/shaping?

- The sapwood has big layers of creamy coloring at times. Can it accept dye? Hot pink, for example.

Thanks! Still a few months out, but once I get going, it'll all be chronicled here!

-Rich

 

[Rip Topaz]

I've used zirocote quite a bit in my builds. EXTREMELY hard stuff. I've actually got a really nicely figured board of it left after a build a few years back. I need to resaw it to bookmatch for a top but it's not something I feel comfortable doing myself, so it'll sit on a shelf until I find someone to resaw it for me.

I wouldn't think it would take dye very well. Not an open pore type of wood. Besides, who would want to cover that beautiful figuring?

I would think that if you want to tint it, the easiest (and possibly the ONLY) way would be to use a tinted clear rather than trying to dye the wood itself. Probably get a more even finish that way. (I'm just guessing here, hopefully someone with more experience than me will chime in.)

Here's a fretless I built with a zirocote fingerboard.

 

[Lonnybass]

Ziricote is beautiful stuff, really hard and would make for a great fingerboard. I'd suggest wiping it down with acetone before you glue it, as a lot of exotics are very oily and can be tricky to glue up. Keep your bits sharp as it will blunt your tools after a while. I don't think dye would work very well though, just judging from my previous experience with both ziricote and dyes.

Lonnybass

PS Here are a few shots of a bass I built using ziricote - it's the center strip of the neck as well as the veneer on the headstock.

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[PDX Rich]

Thanks guys! Those are some gorgeous instruments! I am indeed glad to hear that it does not seem like a good dye candidate. I wouldn't want to alter it either. I think I can convince her that a hot pink nitro finish on the body would be perfectly fitting for her. Another option would be a curly maple top stained pink with a clear coat. Ziricote could then be used as the fingerboard and perhaps headstock veneer. We shall see--plenty of time to think on it. Drawing it out with Inkscape or the like will certainly help visualize the project.

I am so thrilled about this, I am even excited to start hacking away at my garage clutter to start getting it shop-ready.