Tell me about Erratic Zebrawood

[trekster]

Hey folks,
 
In the Serial Number request section, I asked for info on a bass that I have now purchased.  Mica was kind enough to post a photo of the bass:
 
http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/23295.html?1135201563
 
Plus there were photos on the website from the place I bought it from.  
 
Anyway, I wanted to get some more information of Erratic Zebrawood.  Seeing this bass and it's info, it was the first I'd ever heard of it, and I'm really curious on the following points:
 
--how did Alembic come across this wood.
--have any other instruments been made with a top like this (photos would be lovely!!)
--what kind of cut is this (flat vs quarter vs none of the above)?
--any other info/funny stories/etc?
 
In a way I feel like I have really lucked out and picked up something truly one-of-a-kind.  The bass arrives today; I am so wanting time to speed up.
 
obtw, yes I will register this when I get it.  
 
--T

[smokin_dave]

What a beautiful bass.Very unique.Enjoy the Europa/Rogue electrons and happy holidays.

[mica]

Erratic Zebrawood is flatsawn Zebrawood. Flatsawn Zebrawood lumber is highly unstable and has a tendancy to cup badly, which is why commercially it's not readily available.  
 
In the 80s, we made lots of Spoilers and Series I/II in this wood. It was pretty common to get successive slabs of Zebrawood cut through and through. But since it would cup, most suppliers turned to offering quartersawn, which is much more stable.  
 
I remember when my mom bought the piece of wood this bass was made from. It was a very wide board, about 30 inches wide, close to 9 feet long, and 3 inches thick. We made several instruments from it, including the Seismic Bass. There is a section of it left still, but it's been whittled down to the standard quartersawn portion of the board.  
 
Funny info? Regardless of how you saw it, Zebrawood is stinky when you cut it. Think dog kennel in the summer heat.

[keith_h]

Thanks Mica for clarifying something I had wondered about for awhile. I never quite got the joke when folks would talk about zebra wood smelling. I guess it is aptly named for more than the pattern (thinking wet zebra here).  
 
Keith

[trekster]

Wel,, I got home at 9:30 last night, and there she was.  Gorgeous, in great shape.
 
Mica, the thing I'm curious about with this top wood is that I still look at her and think naw, that's not Zebrawood!.  To my eye, it looks more like a spalted piece of wood -- the lack of the large, contrasting stripes and particular colors that z-wood has just isn't there -- as crazy as the sesmic bass is, it still has that cream/chocolate contract going -- this one is more like coffee with dark chocolate.   (Funny how a guy who recently had Gastric Bypass surgery can still equate food into any converstation!)  I guess the lack of really light vs really dark is what makes me scratch my head.  That's why I was asking -- I'm thinking that this was a cut from a particular place on the log itself, much like how burl cuts are so different.
 
This is by NO means a complaint -- she is gorgeous, and a true work of art.  I haven't had a chance to listen to her yet except acoustically, but that will change soon.  
 
All in all -- a very satisfying acquisition.
 
--T

[mica]

When Zebrawood looks like tidy little stripes, it's quartersawn. The cut is at 90 degrees from the growth rings. When it's flatsawn or rift sawn, the rings are at smaller angles to the cut, and sort of smear out.  
 
Funny thing about wood, is that it can look like just about anything. I have some Zebrawood that is so dark, you'd almost think it was a kind of Rosewood. Other pieces look quite plain and are nearly Pine-like in appearance. It's the wonderful thing about Mother Nature - she's always ready to surprise you!