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I have some different types of wood laying around that I was wondering if they would be suitable for bridge plates... such as koa, zirocote, black or claro walnut. Are any of these suitable?
Thanks,
Steve

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

I wouldn't think Koa or Walnut would wear well......but may be OK with some type of "platemate" or even another wood where the pins go. I don't know about Zircote, but I suspect it would be prone to splitting.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I have never used walnut or koa and would be concerned that they were too soft. I think ziricote would make good material except that it splits easily. If I wanted to use it, I would make sure the grain lines were not parallel to the pins by a good 10-15 degrees.

As much as I hate wasting scraps, I would choose my bridge plate material based solely on function. My current favorites are cocobolo, EIR, BR, or maple depending on the guitar.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Kent - you mentioned your favorites are cocobolo, EIR, BR, or maple depending on the guitar. Is there anything you can share about how you choose the material, or which you find goes better with certain guitar styles or sizes? Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I see that LMI sells Madagascar RW for bridge plates... How does it differ from EIR? Any preference for either one?

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

I think in terms of mass and damping. Within reason, extra mass in the bridge area seems to lead to a relative increase in the bass response and contribute to a slower attack and more of a "swelling" sound. Lower mass contributes to a more immediate response. Low damping seems to increase clarity and high end sparkle (which also can increase left hand string noise).

Cocobolo has the highest mass of the bunch and BR typically the lowest. Maple is the highest damping and BR typically the lowest.

It's been my experience that the bridge patch has more impact on tone on a thin, light top and less on a heavier top so YMMV. It helps couple the bridge, top and braces and there is only so much you can generalize without talking about the whole enchilada.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Thanks for sharing that Kent. Super helpful information!

Allegedly osage orange can be a replacement bridge plate for BR. But I have not tested it out yet.

I believe I heard Alan Carruth mention that Osage Orange can be weak between the grain lines thus making it not as good a choice for bridge plates.

I recently purchased some Patagonian Rosewood (also known a Curupay) with a Janka hardness of 3840. It is apparently incredibly stable and hard wearing. I am going to mill it into bridge plates. As soon as I get a chance to use it, I will make a thread reporting my thoughts.

Ipe is incredibly hard but getting it to stick is a big problem even epoxy doesn't seem to hold it together very well.
Is BR Brazilian Rosewood? Also what is EIR?

I have experimented extensively with bridgeplate woods. Those include pernambuco, osage, snakewood, ebony, and black locust. Much of my concern was based around stiffness and mass, especially when the patient was an old guitar with stability problems in the bridge area. The harder ones tend to produce a sharper attack and more sustain. They also are practically immune to wear from the string balls.
For a few years, I did some narrow bridgeplates (as small as 5/8" wide) as a means of
'hot rodding' the guitar. Though it produced the desired effect of more sound, I decided that bridgeplates significantly narrower than the bridge only invite problems down the road.
Pernambuco is one of the stiffest woods I have found. It can be too stiff, unless it is made very thin and narrow.
Snakewood and ebony are extremely hard, but the high density is not desirable. The compromise is to make the bridgeplate narrower or thinner, both of which can be problematic.
Black locust is probably my favorite non-standard bridgeplate material, with osage a close second. They are very similar in structure, but black locust is a bit less dense. Both are extremely stiff ring-porous woods, but I have seen no tendency for them to split or separate along the rings. Being ring-porous, slab-cut or 45-degree rift cut are probably the preferred grain orientations, but most of the ones I have used were QS.
Since 1988, I have probably installed between 350 and 400 black locust bridgeplates, both on repair jobs and on my new guitars. I have yet to see one that had any significant wear from the string balls.

Yes.

East Indian rosewood, AKA Indian rosewood.

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John

John, nice to hear about the locust.

The osage I've got is quite ring-porous, and the wood in the rings is soft, so I worry that the balls might chew it up too fast. Since I've gotten some persimmon, I've been using that for plates. It's reasonably hard, and about the toughest wood, it terms if splitting resistance, I've seen. It's also diffuse porous, and the small pores tend to be filled with some sort of hard matter. I'd rate it a bit higher than rock maple. I use it skew cut, to maximize the splitting resistance.

John , when you say black locust , do you mean the variety with yellow or honey color?

I would think that Honey Locust would work for bridgeplate material. I plan on useing it in the near future. I have also used Padauk and like it alot.

Kent wrote a very good summary. I don't use EIR as I think it is a bit too soft and doesn't wear well (looking at a lot of late '60s and 70's Martins will confirm that). What I use(d):
African blackwood, Honduran RW, cocobolo, Brazilian RW, Madagascar RW, Panama RW, pernambuco, jatoba, black locust, pau rosa, bloodwood and of course sugar maple. It depends on guitar size, top material and tonal goal. I wouldn't use heavy woods with a lot of internal damping like ebony, on any guitar, but who knows? Maybe it works well.
But light woods with a bit of damping like sugar maple seem to be very neutral tonally, and I have been favouring that lately. Koa, mahogany, cherry and walnut are too soft and not abrasive resistant enough for the job. Rift sawn seems the best, followed by flat sawn and grain direction should not align with the pinholes, especially for brittle woods like Braz, pau rosa or bloodwood. Damage to the bridgeplate is greatly diminished, if not avoided entirely, by slotting and ramping the bridge and using unslotted pins.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Honduran Rosewood and Osage are my 2 favorites.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

After trying various rosewoods and maple for some years, I've been using mostly African blackwood for both bridges and 'plates lately. I make them both smallish, a typical bridge is about 25 wide and will weigh around 25 g, the plate is a bit wider and around 2 mm thick. I like the results soundwise, and the plates seem to hold up quite well.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

This one seems to have been lost in the middle of the discussion. From my very limited experience, Madasgascar seems to have less damping and a more crystalline, focused tap tone - on average. Density wise there is a lot of variation, but i´d say my MadRW is a tad heavier than my EIRW. My stock is limited though, better wait for other opinions. Suitability for bridge plates? sorry, no steel-string experience...

Cheers,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes