High purity, splat-quenched metal ribbons, produced by the melt spinning technique, were examined for preferred orientation using x-ray diffraction. Of the materials tested (Zn, Cd, Ag, Bi, Pb, Sb, Mg, Sn) all except Sn exhibited some degree of preferred orientation in the plane of the metal ribbon. the hcp metals Zn and Cd showed an extreme degree of preferred orientation with the 002 plane being closely parallel to the ribbon plane. The Zn ribbon was analysed more closely with a view to its use as a crystal monochromator for x-ray diffraction. The high purity Zn was found to have some instability of preferred orientation with increase in time and temperature. The orientation was found to be effectively stabilized by the intentional addition of impurities, or by the use of lower purity (99.99%) Zn. In this form, the Zn ribbon could be used as a crystal analyser for x-ray diffraction with both intensity and resolution comparable to that of the 1011 plane in Quartz.