Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm here in Europe doing a two-week "internship" with a supplier of tonewood for guitars and the violin family. I'm gathering info for an article I hope to publish when I return to the States.

I'll be interviewing the head of the firm next week and was wondering if you have any questions you'd like to have answered.

I have limited access to a computer, but will certainly read any and all questions you might send my way.

Many thanks in advance,

Greg

"What percentage of European suppliers employ kilns to dry their wood?"

"What type of kiln?"

"How do the European suppliers get the distinctive yellow tint that is so
common on the surface of the maple?"

"Is any of your spruce coming out of Siberia?"

"Have you seen the characteristics associated with "Bosnian Maple" (wide,
slanted flaming over tight graining) in any other areas of the range of
Acer pseudoplatinus, or is it specific to that area?"

"Are the Acer pseudoplatinus logs that are used for violin bridges
coming from Bosnia only, or is it possible to find bridge wood in all areas
of the range of the species?"

"Do European suppliers import logs from North America, or is that largely
a myth"?

How often does birdseye figuring occur in European Maple, and what
region is it most likely to occur"?

There's a few for you...

Thanks....spruce38856.64875

For me Greg I would be interested to know the answer to Bruce's question:

"Do European suppliers import logs from North America, or is that largely
a myth?"

As I here this a lot about spruce. That a lot of European spruce is simply engelmann that has been imported to Europe, processed and sold back as European Spruce. It would interesting to get a take on that.

Thanks

Shane

_________________
Canada

"That a lot of European spruce is simply engelmann that has been
imported to Europe, processed and sold back as European Spruce. "

I haven't looked lately, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal to export Engelmann
logs from either Canada or the US...
Anyone know for sure?
Considering the extent of beatle infestation, that probably isn't a bad
idea...

Resawn tops are another deal...

But it's my understanding that there really isn't much of a problem finding
suitable logs over there, so there really isn't the need to import
Engelmann, especially considering the cost to ship it...

And the east coast of Russia just has to be loaded with nice Picea
abies, which is why I was interested in whether or not they were
bringing any of that in...

I ran into Hans Fuchs once at a logyard near Liverpool, and he said he
once imported a bunch of Engelmann logs from Canada to his mill in
Germany.

But he was on a skiing vacation, and just happen to spot the logs in a
mill. He said he was just curious about the species, and wanted to saw
some up.
That was about 25 years ago....

So-ooo, my guess is that "yes", North American logs, both maple and
spruce, have made their way over to the European tonewood mills, but it's
just not economically or legally viable to do so in any great quanities...

I have recently heard of a mill in the US exporting Engelmann to
Europe in billet form. I'll be visiting them soon, so we'll see if the rumors
are true, or yet another tonewood myth....spruce38856.682650463

Bruce,

Exporting Spruce Logs out of Canada is very saddly very legal !!

I see it going, mostly to asia, daily. The bug problem is a pine issue and has not had a significant impact on spruce, but a bunch of dead and standing trees eventually equals huge fires, now that will impact a bunch of things.

The billet export market from here is good also, to the US, Europe, and Asia. I don't do billets, I feel the wood should be processed here...a bit selfish but that keeps small rural communties going when they can process thrie own resources. But I am just curious to know if the wood is coming back to NA and if it is what it is labelled as.

Shane

_________________
Canada

"But I am just curious to know if the wood is coming back to NA and if it
is what it is labelled as. "

I haven't scoped out the European tonewood dealers in awhile, but in the
past there was rarely any reference to where to wood came from.

There were exceptions (like "Bosnian Maple"), but for the most part it was
just "spruce", "maple", etc...

A great example of wood getting exported and miss-labeled is all the
sycamore logs that are exported out of the UK to Germany, where it gets
milled into instrument wood, then shipped back to the UK (and the States)
and sold as "German Maple".

But it's usually the end user that applies that tag to that wood....   

"Exporting Spruce Logs out of Canada is very saddly very legal"

Yeah, I guess I knew that.
I remember seeing all those huge log ships up in the Charlottes heading
to who-knows-where...
Huge logs looked like toothpicks on that ship...

"I don't do billets, I feel the wood should be processed here...a bit selfish but that keeps small rural communties going when they can process thrie own resources. "

Not selfish at all Shane - we have been burdened with a colonial attitude for too very long! Since our days as a fur outpost we have felt as though we are obligated to be the raw resource supplier for the Commonwealth, and more recently the World.
But in order to truly`have an stable, semi-independant economy {I realize no economy is entirely self reliant}, we need to start encouraging the secondary and tertiary industries here in Canada. There no need to be ashamed of that.
Cheers
Charliewood