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Does anyone have a good source for AAAA Madagascar Rosewood? The last set I bought is pretty crappy - almost flat sawn and very little black line. It was not purchased from a sponsor of this site. I know Allied has some that is OK, but are there other sources for nice sets out there?

If you find a good source for it let me know... I have checked out the european folks and their stuff looks pretty good, but the shipping costs a mint.. you could buy brw for what it costs you to buy the madrose and have it shipped over.

Occassionally Gilmer has some nice boards that you could cut up and make multipiece backs with, but you have to watch carefully because it is snatched up fast.

Allied's wood is actually very nice, but LMI spoiled us with that "Special" grade stuff they had for a couple years. I bought a number of sets, but wished I had bought more.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Thanks Brock. I pick through Gilmer's stuff all the time (the place is on my way to work). I have re-sawn their bass fingerboards and 4-inch billets for 4-piece backs and will probably end up doing that again. But if anyone has a line on really nice well-quartered 2-piece sets I would sure like to hear about it.

I've been looking for some of that same stuff.... no luck!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

You might try Vikwood he has in the past had some great sets.

[QUOTE=Brock Poling]
If you find a good source for it let me know... I have checked out the european folks and their stuff looks pretty good, but the shipping costs a mint.. you could buy brw for what it costs you to buy the madrose and have it shipped over.

[/QUOTE]

Now you know how us Europeans feel when we have to buy wood in the US! It normally doubles the cost of the wood by the time it gets to us over here. Madinter over here in Spain does carry some nice Mad rose at very reasonable prices for us. I bought four nice sets recently at a cost (including shipping etc) of $150 a set, it would cost me more than that bring a set of EIR into the UK from US.

We also have access to the very best European spruce. My UK supplier travels round Europe a couple of times a year and selects the wood himself, taking obviously the very best. The rest gets graded 'master' and is shipped to......





Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=Colin S] We also have access to the very best European spruce. My UK supplier travels round Europe a couple of times a year and selects the wood himself, taking obviously the very best. The rest gets graded 'master' and is shipped to......

Colin[/QUOTE]

Your a nasty boy Colin skyt'in like that.

Good luck to you mate, we all need a win now and then.

Oh, and lovely Madrose

Cheers

Kim

[QUOTE=Keith M] You might try Vikwood he has in the past had some great sets.[/QUOTE]

Vikwood does have some in stock, and I got a set because the price was relatively low. Got what I paid for. Not what you are looking for.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Cost to ship 1 set of wood to UK is about $30 US

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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

[QUOTE=Bobc] Cost to ship 1 set of wood to UK is about $30 US[/QUOTE]

Bob,

But then there is the Customs Duty and the UK VAT - both of which apply to the shipping cost as well as the materials - and depending on the carriers, the extra fee (around $30) for making sure they bring it to the Customs attention to charge those duties So on a $70 set of wood Colins $150 would be about the end result.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave's right Bob. It's not just shipping that costs when we bring stuff in from the US. To justify the additional costs of buying stuff in the US for me, it has to be very special and unobtainable over here.

Example: a set of Black limba and some bindings from you, stunning stuff. Cost of wood $110, add to that shipping of $40, Value Added Tax on import of $26, handling fees $30, so that $110 of wood has now become a total bill of $206, nearly double. Was it worth it? Yes of course the Black limba was worth every penny, but we have to be very, very selective and if it's available in Europe the I buy it here.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Nice wood Colin, good to see you!

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Long time no see, Colin! What you and Dave say also applies in my situation, only I believe our import taxes are even higher (25%), but we have all the other fees that you mention as well.   

I have some similar madrose sets from Madinter. They are flatsawn and were not that well dried upon arrival, which I think is common with much of their madrose. Just make sure you sticker them well or may twist and cup, DAMHIK...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Oops forgot about that. darn governments have to get a piece of everything don't they?

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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

[QUOTE=Colin S] Dave's right Bob. It's not just shipping that costs when we bring stuff in from the US. To justify the additional costs of buying stuff in the US for me, it has to be very special and unobtainable over here.

Example: a set of Black limba and some bindings from you, stunning stuff. Cost of wood $110, add to that shipping of $40, Value Added Tax on import of $26, handling fees $30, so that $110 of wood has now become a total bill of $206, nearly double. Was it worth it? Yes of course the Black limba was worth every penny, but we have to be very, very selective and if it's available in Europe the I buy it here.

Colin[/QUOTE]

Ouch !!! Colin I understand now. Yes I would be very selective too. Canada has a tariff # that exempts Luthiers in business of selling guitars from the addtional tariffs. I use it but I'm really not sure what my Canadian pals actually end up paying. Maybe one of them will chime in here.

_________________
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

[QUOTE=MarkJ]   But if anyone has a line on really nice well-quartered 2-piece sets I would sure like to hear about it.[/QUOTE]

I've never seen a well-quartered two-piece set with good ink lines. The four-piece sets LMI had several years ago are the best I've seen, and they haven't been around for years.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

What Colin and them Euro Folks said; doesn't stop me, because a lot of stuff (Black Limba for one) is simply unobtainable here, but when I can buy local (and by doing so support the one local wood yard that stocks good stuff), I do...

I've got several Madrose sets from Madinter, and yes, they need stickering and a good few months (at least!) to dry. I'm about ready to use the stuff I got two years ago now...

Colin,

Thanks for the reminder about Mandinter, I'm gonna check out their site right now.

BTW, nice to see you back on the OLF.

[QUOTE=jtkirby] [QUOTE=Keith M] You might try Vikwood he has in the past had some great sets.[/QUOTE]

Vikwood does have some in stock, and I got a set because the price was relatively low. Got what I paid for. Not what you are looking for.

Jim

[/QUOTE]


I got this set from Vikwood. It is beautiful to me. The back isn't QS but the sides are. It seems very stable and I've had it stickered for a year. It looked very rough when I got it, not finished like our sponsors wood, but it cleaned up really well.





Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

The first set I got from Vikwood was OK, actually quite good for the price, and the guitar sounds great, so I ordered another set. This last set I got from them is basically flat sawn, the sides look terrible. I should have sent the set back right away, but I reduced the sides to 0.085 already, and I have taken down the back to where I can join it. Anyway, I am now leery of buying a set I cannot preview first.

Hi Bob ...

There is no tariff on wood as I know it here in Canada. We simply pay the sales tax (in Ontario, thats 8% provincial +6% federal) as if we had bought it here. Being a business, I get to claim those back when I file my taxes, and when an instrumetn is sold, the taxes are added on ot the price of the instrument, so the govts get it back and more. Unless I ship it abroad (no cdn tax paid), or at least out of province (only the 6% applies)

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I have bought alot of wood from Madinter and am in the same situation buying from Spain and shipping to the US as a European is buying from the US and shipping to Europe. They by the way are really nice people and

I build necks of Spanish Cedar and they have really nice neck blanks for about $9. If I order 14, the price comes to about $127 which is very reasonable but then shipping and insurance adds about $160 so what was a bargain ends up being the same as I would pay in the US.

Right after a number of Spanish builders/suppliers were caught importing Brazilian Rosewood and there was a vacuum for quality Rosewood in Spain, Madinter was one of the first to offer Madagascar Rosewood. Because not many builders had worked with it, initially it was selling for around 70-80 euros for really nice sets. I stock up on them as even with the cost of shipping it was worth it.

Uh, that's an old photo, Hesh. I wash my bottle regularly now, since it may show up for all the world to see.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......