Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all!

I was kind of disappointed with my last spruce order, so it would be much appreciated if someone around here with more experience than i would indicate me some respectable tonewood dealers in europe, and comment on the ones already mentioned, if one feels inclined to.


The ones i know:

- Maderas Baber and Madinter (Spain)

- Rivolta, Ciresa and Bachmann tonewood (Italy)

- Rudolf Fuchs and Martin Guhl (Germany)

- Florinett (Switzerland)

- Octopus and Akoustik Wood (Turkey)



Thanks again for your time and patience.

Cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I've purchased wood from these two:


- Rivolta, Ciresa and Bachmann tonewood (Italy)

- Rudolf Fuchs and Martin Guhl (Germany)

In both cases, I was very happy with the quality. Rivolta purchase perhaps does not count, as it was not a random shipment, and I personally picked out the wood. Rivolta just happened to be out to a lutherie convention in USA some years back, I think it was a GAL convention.

Just out of curiosity, what was it about the wood, specifically, that made you feel disappointed?

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Flamenco and Classical Guitars
Maker and Restorer

I get my spruce normally from Florinett. No need to say that I find his stuff great as I can pick out of his piles the tops I want. Anyway, he once told me that customers are welcome to call and tell him what they exactly want. If for example, within a given class (let's say AA) dead straight grain is very important to you but color changes not that much (or vice versa) he will send you the tops that most match your wishes. To some customers even grain spacing is not so important, but even color is, etc. Let him know.

The downside is that normally Master grade is sold out soon after he starts accepting reservations for the next year, and each customer can get a maximum of 3 Master grade tops per year an max. 6 AAA grade per year (might be important for professional builders). A few days ago I saw that his AAAs are also sold out at the moment (I guess they are resawing the AAAs right now or have not updated the website. Call, ask him.

I've used madinter a lot and never been disappointed.

I got spam emaiol for Akustik a long time back. I'd be interested if anyone else had actually sent them money.....

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My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

Martin Guhl I have dealt with and was pleased with, and Octopus I have bought from, but only one board and was happy with the quality (needed rosewood fretboards,and bought the board to reach a minimum purchase order value)

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Have a look at: http://www.kauffer.eu/boutique/index.htm (France) I don't know how ordering by mail works out. I visited them and bought some nice top spruce.

I took advantage of Akustik's offer to ship on approval, back when they were just trying to start up their customer base here. I ordered both Mediterranean Cypress and Caucasian Spruce, and in general was very happy with what I received, although I haven't used any of it yet. (At least one set of Cypress will become a flamenco guitar this year, hopefully). They were easy to deal with and quite responsive to specific requests.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Hi Miguel,

I have bought quite a bit from Madinter in Spain. I have been happy with their stuff, but I only buy tonewood when I visit there and can see the actual pieces. (I go to a flamenco seminar annually) They are about 1/2 hour north of Madrid in Colmenar Viejo. If you ever go to Madrid it is worth the short train ride. Luisa Wilshire is in charge of sales and is very helpful. You can make an appointment via email. Luisa even picks me up and drops me off at the train station. They will let you go through stuff to your heart's content and pick out whatever you want.

Regards,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

well, thanks all for chiming in. it´s much appreciated.

regarding disappointment: many of the spruce boards were bent, rendering them difficult to work with (at least for me), were on the thin side and, for the grade (AA+/AAA), showed too many defects (run-out, stains, resin-pockets) for the price, so i´m willing to check if i can get better bang for my bucks elsewhere (i´m not stating names, besides it being an european dealer).
maybe this is a delusion of mine, and it is absolutely normal taht you can only get better stuff if you aim for master-grade spruce. i´ve only bought spruce twice, and maybe i´m still to learn that painfull truth.

anyway, thanks all.

cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

my relations with them have always been cordial. they send you the goods and you pay upon arrival, - which i thought was strange and had to double check with them. minimum order 250 euros, IIRC.


cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I only ordered once at "akustik" (2008), but not spruce. The wood I received was (is) good and I had to pay after receiving it (not before), just the same as other commented too.
I only got one mail after getting the wood, being asked if I liked their wood and service.