Official Luthiers Forum!

If any Seattle-area folks want to create a group order, please let me know.

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George :-)

I still have most of a box of brace material that i got from Shane. I am glad the i have it. That is all of his spruce that i have left. If i had only known.

Me too but when I see threads like this I start thinking hmmmm... *sigh

I bought a stash of Lutz about a decade ago and have yet to use it. Everyone I build for seems to want either Euro or Red Spruce. The Lutz iirc is not very even in color but was quite stiff. I think what I got came from Mario because it's got that naming conversion written on it.

Alright, so what do we need to do to push it forward? Someone from the Seattle area would have to go pick up the order and redistribute? Can we get creative and get enough people involved so that each person donates one top to the buyer for their time and trouble?

Shipping will be the hassle for sure. Is there a way we can make that easier on the designated purchaser? ASW uses the largest USPS box so shipping material itself should be free.

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Hi Pat,
Can you elaborate on that further? Did you order ungraded run of the mill, or specify a grade? What criteria do they grade on? What were the prices per top?
Lutz being a hybrid I would expect more variation in the color and look of the species, and in stiffness as well.

I didn't realize these guys were relatively nearby. If someone wants to organize the order, I'd be willing to help out with pickup and distribution via USPS. (Everyone has their own criteria for sorting and grading, so I'm not interested in opening that can of worms.)

If I get a top or two for my trouble, all the better!

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George :-)

Seems like it was mostly graded in 2 or 3 categories: good grade, master grade and a lower grade with wide or curvy grain or some tight knots (at least in Sitka). Mostly graded on appearance. All the grain is vertical. not sure what their tolerance is but probably only a few degrees off. Sitka bracewood and they have been doing some pre-triangulated braces with special cutters.

Pricing is what you could imagine as wholesale. I will check with Eric. Not sure if that's something that can be posted though. Might need to start a private Facebook group or something.

Pat

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Pat

If such a thing is possible, keeping it all within a group PM here might be satisfactory. Maybe?

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George :-)

I don’t know there’s anything secret about their price list. I have it, obtained simply for the asking. You’ll learn about the various product offerings and available grades. Minimum purchase is USD 500. I gave Eric’s email earlier in this thread.


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I didn't say secret, but since they are not set up for retail in Washington state, I wanted to make sure it was okay first.

Pat

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Pat

Regarding available Lutz spruce tops--

I don't offer it as a perfect substitute for either vendors who are no longer selling, or group buys, but I just received some really nice AAA Lutz tops from StewMac. They weren't either crazy expensive or an insane bargain; just a fair price for very nice quality wood. With a StewMax membership covering the shipping, a person could do a lot worse. While they are never the least expensive option, StewMac has never disappointed me on quality of product and customer service. I might need to remind myself of that more often when it comes to buying wood.

@StevenWheeler and I bought a stack of that stuff when Shane was winding down operations. I still have some around here somewhere....

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Yep, and it's my favorite top wood, if you've got extra I'll take it off your hands. It would be a good excuse to fight the traffic for a visit and to check out that boat you guys built.

You fellas are likely aware that StewMac Sells Lutz spruce? (A tad pricey mind you).

RCTonewoods (a sponsor here) does as well.

I'm aware, yes.

My oops! I missed your post above

No worries. And you are right that the Lutz from StewMac was not cheap. But I didn’t spend the money to get AAAA, and I’m glad I didn’t. The AAA is really good quality. So, it feels like a good value for the price. I have had the experience of disagreeing with a seller about grading descriptions (not mentioning any names). I don’t have that concern with StewMac.

I hope I can chime in here about an alternative to Lutz. if lighter density spruce is what one is seeking. [Lutz] is a naturally occurring hybrid from cross pollination of white spruce and Sitka ,and grows in a region 50-100 miles from the coast. Since it is part white spruce, is lighter density than most Sitka. We at Alaska Specialty Woods inc. came across an extremely light density log back in 2010's that Greg Maxwell-dogwood Guitars identified for us in his search for what he was looking for in a soundboard. Anyway since then, We have come across an occasional additional log/tree with the same or similar properties. Most have a more open texture that most old growth, but not all of it. Over the past few yrs we have accumulated and segregated a sizable inventory of over 600 sets of this light density old growth sitka. We have this sort listed in our online store as a variation in our Non-figured Dreadnought guitar tops. This light density variation/sort is called Ultra-Light. other variations in those product listings are Torrified and non-torrified. So. one needs to select a variation in order to add any of the product in those listing to a shopping cart. here is a link using a keyword search utra-light in flat top instrument parent category https://alaskawoods.com/?_wpnonce=27941 ... ltra-light

What am I doing wrong. Following the link, In find only one listing for jumbo tops, and going to that listing it is out of stock?

I removed the sku's that were showing in the search that are out of stock. The remaining listing in that search are our non-figured flat top guitar sort/grades that we have ultra-light variations for. as well as non-torrified variation, which is standard density old growth sitka.
so click on what grade listing your interested in, then click on the variation "ultra Light" for pricing of that sku.
There are also Ultra-light products for carved top instruments such as mandolin family and archtop guitar.

Mario DaCosta's widow still has 'a ton of tops' available. I bought a few not too long ago. I can give contact info if anyone is interested.

So glad this topic popped up. Brent, I am in serious need of some new sitka. Interested in trying this ultra light stuff. Does any of it come in bearclaw?

Also need bracing material.

Glad you are doing so well now!

Mike

No, Not heavy bearclaw. there are sets with the occasional -couple bearclaw jiggles that we refer to as "bearflaw".

A follow up to my post about availability of Lutz from Pacific Rim Tonewoods: I received an order today of some Lutz and WRC tops, some ebony binding and a bunch of Lutz bracewood. Quite pleased with the quality - tops absolutely clean, and while ring count was not as high as my best Sitka, it was very uniform. The ebony binding as good as I’ve ever seen. They were VERY generous with their bracewood.

I had to wait for cedar to come out of the kiln to make, but shipping was ultra fast — like 3 days for Washington to Québec!

Pacific Rim is a major supplier to Taylor, Martin, Collings, Gibson, Stewmac and many others. This is not the supplier for everyone: the minimum order is USD500. While you won’t see a photo before you order, Eric is careful to respond to specific requests, sizes, etc. The grading is honest — I’m happy — as good as anything I ever received from Shane.

They also supply Sitka, including both “thermally modified” and bear claw, as well as “sonic sorts” for both Sitka and Lutz (density, MOE, or Q — see blog on their website). Back and side sets for Western Big Leaf Maple, as well as various binding options, and of course processed bracewood for both spruces and WRC.

Pacific Rim Tonewoods
38511 State Route 20
Concrete, WA. 98237
Attention: Eric Warner e.warner@pacificrimtonewoods.com 360-826-6101





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