Official Luthiers Forum!

A couple of days ago, Charlie started a thread on what everybody thought was their best sounding guitar. A recurring theme was Lowden. His guitars have been mentioned a few times on this forum since I have been a member here. Well, yesterday morning I check my e-mails and there it is, George Lowden asking questions about the wood I produce. I asked him how he came to find me. This was his responce:

"I was sent a web link to your site from my sales manager, I am sure she did a Google
search for sitka spruce tops... the web's amazing as a marketing tool. And I am sure that
as long as the guitars ( or tops in your case ) are as good as the web info, then our
futures are assured!"

So the lesson here is, let people know what you have and how you came to have it available. As George says, if it is truly as you state and people express interest then you are on your way! I need to update my site but even in it's basic state, it is a great marketing tool. (George knows from the site that the wood I have is a Sitka Hybrid and that intrigues him).

Gotta run and package some wood for Ireland .

Thanks

Shane
Shane Neifer39043.7886226852

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Canada

Very cool Shane, good on ya. Can't wait to see a Lutzy Lowden in the near future.

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Great news Shane! I'm not sure how far reaching High Mountain is in "the
big picture" of tonewood suppliers, but having Lowden as a client has got
to be a real thrill. Here on the forum is the first time I've heard of Lutz
and, after being here only a few days I know what it is, and where to get
it!!! (You seem to have some big fans here!) I'm no Lowdon, but I will be
getting some Lutz as soon as I work down the stash of tops I have now.

long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Shane congrats my friend. That is awesome. I had a similar experience a few days ago. No not George Lowden but Gibson Guitars placed and order.

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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

Thanks for all of the kind words folks!

I just found it interesting that a simple website could attract guys like George. When I first started I sent samples around to some factories and got some interest but they were very fickle, I was actually quite surprised because I would look at the tops on their guitars in a the shops I frequented and could see that the wood I offered was typically better than what I saw on the finished guitar, IMO anyway! And I knew the price wasn't the issue and am glad that it didn't work cause I couldn't have continued for too long at the prices I offered it in any regard. So I stopped doing that and just let the wood talk for itself and put up a website. It was a lot of work but it does represent what I do and I think that is important. Also, sponsoring on here has of course been great, it has brought more traffic to the website and that has made the site show up more frequently when the search engines are started. The OLF is the only place that I do advertise.

Bob, that is awesome news! I am sure that they are looking for your wood for special guitars and I can't wait until we see what they produce with your zoot, make sure you get pics and show them here! George is just about as big a company as I really want to deal with, otherwise I would really need to step up production!

Thanks again all, spend time on your web pages and remember to also spend time on the forums of your potential customers!

ShaneShane Neifer39043.8514814815

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Canada

Thats great Shane!!! - I wonder if the sales manager knows about the OLF?
Im sure many a big guitar company will know about little suppliers and thier boutique zoot soon - I think its great for little companies like yours and Bobs Shane,..... but it makes me worried for the little guys {like me and Serge} and our stash!
Hopefully all the zoot doesnt get snatched by Taylor, Fender, Gibson and the like.
After all we dont have 50,000.00 for January's run> well..... most of us.
Cheers
Charliewood

Thats great news!!!! May everyone find out how nice your Lutz is.

On the selfish side....Don't sell all of it to the big builders. Save some sets
for all of us on the OLF

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

No worries for the OLF'ers, George Lowden doesn't get his sets until Steve has his first! But they will both go out this week.

ShaneShane Neifer39043.9631134259

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Canada

Congratulations, Shane. That's really great. Can you say more about
what Lutz is? I know it's a hybrid. What does that do to the general
sound it produces? I don't know what white spruce is, but I'm familiar
with sitka and englemann.    

Thanks Shane, spare me and Charlie a couple more sets before ya go Universal will ya?

Hey that is awesome news for you and Bob, both of you are very fine sponsors and friends and i'm delighted to hear this!

Congrats to both of you!

Serge

Thanks Serge....Bob and I will always remember where home is! There is an old adage of business, it is better to look after old customers than to keep searching for new ones. I am not much of a business man but I try to live by this motto. So there will be wood for you just as long I am doing this...We will grow old together!

James, Lutz is a predominately Sitka hybrid. The elevations that I get my wood in my area(typically 900 to 1400 feet) are Sitka/White Spruce hybrids (Picea sitchensis and Picea glauca). At elevations over 3500 feet or further east than I am you will get Engelmann (Picea engelmannii) in the mix. As for white spruce, it is probably indicernable from Engelmann in the processed form. In BC there are likely very limited stands of pure Engelmann and the ones that are are probably very high elevation and too small for instruments so when you get Engelmann, from BC anyway, it will be hybridized with White Spruce. Foresters refer to the interior White/Engelmann Spruce hybrid as "Interior Spruce" and it does not have a specific scientific name that I am aware of. Sitka hybrids are refered to as "Hybrid Spruce" by the foresters and can be any Sitka dominant hybrid. These hybrids are also know as "Lutz" or "Roche" Spruce and are described in taxonomy as Picea Lutzii. Now you know almost as much about it as I do! I have some information on average percentages of the mix by area but the data are a bit old and there have been no recent examinations that I am aware of. I will be adding a much more detailed section on my website this winter on this subject.

Hope that helps!

Thanks again

ShaneShane Neifer39044.4959953704

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Canada

Thanks Shane, i do sincerely appreciate that Bro!

Right on Shane! That is great news my friend... It's nice to see good things happening to good people!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

The internet is an amazing tool. I don't even think we've discovered it's fullest potential yet!

Congratulations!!!! Very well deserved endorsement for some fantastic stock you have there.

You can only imagine the combination...your tonewood and George's craftmanship....I better start saving my pennies....

(I don't even think we've discovered the fullest potential of the OLF yet!!)Sam Price39044.1393634259

Shane,

Fabulous news - you must be pleased. The interenet is indeed a powerful (and in some cases just plain wierd) medium.

It's no more than you deserve - great woood and great service will be sought out by those that care about building, and from a European perspective they don't come much bigger than George Lowden

When you get big and famous just keep that special little stash for us little guys and gals that can only buy in dribs and drabs when the cash flow permits

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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

Congrats Shane, could not have happened to a nicer guy, I am very happy for you mate, recognition well deserved.

Hows it go, follow your passion and the pounds will follow....(especially if your passion is donuts )

Cheers

Kim

Shane, great news, George is as you know one of the great builders and my main inspiration. If any builder will do justice to your wood, it will be him. And you can guarantee that he only ever uses the very best stuff available so much Kudos to you. Your wood must be good, even I have got some!

I believe that Hank supplies him with redwood.

ColinColin S39044.2158680556

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

[QUOTE=charliewood] I think its great for little companies like yours and Bobs Shane,..... but it makes me worried for the little guys {like me and Serge} and our stash!
Hopefully all the zoot doesnt get snatched by Taylor, Fender, Gibson and the like.
After all we dont have 50,000.00 for January's run> well..... most of us.
Cheers
Charliewood[/QUOTE]

Hey Charlie not to worry. Like Shane said our loyalty lies here at the OLF. Mine was just a small Custom Shop order but nice none the less. Shane's order was well deserved. Great guy and great spruce.

_________________
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

Congratulations Shane That's great news and I appreciate the info. on the range and types of Spruce.

I hope that your business continues to grow and that others will realize the quality of your products.

Happy Thanksgiving !


Pete

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Peter

Thanks again for the all of the positive feedback you all! Todd, you make laugh out load!! Nice sentiments but Lutz will never replace any of the other fine spruces, it will just be another option! Having said that, I am glad that it is up there with the best of the others! I have to get cutting some more sets here...I am a bit behind...AGAIN!! Minus 10 C here right now and getting colder....nothing like warming your hands over a chainsaw exhaust!

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you down south!

ShaneShane Neifer39044.4983912037

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Canada

Shane-

I own a few Lutz tops and really look forward to building guitars with them. Lutz is really catching on with luthiers. I know that William Cumpiano likes it on his steel string guitars - I have emailed him about it and he had nothing but good things to say about your wood.

On Michael Greenfield's website he talks about the spruce he uses and this is his quote, "You will notice that I describe the use of “spruce” for my soundboards, as opposed to listing several varieties. I have been collecting, drying, aging and using the finest European and Adirondack red spruce for many years. I have recently come across a new supplier (Yes, it's Shane) for “Lutz” spruce. While I still offer the other varieties, my philosophy has always been to use the very best materials available to craft my instruments. While the spruce I have been buying until now is quite remarkable, this new supply is simply the finest spruce I have ever seen. I will still offer Adirondack and European spruce for those who insist but I plan on building with Lutz spruce until such time as I find a finer tone wood. I doubt I ever will…. " Michael buys from you and that is about as fine an unsolicited endorsement you could get from a world class builder.

I also emailed John Mayes a while back and he spoke about Lutz as being a favorite top and bracewood. In the email he said it was like the best sitka but with better overtones and a cleaner, clearer voice. Those are the attributes that seem to separate sitka from good European spruce tonally. It was what John said that really sold me on Lutz.

I'm looking forward to what George Lowden thinks about Lutz compared to other topwoods he uses. I'm sure he will love it; keep us posted.

Thanks-
John Lewis39044.4961342593

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Wow John, You have really done your homework!!! Thanks for sharing all of this with us. I just recieved another e-mail from one of Cumpiano's recent students who was there when the post office delivered his current order and he said that Bill did like the wood. Although he and I have talked about this wood in the past it is always nice to hear these comments, unsolicited. Greenfield is a great guy and a fabulous builder. He too has helped me out. One day I got an e-mail from him that said something like "I have just done something on my website, you should check it out". It was quite a surprise. The C1 on his website is Lutz topped.   As a result of Mike, Bryan Galloup has recently received his first order also and is doing density and deflection tests as we speak. And John Mayes has also given great endorsements, where has he been these days anyways, has he migrated to another forum, I don't see him post that often anymore!

Anyway, thanks again John!

ShaneShane Neifer39044.5071990741

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Canada

Shane and Bob, I wasnt trying to rain on anyones parade - I hope you realize that! I really would like nothing more than to see both your businesses flourish, believe me!
I was just noting a pattern that underlies most "good things" -> they inevitably become mainstream, and the "insiders" inevitably become the "oldtimers" of the once best kept secret.
Im happy for you both though, and you two shouldnt be so modest about your products they are top notch!
i.e. I CAN see lutz taking over areas of the market if what I am hearing about remaining sitka stands, is in anyway correct.
Cheers
Charliewood

Thanks Charlie. As too the Sitka vs Lutz, there is still A LOT more Sitka than Lutz. Sitka has a much larger range than Lutz does, but I do agree, it is only old growth wood that result in the quality we see today, and, unfortunatly, although trees are a renewable resource, human nature ensures that old growth forests are not. So this wood does have a limited availability and over the next 20 years we will indeed see good spruce more difficult to acquire, I predict. My personal stash will remain growing. I keep a lot of the sets that I would just not feel comfortable selling as it would take some good planning and different size and shape guitars to get around an 'issue' in some of the tops, but they are otherwise wonderful and I can't seem to just throw them into the fire!

Shane

Shane

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Canada