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Alain, I agree with you totaly. It will never come down in price. But like you, I just can't "find" the money to do that.

I guess like anything, you have to invest to get ahead.

Rich, nice coffin comment. That made me laugh.

Serge, giddyup lets get ater' To the netherlands or bust, Besides, it sure seems like they have better hockey over there anyway.

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IF you make an order of that size you should be getting a huge discount.

Most tonewoods can be had for 60% of retail, often less, if your ordering a lifetime supply of wood (or two weeks to a months worth for a factory)

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ed has always been good to me in terms of discount,

in fact so have all the people i buy tonewood from, Steve @colonial, Ed @ AC Woods, Estelle @ Allied Lutherie, Mark and Inez @ Buzzsaw International, David Dyke @luthier supplies here in the uk, and also Bob @ Timberline in the uk,

and i'm still meeting new people.... i have one guy who i buy my insanely quilted maple from that used to supply PRS with there Private Stock maple, i guess PRS annoyed him or something, but now i get first refusal on any Quilt Top he cuts...... and just last night i started talking to a guy in Australia about this and that

as far as space goes.... i am running out rapidly.... i built an extension to my shop, and figured it would be plenty big..... but i guess i was wrong! and especially with 250 neck blanks arriving i'm gonna have to start getting creative!!

And no, i am not married, i havent found anyone "Special" enough to deal with me and my weirdness!!!

[QUOTE=Rod True] Well Mattia, You should tell me where your getting your wood than.[/quote]

Sure! Not like it's a secret! I could actually tell you the exact average cost of the back/side sets I've got, because I have it all in a spreadshet, but that's on the old harddisk that's yet to be transferred.

[quote]
EIR B&S: $84,$90,$55 (only price shown),Hond Mah B&S $50 (cheapest set), Am Wal B&S $45 (cheapest set) This isn't going into the nice stuff like Mac Eb, Zir, Sapple[/quote]

EIR: about $40 for 'first' quality (one less than 'master' which runs at around $70) from either spanish supplier (Madinter, Maderas Barber), Honduran Mahogany $25-$28 from saidsame, Walnut around the $45-$55 mark, Macassar Ebony got three sets at $130, and four sets of Quilt Sapele at $135 or so. One set of Ziricote at $150, IIRC. Thing is, I still have a lot more 'cheap' sets of Walnut, Mahogany, Cherry than I do high-priced sets. Once I pay for the bumper order of Madagascan I've got coming I suspect the average price will bump to around $90-$95 or so. Hair under the $100 mark.

[quote]
Top wood: AA Lutz $30, AAA Sitka $75, Lutz $45, Eng fine gr &52.99, AAA Eng $45 Again, noting too high end here.
[/quote]

Italian Spruce, grade I (equivalent to AAA) from Rivolta, hand-picked (huge variability in their grades, unfortunately, so hand-selecting is best), $24-$27 (if I show up in person, I tend to get a discount when I buy several), Grade E (master) sets for $50, ish.

[quote]
FB: EIR $8.25,n/a,Eb $16.99, Eb $13.99, n/a
[/quote]

Madinter, Maderas Barber in spain. EIR (top quality): $3.50, Ebony top grade $14.00, ebony first grade $9.00, MadRose $5.00. Thing here: the wood isn't very well dried, so I buy now, sticker, and plan to use several years down the line. Applies to most all the stuff from the spanish suppliers.

[quote]
Bridge: EIR $3.25,n/a,EIR $2.75,n/a, Eb $3.50
[/quote]

If I built classicals, have a bunch of narrow EIR blanks that were 60-70 cents each, a few 'normal' sized ones at around the $2.50 mark or so. Ebony's the same ballpark, maybe a hair cheaper, Madinter has Madagascan bridge blanks at $2.50, so $1.25 per bridge. Again, though, it's a 'wait at least half a year' thing in terms of dryness.

Headstock veneers: spaniards again. Got a boatload of EIR for 50 eurocents each, price is up slightly since then.

[/quote]
Neck Blank: n/a, Hond for 2 $75, Lam Hond/Maple $95, Single $31.99, Hond for 2 $52[/quote]

Spanish suppliers have stacked heel sets of American Mahogany for about 15 dollars, IIRC (Maderas Barber, anyway), but mostly I head to my local lumber yard and buy boards in the rough, big ones, and cut the necks from that. Brings the price way down. I also got really lucky on the pricing for the 'high dollar' sets I've got in my stash; I bought them for significantly less (between 25 and 100% less, or more) that what I could buy them for now.

As for shipping and duties, that does nail me, but if you ship a large-ish order, with the low dollar, I pretend dollar cost = my final Euro cost, and i works out. I suspect you're right, though, and that I'm being overly optimistic about the added cost of shipping and duties. I've gotten a lot of stuff from BobC, some from Ed Dicks (shipped ground/sea, slow but cheap), there's some coming from Jeff at Brazilwoods, hand-picked a few things at Steve's (Colonial), and for some of the sets I got from Bob and WRC from Jason (at $10 per soundboard at the time) were shipped to a friend in the US, and I took them along as checked luggage when I flew back. Stuff within Europe's not to bad (30 bucks for shipping 50 fingerboards or so), and I swing by and hand-select tops wherever possible.

The best thing is that Paddy lives only about 20 miles from me!

Just a thought Paddy, Is it just coincidence that you are buying the biggest stash of wood in guitar building history at the same time as the biggest ever cash robbery (?40m/$70m) has taken place virtually at the end of your road?

ColinColin S38771.3018981482

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[QUOTE=Colin S] The best thing is that Paddy lives only about 20 miles from me!

Just a thought Paddy, Is it just coincidence that you are buying the biggest stash of wood in guitar building history at the same time as the biggest ever cash robbery (?40m/$70m) has taken place virtually at the end of your road?

Colin[/QUOTE]

Intruiging....

Yes, very intriging........

NO COMMENT

It wasn't me i tell ya, it was the tall guy with the short legs and the small hands, and the fat guy who looked kinda thin from a certain angle!!

If ya ever feel like playing Santa, my address is.......somewhere at bottom of the Quebec province across the river from the Capital of our great country which is located in the Ontario province at a =bout a thousand miles from Shane Neifer which is a good thing cause i would have to get treated sooner

Help!

sure thing serge,

if i get my butt over to Serge de jonges guitar course then i'll pop down your chimney with some goodies!!!

paddy

I've said this before, but I'll say it again here.
"Wood is not an expense, it is a investment"
This stuff doesn't just grow on trees y'know!

Paddy, thinking some more about this thread and all the good natured abuse you've taken and taken the right way much to your credit -- a thought occured to me (a thought is a random thing with me at times )

I just took the afternoon off on account I was ready to murder someone at work -- cooling off outside and taking in the air (read having a butt) and my neighbour three doors down just opened up his garage door for his montly firing up of his AC Cobra which he paid USD$250,000 for. He drives it in the summer max about 10 times a year. I asked him one time why he bought it and his response was "because I can and I want it".

Kind of puts your stash in perspective. You love building and wood (just like the rest of us nuts do here - some in particular having a serious case of wood envy) so what the hell -- why not.

Good on you man -- time here is short -- enjoy your wood and build beautiful instruments for us to see.

anthony,

i can sympathise with the work thing.......thats why i decided to do an about face into the world of instrument making.... i was running the 2nd largest company in the world producing flourescent pigments (dayglo) and i realised that after the business had been going for 150 years, and i had lost my great grandad, my grandad, and my dad, all to an early stress-related grave, maybe it was time to step away from the big business thing and go back to grass-roots... after all Jesus was a carpenter

What Anthony said and i might add that i would do just the same and never look back! Hey i recuperate old furniture and get excited by a chunk of wood when i see one! My name is Serge and i'm a junkie! So shoot me with BRW please!

I have two going, which will take me a couple of months with real work and all, two more on standby, and just ordered another 4 tops and two more B&S. It is a fun addiction, moving towards "out of control" I long for a stash like yours!

OK, realy I'm just jelous Paddy. I would love to have a stash like that.

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"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

did the bank you rob really have that low of security?

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