Also, you might check out Gilmer Wood Co. www.gilmerwood.com/ . I get quarter rived
Sitka Spruce from them. They wil resaw it for you. It has always been vary high
quality stuff.
Craig
Another Era Lutherie
www.anotherera.com
Steve Ramey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Herb,
What others have mentioned is accurate. In addition, those who build are always on the
lookout for different sources.
Recently, I've seen someone on ebay advertising bookmatches sets of wood suitable for
use as lute ribs. They show up once in a while when doing a search on 'lute' in the
musical instrument category. Haven't bought any and therefore, don't know what the
quality is.
Back 20 or so years ago when I was building a few instruments, I bought some nice
spruce for a soundboard from a fellow in Washington DC. In his tiny shop, I recall
seeing woods appropriate for classic guitars, violins, violas, and dulcimers. I
believe his name was Joe Wallo. Don't know if he's still around or not. Got some funny
looks getting on the plane with a piece of spruce about 1/8 inch thick, about a foot
wide, and three feet long, but it got home with me OK.
About that same time, I had contact with someone, whose name completely escapes me
now, based I believe, in Sheboygan, WI. My parents lived there at that time, so while
up for a visit, I made arrangements to see the guy. We met at his warehouse-- a former
factory, I believe. He had small log-cabin style stacks ebony and rosewood fingerboard
stock for guitars, other similar stacks for dulcimers; the stacks were about 18 inches
to 2 feet tall. All the ends were waxed. Each stack was about 4 - 5 feet away from any
other stack-- plenty of room for air circulation. He also had several stacks of
laminated rosewood guitar back stock as well as solid book matched rosewood back
stock. I believe he had quite a selection of bridge blanks also. Don't recall seeing
any mahogany, spruce, or violin/viola-shaped chunks of maple. I believe he was doing
business under a name that had the word 'Viking' in it, but I don't think I'd bet a
quarter on it.
I might have bumped into both the foregoing guys from something I read in a Guild of
American Luthiers publication.
One day, while in a local lumber yard, I spotted a piece of fine grain, quarter sawn
redwood. It was a plank about a foot wide, 12 feet long and a nominal inch thick. Had
to saw it in half to get it in the car. It eventually contributed a soundboard and
back to a hammered dulcimer I built.
Bottom line-- There are suppliers, but tone woods can be where you find them. Twenty
years later, I'll bet 30 seconds of Googling would net you at least a dozen suppliers,
probably lots more.
Best,
Steve
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