Official Luthiers Forum!

Just opened an email from Calton Cases. The Canadian dollar has finally passed the old US greenback....so the inevitable happens and Calton will be raising their prices to US customers effective November 1.
Of course, this makes the American built guitar more attractive to foreign buyers as it takes less of their hard earned (insert you currency of choice)to buy our product.
I just love it when all that Economic theory I studied in college (and barely stayed awake in doing so) finally has real world application.    Just check out the price of corn products now that ethanol is the rage. Heck, a taco may soon cost more than a Big Mac!

But as Bob Dylan once opined... "Oh the times they are a changin'"

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Hank Mauel

Hank-
Not everything is 'a changin'....

Canadian retailers are still charging inflated prices for US-made goods- most of them haven't changed their prices in a year or so. Example: Local 'discount tool house' has the Porter Cable 309 Laminate trimmer at $220 Cdn. Same thing is $129 US online.

It's quite the topic of discussion up here in the land of igloos!

My advice is for everybody to stock up on tuning machines before the US $ prices go up.

Cheers
John

[QUOTE=JohnAbercrombie] Hank-
Not everything is 'a changin'....

Canadian retailers are still charging inflated prices for US-made goods- most of them haven't changed their prices in a year or so. Example: Local 'discount tool house' has the Porter Cable 309 Laminate trimmer at $220 Cdn. Same thing is $129 US online.

It's quite the topic of discussion up here in the land of igloos!

[/QUOTE]

OUCH! Bet they don't sell too many at that price. Would it not be less expensive for you (or another woodworker) to get one from a US supplier or is the Import Duty that onerous?
And just what was the NAFTA thing supposed to do? Maybe get the Canadian $ to parity with the US $. If so, it succedded!
Meanwhile, we'll just keep shaping braces!

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Hank Mauel

Not that I'm thrilled about our economy, but I did notice that on a pre-
war Martin I was selling on eBay a few weeks ago I received an
unprecedented number of inquiries from overseas buyers. I suppose if
others are still willing to pay the same prices in their dollars as a few
years back, it can boost U.S. dollar prices for some of the more desirable
vintage instruments.

Gotta find a bright side somewhere....

We'll have to be careful to keep this discussion on economics specifically
related to our trade, cleanly separated from politics. That said, any
European forum members out there looking for a good repair tech? I
know I could just slide 40 miles east and be in Windsor, but I'f I'm going
to make a move I'm thinking maybe Greece, Italy, southern France
perhaps.

It never hurt to ask.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

[QUOTE=Hank Mauel]
OUCH! Bet they don't sell too many at that price. Would it not be less expensive for you (or another woodworker) to get one from a US supplier or is the Import Duty that onerous?
And just what was the NAFTA thing supposed to do? Maybe get the Canadian $ to parity with the US $. If so, it succedded!
Meanwhile, we'll just keep shaping braces! [/QUOTE]

Hank-
You're right!
There aren't any more duties for most stuff I'd buy in the US, and that's where a lot of my buying is done. There are sales taxes to pay, but we've got to pay them on local stuff anyway, so that's 'fair'. Once I cover the shipping cost, I shop with the keyboard.
That was the idea of NAFTA, though it hasn't worked out perfectly in practice...another topic (another case of beer).

The dollar parity (plummeting US dollar) is all about economic policies in the US, not NAFTA. The politicians up here are trying to make folks think it's a 'good sign' that our dollar is 'increasing in value', but it's really just keeping about even with everybody else but the US. And, of course, it is a disaster for our export prices to the US- today's paper had a prediction that the Cdn $$ would be back to 90 cents US in a year.
And, of course, this all doesn't explain why we're still paying about $4.30 per US gallon for gasoline, and $3.75/gallon for furnace oil- can't order that stuff by mail order!!
As you said- back to makin' sawdust!
(Don't wanna break any rules about politics in posts
Cheers
John

What got me was Calton sent the email at 3.30 my time and said they would honor the old prices till the end of business today huh a hour and a half?
Lance

I guess it follows that a worthless dollar might just open up a nice global market for a US based luthier.

Especially one who stocked up on foreign woods and other raw materials...

The weak US dollar gets me a lot more wood for my Norwegian kr when buying from the US than it used to, so I'm not complaining! But then prices of overseas shipping skyrocketed this spring and took away much of the advantage, seems you just can't win!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

It wasn't all that long ago when the CDN$ would buy about 0.65US$.  It really hurt when looking through the ole LMI or Stewmac catalog and you had to add 50% to everything, then add shipping, brokerage, etc...

I agree, time to buy tuning machines!

_________________
Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Hank-
You're right!
There aren't any more duties for most stuff I'd buy in the US, and that's where a lot of my buying is done. There are sales taxes to pay, but we've got to pay them on local stuff anyway, so that's 'fair'. Once I cover the shipping cost, I shop with the keyboard.
That was the idea of NAFTA, though it hasn't worked out perfectly in practice...another topic (another case of beer).

The dollar parity (plummeting US dollar) is all about economic policies in the US, not NAFTA. The politicians up here are trying to make folks think it's a 'good sign' that our dollar is 'increasing in value', but it's really just keeping about even with everybody else but the US. And, of course, it is a disaster for our export prices to the US- today's paper had a prediction that the Cdn $$ would be back to 90 cents US in a year.
And, of course, this all doesn't explain why we're still paying about $4.30 per US gallon for gasoline, and $3.75/gallon for furnace oil- can't order that stuff by mail order!!
As you said- back to makin' sawdust!
(Don't wanna break any rules about politics in posts
Cheers
John [/QUOTE]

Yeah...I was being facetious about NAFTA    Re: oil products...are you guys under the same taxation mentality as Europe when it comes to gasoline, etc?
I know you are sitting on an incredible amount of oil sands and at the current rate for a barrel of oil, that extraction should be economical.

As for Lance's comment on the "timing" of the Calton announcement, it hardly left him time to run out and dig up all his coffeee cans full on money buried in the back yard...oops, wrong subject...it was the new SEPTIC tank you buried this year!

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Hank Mauel

Off-topic, but Hank, I just noticed your avatar. Is that the corkscrew at Laguna Seca?

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now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

[QUOTE=Hank Mauel]
Re: oil products...are you guys under the same taxation mentality as Europe when it comes to gasoline, etc?
I know you are sitting on an incredible amount of oil sands and at the current rate for a barrel of oil, that extraction should be economical.
[/QUOTE]
Hank-
There are some minor tax differences on petroleum, but most of the extra cost is due to the oil companies 'pricing for the Canadian market'- ie whatever they can get away with.
The oil sands projects are booming with huge projects in operation and planned. However, this doesn't benefit most Canadians- the last time (in the 70s) a government tried to give the whole country the advantage of our oil resources (Cdn prices lower than world price), it led to the formation of a separatist party in Alberta-and that party has morphed into the ruling federal Conservative party today. They won't repeat the political mistake. The oil sands are a huge greenhouse gas source- they burn natural gas to heat the sand and extract the oil- so any talk about limiting greenhouse gas emissions is mostly empty talk, since it would cause a revolution in Alberta.
Nuclear power could be used in the oil sands projects instead of natural gas (to give an idea of the energy used, it would take 6-8 nuclear plants to run the oil sands at the current rate of production), but people get irrational when they hear the word 'nuclear'.
Everything is more complicated than it seems!

Hank,we should probably move this to 'Off Topic', or just go to pm for talk of political questions...

Cheers
John

[QUOTE=Hank Mauel]
I just love it when all that Economic theory I studied in college (and barely stayed awake in doing so) finally has real world application.    Just check out the price of corn products now that ethanol is the rage. Heck, a taco may soon cost more than a Big Mac!
[/QUOTE]

Most Econ 101 classes don't cover the topic of economic rent, which can be applied to the big corn industry. Their real skill is in farming Capitol Hill.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I like getting change when I buy tools and materials from the US instead of figuring out how much more I have to shell out! This dollar is expected to rise even further than the 1.049 mark - but whether it continues to surpass the US dollar is entirely up to American voters,
Cheers
Charlie

[QUOTE=burbank] Off-topic, but Hank, I just noticed your avatar. Is that the corkscrew at Laguna Seca?[/QUOTE]

Yes it is. Good eyes and "track recognition" skills.
Have you ever driven there?
That shot is me, circa 1984, at the Monterey Historic Races.

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Hank Mauel

[QUOTE=Howard Klepper] [QUOTE=Hank Mauel]
I just love it when all that Economic theory I studied in college (and barely stayed awake in doing so) finally has real world application.    Just check out the price of corn products now that ethanol is the rage. Heck, a taco may soon cost more than a Big Mac!
[/QUOTE]

Most Econ 101 classes don't cover the topic of economic rent, which can be applied to the big corn industry. Their real skill is in farming Capitol Hill.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but I went a bit farther in Econ, yawn, than 101. Still makes me sleepy after all these years!    
But what I'm really waiting for is all the re-processed french fry oil for car fuel. We're gonna have "major munchy attacks" just driving to the grocery store!

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Hank Mauel

Hank,we should probably move this to 'Off Topic', or just go to pm for talk of political questions...   

Cheers
John

Yes, we can let it die here. Just asking for insight from the "other side of the border".
And politics makes my head hurt, anyhow.

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Hank Mauel

[QUOTE=Hank Mauel] [QUOTE=burbank] Off-topic, but Hank, I just noticed your avatar. Is that the corkscrew at Laguna Seca?[/QUOTE]

Yes it is. Good eyes and "track recognition" skills.
Have you ever driven there?
That shot is me, circa 1984, at the Monterey Historic Races.[/QUOTE]

Never driven there. Was last there in the late 70s with a friend whose old highschool friend, Bruce Trenery (sp?) was racing a Formula Ford, and also had raced some historic cars too, IIRC.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

[QUOTE=burbank] [QUOTE=Hank Mauel] [QUOTE=burbank] Off-topic, but Hank, I just noticed your avatar. Is that the corkscrew at Laguna Seca?[/QUOTE]

Yes it is. Good eyes and "track recognition" skills.
Have you ever driven there?
That shot is me, circa 1984, at the Monterey Historic Races.[/QUOTE]

Never driven there. Was last there in the late 70s with a friend whose old highschool friend, Bruce Trenery (sp?) was racing a Formula Ford, and also had raced some historic cars too, IIRC.[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah...Bruce Trenery, owner of Fantasy Junction (vintage cars in Berkeley, CA) has raced in CSRG (Bay Area vintage race club), HMSA (the Monterey Historic organization), etc, etc. with us over the past decades. He always had a nice piece of machinery to run!
Laguna Seca was a great track. The old configuration allowed me to go flat out, in the Elite, from turn 9 all the way around to the bridge going uphill to the Carousel. The new layout requires a bit more discretion!

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Hank Mauel

Woa. I just looked up Fantasy Junction's web site. Lots of stuff in six figures! I guess Bruce has come a long way from fixing up trashed old Volvos and such to resell!

I recall some minis doing the same as your Elite (what vintage?), 'course they probably weren't as fast.

Still racing?

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

[QUOTE=burbank] Woa. I just looked up Fantasy Junction's web site. Lots of stuff in six figures! I guess Bruce has come a long way from fixing up trashed old Volvos and such to resell!

I recall some minis doing the same as your Elite (what vintage?), 'course they probably weren't as fast.

Still racing?[/QUOTE]


Yes, Bruce has done QUITE well!

The Elite is 1959 and yes, it's faster than a Mini due mostly to the aerodynamics...it's like a pencil, the Mini like a small barn! However, in the twisties, as good as the Elite is, the Mini's will have their way with it, and just about anything else on wheels, save a Lotus 7.

No, I'm not racing it anymore. After nearly 25 great vintage years, we decided to put it away in safety...not so much for my skills but because of the "deterioration" in the level of fellow racers attitudes.
When I started in 1980, it was very gentlemanly (and occassionlly womanly) driving. We raced hard, to be sure, but if it got THAT close, one driver would back off and give way. There was nothing to win nor lose in the races. The cars were the focal point and if you wanted to lean on doors in a turn or bunt each other off course, there was SCCA, etc to play with. The basic rule was if you went off course and/or caused damage to youself or another racer, you got to "talk with the stewards" and went home for a year to think about your transgression. This rarely occurred and years would go by without an incident.
Roll up to the end of the century. A lot of newcomers, with big $$$ and really not vintage race cars were showing up with numbers on the doors and wanting to race. Too many thought there was gloriy to be had and drove accordingly. "Talks with the stewards" began to occur on a regular basis. After avoiding an all too near disaster at the beginning of a race in 2003, I had a long talk with my partner in the car ownership and decided that the fun was no longer there, the car too signficant to risk damage from some overzealous action (read kamikazi moves)by other drivers and that it would be best to put it away for posterity and retire from driving. The last race I did was a race at Laguna Seca (SCCA vintage) and won a "Century Award"....my age and the age of the car totalled 100 years old!

I have been back to races since as a spectator...just last month at Sears Point (Infinion to you new kids ) and they only confirmed my earlier decision.

But it was REAL FUN while it lasted!

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Hank Mauel