Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi guys! Just wondering if any of you fine folks might be able to point me to a source for Lutz Spruce tops?

Shane Neifer at High Mountain Tonewoods. He's the original source for ALL Lutz tops, so far as I know. He's also a pretty great guy.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

if I may take Anthony Z's inquiry one step further,
anybody can reccomend a LUTZ source not in Canada?
shipping costs from Canada to Israel are killing me!!!

thanks,
Udi.

There is someone who puts lutz on ebay quite often, but he calls it
kermodie.

Bob at RC tonewoods often has Lutz tops

Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

[QUOTE=outstrung] There is someone who puts lutz on ebay quite often, but he calls it
kermodie. [/QUOTE]

I believe that is Shane's neighbour Mario DaCosta. His marketing is a bit ...... over the top, and for some bizarre reason he sells it under names like Curly Spuce™, Ghost Bear™, Ghost Curly Bear™, Wonderwood™ and Kermodie™ and probably some more, all names which he has trademarked. He is also the guy behind "Luthierforum", and I believe Shane told us once that he and Mario have "a history".

I have some spruce from Shane, and the quality is superb. I think even with the shipping from Canada it is a great value.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Shane is a pretty great guy, though I have not had any reply as to availability.

BobC at RC Tonewoods hasn't had any Lutz in awhile. I was just at the Zootcave yesterday...though he did provide me with a nice Adi top and a killer set of Peruvian Walnut.

Arnt - that was a very diplomatic description of Shane's neighbour -- I've got more undiplomatic thoughts of his gucci wood and pricing which I will keep to myself

Anthony, be patient with Shane. He's a very busy man. Sometimes it takes him a bit to get back to you. But it's worth the wait.

Thanks Paul - that is good advice!    

Oh yeah...
i've used Shane's(and Mario's) LUTZ before.
and i love it, its just that with shipping , i end up paying the Canadian postal service about 3 times the amount i'll have to pay for the wood

I recently received my first Lutz shipment from Shane from the swap meet.  Even the outer protection planks he used would make a good top.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Anthony - sometimes its just better to get Shane on the phone I think - he is busy right now, but is going to be taking care of some orders right away here he told me - so this is actually a perfect time to get in touch with him about this,,,
Check his site and then phone him up....

vachtern
Shane and Mario are the only people selling Lutz as far as I know,,, that is from the source at least - as it grows right in thier area,,,
I believe that anyone you would be buying from anywhere else, would have originally gotten thiers from either of them,,,so you would be paying markup,,,,
Of the two of these guys I do believe Shane is the more reasonably priced, from what I hear...
And from what I understand Shane knows more about tonewood, so you will be getting better wood from him, from what ppl tell me.
I saw an Ebay auction a while back for some ridiculously priced kermodie spruce, it was beautifully bearclaw figured... but the runout on it was horrible!!
Mabye the tops would still sound fantastic I dunno...
Be your own judge,,,
One thing that is not in dispute is the fact that Mario has slick marketing hype associated with his wood,,,,such as trade names that dont really mean anything and stuff.... He did allow me to remain on his pay forum for an extra year and waived the fee,,, so he hasnt treated me badly or anything,,,,
There is a way that you can obtain really good prices from Mario, but that is only by joining his forum.... which costs $20/yr.
He has video auctions (and other members do too) on Fri and Sat nights... as with all auctions depending on how people are bidding that night some amazing deals can be had...
Anyway
Cheers
Charlie
Cheers
Charlie

Hey Charlie,
Yep, i know Shane and Mario are the source.
the point is, i dont mind paying the middle man, as it simply is more economical for me.
i've purchased some of Shane's LUTZ through Bobc, and some of Mario's through i cant remember who, he had this "distributer's program" some time ago...

you know, if it's 100$ to the postal service or 50$ to Bobc, the latter would be my obvious choice.

Happy Holidays!

Udi.

Udi,

I don't know the shipping costs from the US but 5 sets from here would cost you about $60 by ground (6 to 8 weeks) and $118 by express (8 business days) with insurance.

About the wood.

I have one tree that I am working on now. I will get some decent sets from it but the quality of the tree on the whole is not where I would like it be. That makes processing slower and higher quality sets fewer. I gambled on a source for the logs this year and it did not pan out very well, although in the long term I think it will. So I will be filling orders as I get the log cut into sets but hope to concentrate more on some politics this winter to secure a good long term access to this wood.

As for availability of this wood outside of Mario and myself there are no others that I know of. One other billet harvester comes into the area every once in a while and takes out a truck load but all of that ends up being marketed as sitka and it usually goes to higher volume processors so the wood gets shuffled in the rest that they process. I have not had enough wood processed to fill many of my larger orders so I still owe Bob and a couple of other vendors some sets. They have been patient in the wait and I appreciate that. I, like Bob, am planning on some significant changes in the next few months. I will be relocating my saw shortly closer to where I am and plan on a new shop for late next year that will incorporate a much more efficient set up and should result much more wood being available, once the logs are secured. A year initially seems like a long time, but for me I need to take it to get things efficient so that when orders come in I can have stock on hand and ready to ship. That is the plan. My customer list has significantly expanded in the past few months, an exponential growth really, that I am not really set up for, so the need to reshape the process.

Anyway, I appreciate the patience and I need you all to know that the OLF is one of the priorities of my business. It is the ONLY place I spend advertising dollars and I will continue to work to serve all of the members here while I find ways to expand to the ever increasing demands for volume orders from the smaller high end factory types.

Thanks (Oh ya, I e-mailed Anthony......., we're very good! )

Shane

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Canada

Hey shane!
thanks for taking the time to do the checking.
unfortunely, it is still 3 times more then what i'd pay had i bought it in the U.S.
guess i'll just wait till Bob stocks up again.

Shane, did you get the cowshed done for the llamas?   

Lutz lover in Arkansas.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I sold some billets to Kent Wickware a few months ago, something that I had promised him some time ago. So I just asked him if he had processed yet and he indicated that he had, so he might have a few sets available you can contact him through his website here

Shane

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Canada

[QUOTE=Bruce Dickey] Shane, did you get the cowshed done for the llamas?   

Lutz lover in Arkansas. [/QUOTE]

Was up to my knees in muck again today. I was actually hoping that it would freeze good and hard so that the ground would firm up but it is warming up again today! Foundations are in but I need to pour 5 posts for the hay storage area and the roofs all line up together so I need to get those poured and the posts on before I can really start framing. I am hoping to have the forms in tomorrow. We have had a bit of snow so I am feeling kind of bad for the Llamas! This is just another project that keeps me away from my re-saw....I need more of me

Shane

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Canada

[QUOTE=Shane Neifer] ....I need more of me

Shane[/QUOTE]

The solution is easy and delicious. Eat a few honey crullers and a couple vanilla dips every day and there'll be twice as much of you in no time!

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

[QUOTE=Bob Garrish] [QUOTE=Shane Neifer] ....I need more of me

Shane[/QUOTE]

The solution is easy and delicious. Eat a few honey crullers and a couple vanilla dips every day and there'll be twice as much of you in no time![/QUOTE]

How do you know?

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Canada

So Shane,  I've been thinking of getting some Lutz at some point.  Not right away as I have stock for my immediate needs.  When would be a good time to order?  Not a pressure question, but asked out of respect.

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

[QUOTE=douglas ingram] So Shane, I've been thinking of getting some Lutz at some point. Not right away as I have stock for my immediate needs. When would be a good time to order? Not a pressure question, but asked out of respect.
[/QUOTE]

I will processing the rest of this current tree into sets over the next while. I am really not sure how many mastergrade sets might be in there but likely not a lot and I have a large list for those. So if it is 3A or lower that you are wanting then I can probably get you some sets over the next eight weeks or so. Best thing is to e-mail me at shane at highmountaintonewood dot com and describe what you want in a top and I will get you on the list for when the sets are cut.

Thanks again for everyone's patience. Growing pains!!

Shane

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Canada

Be careful. Mario sent a message to Deb at MIMF threatening to sue her for allowing a message that was critical of his product to be posted.

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It's not the miles ahead, it's the stone in your shoe


In Markham,Virginia

[QUOTE=JNixon] Be careful. Mario sent a message to Deb at MIMF threatening to sue her for allowing a message that was critical of his product to be posted. [/QUOTE]

Inless there is another one, the threat of Law suit was because she had posted and auction with some wood that I had donated. Deb had posted, under my advice of course, that it was called "lutz" spruce. Mario claimed that he owned the name as he had copy written it. Since it is a "common" name for a species of tree he is not able to "own" it. But then again he has threatened to sue me for "stealing his idea" on tonewood. Anyway, I don't want to get going on who is better and this is not the place for debating another mans character. His forums seems a good place, I am banned even after never having posted a single thing on it, so I don't know for sure but if it helps others get building then that is great! At the end of the day if he is supplying wood that makes good guitars and he keeps his forum going to help others then I for one can easily live with his flippant moments. I hope others can as well.

So how about those Saskatchewan Roughriders?!!!(It's a Canadian thing...)

Shane

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Canada

Go Bombers!

It was a very close game. 3 points!  Bombers and Roughriders, how cool a Grey Cup was that!

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