Official Luthiers Forum!

i look all over the internet and find only a few...
i found this one that i think has a great selection.

http://www.gilmerwood.com/index.html

what are some other good sites

I suggest you take a look at the sponsor links at the top of the page. There are many tonewood suppliers represented there. I've visited them all. All of them have wonderful woods to choose from.
By the way, the $100 minimum order at the site you linked to would pretty much preclude me from doing business there.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

For tonewoods I call Shane Neifer at High Mountain or Todd Taggert at Allied Lutherie. I've done quite a bit of business with both.

For non-standard stuff (not off the shelf), I let my customers know that I can be bribed with interesting wood

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

(Sponsor) RC tonewoods is great. If you are looking for something specific, email Bob and he will probably be able to take care of you. If you want it, he's probably got it.

(Sponsor) Hibdon Hardwoods also has a good selection and great prices. I got the set of cocobolo in my avatar from Hibdon.

(Sponsor) Oregon Wild Wood has great ebony prices and some nice myrtle and walnut.

(Sponsor) Australian tonewoods has great tiger myrtle and black heart sassafras among other goodies.

(Sponsors) Colonial tonewood and Allied luthiery also have nice selections.

Of course there are many others as well, but I've found that the people in the community are just better to deal with.

Despite some people's views, I've also gotten some very good deals on Ebay. Search for tonewoods. I wouldn't buy Brazilian from there, but anything else is game.

the auctions here can occasionally turn up some great deals as well as the classifieds section.

what kinda of wood are you looking for? and in what quantities? for more exotic woods, or for highly figured stuff i go to the local saw mills, and often ebay if i only need a couple peices. i dont buy wood unless i can see the piece and know what i am getting as a general rule. there are also creative ways to get more domestic wood at very good prices ( sometimes free) the first electric guitar that i built was made out of 100 year 2x12 boards of maple that i salvaged out of a barn at a friends family farm, and most of the straight grained maple that i use for necks now comes from a local cabinetry shop. i get the odds and ends that are two small for what they do but are perfect for making necks and it costs me almost nothing. there is wood all over the place if you keep your eyes open. but like i said it depends what you want you arent going to find any old barns made from Brazilian rosewood.

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~shad peters

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petersinstruments/
http://petersinstruments.blogspot.com/
http://petersinstruments.com/

I don't know any of the rest of the sponsors on this site, but I know Shane Neifer and what kind of man he is! The best!

Mike

HAhaha! Good one!
I wouldn't say it scares me, but I buy what I need from a lot of different sources, and I'm also on a tight budget, and don't have the luxury of "bumping up an order" just to get to a $100 minimum. I realize that minimum orders are sometimes nescessary, but $100 seems to me excessive. But I'm not running the mill.
As far as picking an expensive hobby, I didn't pick this, it picked me. Building guitars has been literally a lifelong desire, and I'm not getting any younger. My funds are limited enough to where the first guitar I chose to build(still in process) is being built from an old cutting board and the orphaned center leaf of an antique table. My next will probably follow suit. You work with what you have, and that precludes me from ordering from places with $100 minimums, unless they have all of what I need. Gilmer does not.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I just had a wonderful visit with sponsor Pacific Coast Woods. Vince hooked me up with some great POC, I am on a budget as well, and for $135 total, Vince hooked me up with most of the wood to build a guitar. I was not after any master grade, but I got a 3A top and sides, some wood for a carved back and maple for a fingerboard. There are lots of ways to build on a budget and still make a great guitar. While there, Vince and I discussed the $100 guitar materials kit, just an idea, but perhaps if you give him a call he can put something together.
Rob

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http://shastaguitar.com/
http://www.kalimbakit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/comfyfootgr ... ature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/robert.renick.7

Hibon has monthly specials. Two months ago I picked up half a dozen mahogany neck blanks from Hibdon at $5.00 a piece. Yeah they were seconds and I spent more in shipping than in wood, but the wood itself was all usable and worth the money.

Allied has weekly specials. Well worth the look.

What are you looking for? Necks, solid bodies, fret boards?

What part of Va are you in?

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Aoibeann

Thanks, Lillian(if you were replying to me. I live in Va., the OP lives in Pa.), I'll check Hibdon out. Right now I'm doing the best I can to save up for pickups, electronics and the rest of the hardware for this build(Tailpiece,pup rings, knobs, pots,switch, cap, etc.). The guitar's finish is curing, so I've got about a month before I need to put it all together. I think the guitar is gonna turn out pretty good, so I want to put decent pickups in her. I'd like to put duncans in, but may end up with Golden Age or GFS, depending on budget.
Chris, no worries, i took no offense. And yeah, this isn't exactly a cheap hobby, no matter who you are. I imagine if I had the cash I could go nuts buying wood, tools, etc., lol.
As for using reclaimed wood, you'd be amazed what kind of wood you can use if you're not afraid to put a solid color finish on it. And it can look really nice, too. This one is turning out so well I have another old cutting board and enough wood(Ithink) to build another neck, as long as it's not too thin for a truss rod install. It's .613" at the nut and .668" at the 18th fret(has a stacked heel), and I'll be using an LMI one way rod, so it'll probably be close. We shall see.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Yeah, I think so. With a 1/4" fretboard that works out to about 14/16" at the nut. I plan to run a pencil line down the center of the back of the neck, and shape the sides until I get it close to where I like it, then round the back and call it done. If after I route for the truss rod channel there is enough thickness left I may take it down thinner if needed, but I won't know until then. But I'm pretty sure it'll work fine. As for the type of carve I like, I pretty much go by feel, but I'll carve this one however I have to to make it work.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Mike, I grew up in southern VA. My brother still lives there. I'll ask him if he knows of any guys in his area doing any sawing that are worth checking out.

Keep an eye out for beater electrics in pawn shops and garage sales. They might have some hardware you can scavenge on the cheap.

I know there was at least one thread, maybe more on wooden pup rings. I don't think it made it to the tutorial section. Dig around in the archives and see what you can find. If you can't, let me know and I'll fire up my old computer and see if I saved the thread.

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Aoibeann

Thanks, Lillian! That would be welcome. I live in Front Royal.
About the wooden pickup rings, i think verhoevenc has a toot up. But I use mostly hand tools, and have very little power tools. I've tried to make them by hand, but end up breaking them before I'm done. But I may try again, because I'd love to use them. One of the members here has volunteered to make a set for this guitar at cost, and I may take him up on it. But any knowledge about where i can scrounge wood or parts is greatly appreciated.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I've been building my first electric, but I have bought all my woods off of e-bay for very very fair prices.
As a matter of fact I just bought a really nice flame maple 1pc neck blank for 35.00 shipped and all.

Sorry, you're a bit north of my brother's neighborhood. He was clueless.

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Aoibeann

Haha! No problem. I've actually got a line on a place in Manassas that sells kiln-dried ash, cherry, basswood, maple, poplar, red and white oak,walnut, and birch. Rough and surfaced lumber, and from the info I got over the phone everything is kiln-dried to 7% moisture content. For those interested:
Northland Forest Products
9330 Litho Ln.
Manassas, Va.
703 393 7500

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I get all my wood off e-bay. Believe it or not there are some awesome deals to be found. I got this flame maple neck blank for 30.00 shipped to my door, it's big enough to make 2 necks if I scarf joint it.