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Best place to buy good guitar wood?


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Stew Mac seems like they have too high of prices(once again lol). The prices I've seen is #5136 Mahogany, quartersawn {3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 26"} , $54.67.. maybe that's not too much, if the wood quality was really good.. but they don't even tell. That seems like enough wood to make a set neck.. I've looked at Luth Mer International page and they was cheaper, but the wood was only 7/8" thick, so I'm not sure if that would be wide enough to make a electric guitar neck.. ala Les Paul Jr. style.. I'm thinking it would be wide enough but I'd have to glue another small piece for the heel and headstock. I'm thinking of getting the #4655 Ebony for the fingerboard... or the #4655-r Rosewood both costing over 15 dollars. And also it doesn't tell the grade of wood used which worries me alot... Just wondering who you guys normally use to get wood from... We got alot of Swamp Ash we want to use(free is good)... but some will have Quilted Maple tops.. which will cost alot.. but I just need to know of a place that will sell quality woods at decent prices.

Matt

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I'm still working on this (and probably will be forever) but here's what I have run into:

Warmoth and Stewmac both have well-prepared wood (already surfaced and thickness is usually just right). Other places such as exoticwoods seem to be a great deal due to the large selection and decent prices but come with a catch - the wood is not in good enough shape to use right away. The pieces that I have bought are not straight, not edged or surfaced and the thickness is usually much more than you would want (if you just wanted to start cutting you neck shape,...).

There are plenty of figured wood suppliers on the internet that I have had some experience with. I bought a very nice piece of flamed maple recently that I found to have a number of defects and again was not surfaced or edged. It can be dealt with and made to be a very nice top but the price I paid for cheaper wood is that I now have to spend days getting it prepared for cutting/shaping. I'd like to know if anyone has bought maple tops from stewmac to see if their quality is any better.

I've decided to bite the bullet and get a jointer so that I can deal with these issues and be able to buy from more suppliers without too much worry.

I'm sorry I don't have a list of places for you, but the point of my reply was to pass on the experience I had when shopping around for lower priced wood.

Dave

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i prefer going to my local exotic hard wood store. It usualy takes me about 2 hours to find what ever i'm looking for but it's well worth it. They carry almost every wood but alder (weird eh? :D ), and they have a full industrial woodshop right next to the heated storage warehouse, so i get all my joining planning and sometimes the cutting done there. And the prices are great considering i'm in canada :D I try to stay away from online cause i get hit with the "customs importaion tax" and the exchange rate when ever i order something from the states... B):D

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