daveq Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 I'd like to know if anyone has used exoticwoods.com recently and what they thought of them. I would have put this in the SoapBox area but I don't see it anymore? Anyway, I have tried them several times with not much good to say. The fretboards are OK but the neck blanks are terrible (in my experience). I tried some 5A birdseye and 4A curly maple and got what I could have scrounged at my local lumber yard. I have to look carefully to find anything that resembles curly maple - oh yeah, it does have "Curly" written on it so that should do it. Buying wood online is a very sketchy deal but with all of the hype these guys put on their site, I really expected better. I guess if you stick to body blanks it's not so bad but the scrap they are selling for neck blanks is outrageous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 oh dear GFrenzy just ordered some, i don't think he got it yet though... should be interesting to hear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 That's pretty bad. To buy wood marked with those standards, I would expect a lot. So far I've dealt with LMII and some fellow off eBay. Sneak peek... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 I got my wood in from Exoticwoods.com yesterday and I got nice piece of mahogany (3"x3"x30") for 29 dollars.. actually I bought two of them. It's not planed but I will bring it to my uncle's house today and get that done. I'll let you guys know how it turns out, I'll take pictures .. before and after planing... But Stew-Mac comparitive blank #5136 has the benefit of already being planed, but cost $54.67 for a 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 26". So I'll post later tonight with pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 Hmmm... I was about to buy neck blanks from ExoticWoods... Keep us posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted September 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 You will be OK as long as you're not going for something figured AND you know that you will need to straighten the wood out (jointer/planer). Each neck blank I have bought from them (4 now) has been that way. I was surprised at first but it's fine with me since I have the tools to deal with it. I was expecting more like Warmoth or stewmac, ... where the wood is ready for shaping (the price was pretty close to theirs - I just picked them because the selection seemed better). It's just the figured maple that really has me pissed. If they are going to brag about how they grade the wood and on and on, ... I would expect to not have to get out a microscope to see the figuring for a 4A or 5A. I'm going to run them through the planer tonight and see if I can uncover something nicer but I'm not holding my breath. I think non-figured wood should be OK from them (I don't think they can screw that up). With neck blanks, just be ready to spend some time getting it prepared for shaping. I should also say that my fretboards have been OK from them. I have two pre-slotted fretboards (birdseye 4A) and they are good. They are rough and need some attention but they are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 Ah, That sounds good then. I was planning on getting some figured maple from LMII, along with the frettboard anyhow. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdp1234 Posted September 27, 2003 Report Share Posted September 27, 2003 I just bought my first body blank from them. They are located 20 miles from where I live so I just stopped by and picked it up. I needed a 3 piece basswood body ( Can't really mess that up). If I knew how to tell the different grades of wood apart I would check it out and give a report. I need more experiance before I can help. They did let me choose what piece I wanted. It was a lot smaller place than I expected from the web site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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