Official Luthiers Forum!

Firstly; hello all! I've been browsing this forum for a few days now and have finally decided to register.

Now, my issue is that I'm looking building an acoustic guitar from scratch, but all the part suppliers (wood, building tools) are mainly american or oversee providers.

Fortunately, I have quite a few of the required tools lying around (I build kayaks, so i' lucky enough to have experience with fine wood work) and I think I can pick up some of the required tools that I don't own from Lee Valley tools.

So basically, I'm mostly concerned about the wood.

Are there any Canadian builders on here who know where I can find some good wood in the Southern Ontario area, know of a good website without outrageous shipping/brokerage charges and anyone who can confirm that I can buy some of my missing tools at Lee Valley.

Thanks much, I think this experience is going to be a helluva ride

Eric

Hi Eric,

You could contact Shane Neifer at http://highmountaintonewood.com/

He's a great, guy, sells top notch tops. He also has a few back/side woods, and I think he could be able to put a parts kit together for you. He's also a sponsor of this site.


best, Christian

Shane is your guy for Tops - Cedar and Lutz - awesome. Some backs and sides too.

Also in Burlington there is A&M. Lots of nice stuff there. Web site: http://www.amwoodinc.com/

There's also a place in Burlington. I haven't been there though. Here's their web site. http://www.exotic-woods.com/index.html

I end up ordering alot of stuff from the US. LMI, RC Tonewoods. But there is the shipping costs to consider.

Neil

Hi Eric

Welcome to OLF. I see you are in Windsor, give me a call I'm the only F Tellier in the Windsor phone book. Also check out the post for the Plymouth Michigan get together that I have put together, you will get to meet some other local builders.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Welcome to the board Eric,
I was at exotic woods in burlington not long ago and they have just moved to a larger facility. They now have a dedicated guitar woods room with a pretty good selection. Also check out Fraser Valley Fine woods on ebay, I have gotten some good deals from them but you have to keep checking in on the different auctions. All the places others have mentioned are good too.

Wow, thanks for all the quick responses!

Now, another quick question: I assume it is best for my to go and pick up the wood in person right? I'm kinda wary when it comes to ordering wood online (I like to see exactly what I'm paying for). Is this concern of mine unnecessary? Have you all found that wood purchased online is of good quality? (for my first build I don't want any overly expensive wood).

Yes Fred, I will have to give you a call. I'm working crazy hours over the weekend though, so it will have to be next sometime next week. I'll buy you a coffee if you let me pick your brain for an hour or two

Again, thanks for all of your help. I'm looking at video documenting this build (along with a cedar strip kayak I will be building over the winter) and need all the help I can get!

Eric

I do not think there is anything to be worried about buying wood from a reputable seller online (such as any of the sponsors). I would be wary of buying from some random person on ebay or something, but those in the business are pretty good with their grading and you get what you pay for basically. A good picture can tell you a lot about the wood.

I suppose so. Thankfully, this give me more options than I had before.

Another question: what price range am i look at for the wood? Thankfully, I've realized that i have basically every tool i need (minus the bending pipe, but i think i'm going to make my own. I'm also short one fret cutting device... but I have no problem ordering one).

I know it's a general question, but what does the average guitar cost to make? I'm looking at using lower grade woods for my first attempt, and I already have all my adhesive (going to use West System Epoxy for my first run, just because I have some lying about). And i think i'm going to cannibalize my tuning pegs from an old Gibson copy I have lying around.

Thanks again

There are lots of great sources for wood and information, as long as there are photos of the wood you are buying, I have purchased a lot from the internet, looking at photos and have sometimes been a little disapointed. As an example this set of Cocobolo was not as nice as I expected but after thickness sanding is outstanding.



Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

It really depends how cheap you want to go... I suppose you could build a guitar for next to nothing but it probably would not be that nice. I would get a decent set of walnut or indian rosewood (both easy to bend), a decent sitka or englemen spruce top, sitka for bracewood, mahogany for the neck, rosewood or ebony for the fretboard and bridge. Probably going to cost around 200-300 minimum for decent wood. Also do you mean your going to use west epoxy for structural gluing? I would get a decent wood glue like tightbond, dont think epoxy will be much good. Have you thought about finishing?

Hi Eric,

The first thing you should purchase is a book or two on guitar making. I would suggest Jonny Kinkeads "Build your own acoustic guitar". That and the internet will get you going. I suggest this because you will soon learn that things, such as glue, have specific uses. You can use epoxy for gluing down the fretboard and for filling pores in the wood prior to finishing but you will want to explore other glue options for all of the other operations. The book will guide you through all of that. The crew here are great about answering any and all questions, but some prior research will indeed help you frame your questions a bit better.

As for shipping from the US, when you buy from venders that will ship USPS (rather than UPS), you will find the shipping costs not to different than domestic shipping in a lot of cases. But if you want to stay in Canada I do have everything you need to complete a guitar and can certainly quote you on a complete kit price. But you should get the book first and see what fun you are in for.

Good luck with this Eric, it is intoxicating!

Shane

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Canada

BTW .. A&M woods is in Cambridge .. not Burlington . thats Exotic. There is also a place in north toronto called Unicorn, they used to have some sets, but you will have to deal with grumpy Bob ...( as AZ calls him - LOL - you ask him where the rosewood is and he looks up at you and grunts ..)

Both places (Ex, A&M) have great quality stuff at market prices ... if you wnat to get some stufff cheaper, you will have to buy the boards and slice em yourself ....

I can also tell you that a lot of Luthier specific tools (fret files, crown files, saws) are available thru Heinl's in Toronto - ask for Gary. They also have Gotoh, Schaller, bone, strings, fret wire, electric parts etc ... and sometimes a Strad or two in the vault.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Do A&M/Exotic sell slabs that you can resaw yourself for cheaper? I've found that sometimes mills will sell lumber that looks suitable for instrument making without being explicitly classified as tonewood.

Definitely. Exotic has more wood in stock than one person could use in a lifetime.

Yes, just bought a 2 1/2" chunk of big leaf curly (good for archtop) at Exotic this morning, as well as a 1 x 5 stick of curly to resaw for sides.
BTW, they just got in 100+ sets of PRS overstock, bookmatched highly figured maple (pillow, quilt, curly). If you like figured maple (resaw for flattops, or carve for electric) GO NOW!

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Dave
Milton, ON

Dave, what are they charging per set of the maple? I am coming down to the city next week and might stop by if the price is right.

Think it was about $100/set. They were only about 14 1/2"wide o/a (too narrow for archtops unfortunately, so I didn't go much further) but they looked about 7/8"thick, so depending on what you're doing with it.......

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Dave
Milton, ON

priced depending on the grade .. 65/85/100 for b/a/aa .... I have been thru them all a couple weeks ago ... some not bad stuff, but I really dont need too many electric tops.

I just quickly finished 3 for them that will most likely be A grade ..they were pretty sweet ....

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

If this is your first foray into guitar building I would highly recommend you look at a kit from Blues Creek or High Mountain Tonewoods which are sponsers here.
There are so many bits n' pieces to mill that it can be tough to get your head around the first time.
Plus, the depth of information you can glean of this site is huge and FREE!

Ray

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Guitar Building = Continuous Improvement Process