Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello!
This is my first post here, although I spent a lot of time reading - thanks a lot for all the information I got already!

After successfully finished electric bass I'd like to build a flamenco guitar. I'm not able to get all the material from local suppliers so I'd like to ask for some recommendations regarding on-line stores.
So far I've found a flamenco guitar kit at Madinter in Spain which at 159Eur seems to be very reasonably priced. Another possibility I've found is to order tonewood from Eurospruce in Germany. This will be a little more expensive, but I like the possibility of choosing individual wood pieces plus it seems to me that those guys could really help me with choosing the right materials.
The price is important, but the quality of materials is more. (I'm sure I don't need AAA top for my first guitar, but I'd really like to have at least decent quality materials to work on).
Any recommendations? Are there maybe some other stores you have good experience with?
Thanks a lot,
Martin

You might not get a fast reply from the German website you mention there, the owner has been sick and he is behind. If you don't get a reply I recommend http://germanspruce.com/
Rudi is a great guy, knows his stuff, quick response, and he sends pictures of the wood.

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Build log

Hi Martin,

I am also building my first guitar (classical). I have ordered many things at madinter.com but when I contact them they told me that the wood is not dry and ready for use (you have to wait a few months - the best is 8 to 12 months).
So I have oredered from proarte.be in Belgium (you better wait one month before starting); Dyke in England also have dry wood luthierssupplies.co.uk.
Good luck

Hm, that's bad news, but I'm glad I asked.
luthierssupplies.co.uk looks like a nice site where you can get everything you need and maybe I'll try the top plates from germanspruce.
Thanks a lot for recommendations, saved me a couple of months of wood-drying

Luthiers supplies is good, but in my experience not fast. I can have wood shipped from Stew mac or luthiers merc in the USA within 3 days to UK, but it has taken well over a week from David Dyke.

I have bought a lot of spruce tops from Rivolta in Italy. Some of the tops have a bit more run out than I would have liked, but they are otherwise very nice. They have some back and side sets, too.

http://www.riwoods.com/home.asp

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Madinter.com is good for stocking up for future builds. Very nice wood at good prices. Maderas barber ditto. Rivta is where most of my tops are from, though I do tend to go there and hand select.

Other good suppliers include David dyke luthier supplies and touchstone tonewoods in the UK.

M.

Nice spruce (and dry) :
http://www.bois-de-resonance.com/

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http://www.cherubin-luthier.fr
https://www.facebook.com/FranckCherubinLuthier

Or just order it from the USA as the dollar is really low !!! . I am in Sweden and It dont cost much more for me to order from the states comparing lets say Germany. Infact most of the times its cheaper !.
Dito on germanspruce.com great tops !

Lars.

Thanks a lot, guys!
I'll try to do the math to see what would the total price be for EU and US suppliers.
It seems that it's not so bad with luthier suppliers around here after all

Don't forget:

http://www.octopus.com.tr/store/ (it's "almost" Europe..)

and

http://www.bachmann-tonewood.com/tonewood/
(expensive, but *very* good spruce/hazel spruce)


Regards,


Edzard