Official Luthiers Forum!

I've stumbled on a supplier I wasn't aware of: Tropical Exotic Hardwoods in Carlsbad, CA - http://www.anexotichardwood.com/index.html

Have any of you had experience buying guitar making woods from them? Have they been good to deal with? Has the quality of their wood been excellent?

On a few occasions when I've bought wood from suppliers I had no prior knowledge of, I've gotten B&S sets that were poorly sawn or otherwise not well processed, or had other problems. For the most part, I tend to stick with suppliers I know and whose experience with cutting tonewoods I trust. These guys appear have some nice stuff I'm interested in, though, such as QS bocote B&S sets and nice-looking cocobolo. Any input on them would be much appreciated.

Feel free to use pm if that feels appropriate - I'm not looking to start any public bashing if anyone's had negative experiences with this company.

Thanks!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Hi Todd,

I live only about 15 miles from them, and visit often. Oddly enough, I don't go to their luthier section to look for tops/backs/sides as they have this up in the attic (away from poking fingers) and I'm there on weekends when the boss isn't there. They don't allow casual browsers to handle the zoot, and they are usually too busy on weekends to deal with escorting browsers in their attic.

But they are a good supplier for tropical woods, and I've bought several 3" turning squares that make great fretboards and bridges if I can find the rare one that is long enough and well quartered. I've also bought random boards for bindings and rosettes.

They also have about 50% of their impressive floorspace piled high with cocobolo. There's an entire forest of cocobolo in that building! They are the main entry point for most cocobolo into the US, so they really know their stuff for that wood in particular. Too bad I'm allergic to the stuff as it is so readily available locally.

They are good people, but I just can't vouch for their soundboards due to no experience.

Todd,

I bought some coco fingerboards and a couple of other things from them a few years ago and they were quite good to deal with. No experience with back and sides though but they are a company of good reputation.

Shane

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Canada

I've never bought instrument wood there, so I can't address your concern directly as of course milling instrument wood is a specialized subset of milling skills, but these guys have been around for-ev-er, at least since the dawn of my woodworking career 20-some years back, so they're very likely worth a shot. Let us know if you buy from them!

Peace,
Sanaka

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...imagine there were no hypothetical situations...

I used to visit regularly years ago when I lived in Encinitas. they have been around for quite a while.

Lots of woodworkers in the area thanks to the programs at Palomar college.

In addition to being a major source of Coco, they are also a major distributor of Bocote and always have very nice stuff on hand.

-jd

I picked up a set of BRW when I was going by a few years ago. It was wood that they had acquired from the estate of a deceased luthier.

Thanks, everybody. Much appreciated. I'm somewhat surprised I hadn't been aware of these guys before. Seems like it might be the go-to place for cocobolo and bocote, and a lot of other stuff as well.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/