Official Luthiers Forum!

There is someone on ebay who is sell Lutz spruce sets with names like "Snow Leopard", "Mutant", " Fuzzy Bear", etc. What gives with the names?

Also, he seller claims they are a True Lutz, what does this mean. Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Scott

It's Mario Dacosta, he names the trees so if you like it you can order more of the same tree. True lutz means he is one of the few dealers with the real hybrid spruce, not sitka.

Who are the other players with "True" Lutz?

Shane Neifer
High Mountain Tonewood Company

His sponsorship link is at the top of this page.

http://highmountaintonewood.com/

Mario and Shane are both reputable lutz dealers.

There are one or two more but

bessings

Padma

bl

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Scott : My advice is to stick with Shane. He's a straight shooter and defines the parameters of his wood very well. The other chap seems to love the hype and it's hard to get a handle on where his wood falls in terms it's parameters.Some folks have dealt with him and have had good success,myself I can't get past the hype.Good luck in your search.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

His prices are cheap, but I agree that you don't know exactly ewhat you are getting. I have already inquired with Shane.

Thanks,
Scott

I say buy the real thing from Shane and name it yourself!

Mario sent me a big box of lutz and cedar today. The stuff is amazing, and even the cedar is really stiff. I'd say Mario is perfectly fine to deal with, BTW I think It's kind of cool how he names the trees.

Full disclosure - I have bought the vast majority of my wood stash from Shane and Mario.... and will continue to do so. I have been satisfied with the wood I have received from both of them.

Now... on with my thoughts....

Both Shane and Mario them sell wood that covers the gamut of super duper high grade stuff to lower grade stuff..... Both have grading schemes and price their wood accordingly.... They have VASTLY different marketing philosophies.... Know what you are buying before you buy.

Know also that Lutz is a common name for almost every hybrid spruce.... and it means different things in different places and to different people..... I have seen it used to describe White x Sitka, White x Black, Red x Black, Englemann x Sitka, etc etc..... Mario and Shane use "Lutz" to specifically denote White x Sitka.

A general warning about Ebay wares...... from ANY seller.... and I have bought a lot of top wood from all sorts of folks on Ebay...

Before you buy on Ebay - be sure you are familiar with the cutting methods and grading schemes used by that specific seller... Whoever they are..... Many sellers on Ebay don't cut out of split billets, but some do.... Some use Ebay to unload the ones that don't make the cut to sell for high $$$.... Don't buy stuff on Ebay unless you know exactly what you are getting - and are ready to accept product that has knots, squiggles, uneven grain, sap pockets, cracks, cut somewhat off quarter, and all the rest..... Also - don't fall for the swan song of super-duper high grade stuff on Ebay unless you trust the seller.... I got a stack of "3A" Englemann off Ebay that wasn't nearly as good as Shane's "2010 AA OLF Package Deal" Lutz or Mario's "2009 Student grade" tops....

Personally - as a hobbyist who hasn't sold any instruments... Lower grade stuff lets me Play without having to pay a fortune for tops.... I can often buy 4 or 6 or 10 low grade tops for the price of 1 high grade top.... and I can use them for jointing practice, rosette cutting practice, top-tapping practice... and I don't have to worry if I wreck one.... and I can cherry pick my stash till my heart's content....

Other folks hate this idea... and to them - Low Grade = Worthless Trash..... It's a good idea to know which camp you fall into before you buy, and don't get drawn into buying stuff you don't want - whether it's too expensive/high grade or too cheap/trashy low grade..... or you will be unhappy.

Thanks

Thanks all for the info. I meant no disrespect in my questions to any of the aforementioned sellers. I was merely curious of the naming and the Term "True" Lutz.

I love the tree names. I personally like the Curly Bear tree and have quite a few of them. All the tops I've gotten from Mario, even the cheapie ones, have had nice medullary rays throughout. Plus I love the hype and cultish aspect of Mario's "crowd", the auctions are a lot of fun.
I've also bought a really nice top from Shane, SUPER rays on that one too, and it's nice to be able to call him up and ask him if he's got something suiteable, if he does, he just sells it to me no fuss or hoopla.
I guess it depends on my mood.
I've purcheased master grade sitka from Alaska Specialty woods and been extremely satisfied with that as well.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Yo, whisperer...

Me wood be curious ~ how you OFFICIALLY define "hype and cultish."

As the FORUM FOOL over there with Mario's crowd...
Ya, the auctions are a lot of fun!
Personally, me see logging on there as simply partaking in the ceremonial ritual of the da Costa B.S.*
You know ~ his wood, his site, his trip.

Ya, me too has fun at Marios, and not just because he lets me run a muck over there all the time. He even gave me monitors editing privileges. Go figure. Ya, me likes it over there.



Bets on theres no way Lance ever gonna just hand Padma a monitorship at this here "OFFICAIL" luthiers site. Although it wood be nice.


Blessings
Padma


*B.S. ~ belief system


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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Good questions Padma:
Hype is an atmosphere.
Dictionary.com has this as a definition:to create interest in by flamboyant or dramatic methods; promote or publicize showily: a promoter who knows how to hype a prizefight.

Having attended his auctions, you might agree that the presentation of the woods and the descriptions, the naming of the trees, the claims of stiffness and tone, the circle of luthiers slobbering to get a slice (including me), the fact that almost all his grades have some variation of the word "Master", these all qualify as "flamboyent or dramatic methods" and "showy promotion" designed to "create interest" in his woods. I believe this fits the definition of "hype", in a respectful matter-of-fact manner. Having never heard of Luts Spruce, I'm not sure I would have purchased my first set without some persuasion.

Cultish according to the Farlex Free Dictionary:6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.

Luthiers Who Use Lutz Spruce fits this definition I think. Also your description "Partaking in the ceremonial ritual of the DaCosta BS" is a good one, sounds cultish to me! His site, his wood, his trip.
The whole process is very personality driven, Mario's.
It just so happens that his wood lives up to the cultish, personality driven hype!
He believes his trees are special and produce special wood, so he names them, and you get drawn into the spectacle, and have a lot of fun along the way, and meet cool new people.

I wish he would offer more Red Diamond tree sets, but I also digs me Curly Bears, and others!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Let me add my experience:

I have stacks of Mario's wood and I love it. You don't have to spend long on the auctions/sales to understand what is what. Actually, as others have attested, it's quite fun to hang out on his auctions - the other guys on there are amateur comedians f'sure! Mario shows video of the wood that's currently up for sale/bidding and will gladly zoom in, tell you more about it, etc., including the grain count, runout etc. It's really not a crap shoot at all as some people imply. I have used stuff from many of his trees (Ultra Master Curly Bear, Leopard Claw, Iron Spike, etc.) and I am always surprised how great the stuff looks and sounds. The silking is amazing and even though I haven't measured it myself, the tops seem to have a much better stiffness to weight ratio than other spruce tops that I have from different parts of the world. When you buy a top from Mario (or 2 or 3 if it has "sisters"), you can get matching bracewood for just a few bucks more, but it comes as raw split billet stuff that requires you to have milling capabilities.

I also have quite a bit of stuff from Shane too. His 2A dealeo (currently running again) is awesome value for money! The tops are waaay better than 2A IMO. Great for budget/family/friends guitars! Also, Shane's brace wood is the best available IMO - from split billets, perfectly quartered and very tight grain with little/no runout!

I also have a bunch of super bearclaw Lutz from Alaska Specialty (that I got at the GAL convention in 2008 IIRC) that is absolutely wonderful stuff - I'm hoping they are going to turn up again at this year's GAL Convention with a truck load of tops for me to sift through!

HTH,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

I've ordered from Shane & Mario too, and they are both good guys, conscientious, selling a great product.

FYI, the lutz originating from Mario on ebay for 10-20 bucks a set is not his good stuff - it's his 'factory grade.' He doesn't sell the good stuff on ebay often, you have to check the site/store/auctions for that.

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If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. - Jack Handey

The Lutz on Ebay isn't being sold by Mario, but by his wife Inge.

Bob

Agree.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)