Official Luthiers Forum!

so i found a nice 4/4 billet of brazilian rosewood with beautiful greain, some sap, and i absolutely love it. has no worm holes to worry about (non that ive seen) and just looks absolutely gorgeous. the guy wants to get rid of it at $100 board foot, and there's plenty for a number of guitars. however, i am very inexperienced with BR and would want some imput. is this a good deal? and ive worked with cocobolo before, is this similiar?

Judge Judy said (again) this afternoon "if it sounds too good to be true" then it isn't. But i'd hardly be put out if you wanted me to buy it so you dont get ripped off its the least i can do, i'll even add a few more bucks per foot cos i'm cashed up this week.

Steve

can you get a picture? there are people selling other woods are BRW . The is a seller on ebay that is selling wood for years that isn't BRW. He is getting away with it . Buyer Beware

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I agree with John. Lots of the "Brazilian Rosewood" billets for sale on Ebay are not.
Also, it is risky to buy billets for guitar work that have checks in them (some of which are not easily visible).

Once you have it sliced by an expert sawyer (I'd recommend John here) you can end up with a lot of head veneers but no usable backs and sides because of checks that were present in the billet.

i will try and get some pics, but the original cost was $200 bf, and santa cruz offered this guy $100 bf a while back and he said it wasnt worth it so he didnt give it to them. the wood has been sitting in his shop ever since then, so he cut the price in half. last i talked he was thinking of selling all of it off to them for that price, and they agreed to take everything he had for that price. its a dark redish brown color, with pretty straight grain with just a slight wave in the grain. and these boards are long pieces so theyre not stump wood

you can't believe everything they tell you . My best advice is to know your supplier. 100 bd ft Walk away no RUN not a deal and I doupt this is good but we can wait for pictures. Not all BRW is good so if you don't know BRW and what it should be , it may end up costing you more in the long run.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

If Santa Cruz offered him $100/bf, this seem like an easy sale for him, he should just call Santa Cruz and sell it.
I think it's fishy.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

This guy is the owner of the hardwood store and the BR he recieved from a woman who's husband died so the price is what she wanted. It's been standing for over a year I think is what he said at $200 bf and that's when Santa Cruz offered the $100 price. At the time he said no cuz the owner of the wood, that lady, didnt wana sell it for that low. So now a year or so later she says why isn't it selling and this guy offered her to cut the price. And there's 3 or 4 logs all about 10 to 15 foot tall. I don't think he is getting much out of the sale, if anything. All he said was he'd rather have a small local builder have it than a bigger company like santa Cruz

that wouldn't be able get here without proper paperwork . Have a set or 2 squeak by is one thing a log is pretty much a target .

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I have gladly paid $100/bf for very nice BRW and would do it again if the quality was good. Thereis alway a risk of course but if you know what to look for you can make it a calculated risk at least. If you do get some photos I am sure we would all love to see them. Also, are you and he both in the U.S? That would matter a lot if not.

_________________
Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Yeah were both in the US. I will try to get more info right now and i will also try and get the pictures ASAP

LOGS??????????

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

this may be the same guy looking for a sale at UMGF . I would stay away from this just my 2 cents

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.y ... hyyGWGHPs0
you can find a similar discussion on another forum . I suggest that we have someone that wants to sell this wood and is looking for a back door buyer that will take a chance on non paperworked wood . This is an invite for disaster and if anyone is thinking about this rest assured that while you may get lucky , the odds of getting this wood certified is at best a long shot . There are no pictures of the woods quality and how do we know for sure the wood isn't Granidillo or Jaquranda ? These are woods that are often called BRW when in fact they are not .
Best advice is buyer beware.
Note to Seller:
If France signed the CITIES treaty the wood may be confiscated , there are some serious monetary fines to be levied . No documentation , don't try and sell internationally .

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

It's probably the Feds running a sting operation!
I'd stay well away from it IIWY.

Cheers,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

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

It definitely triggered the salivary glands, but being in my current state of unenjoyment, I have no cash to even dream with. Especially for wood that has no paperwork. I want no part of it!!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

so here's the story. the lady is 89 years old and her husband used to work with exotic woods. he got this stash from a friend in 1969 that was able to get him this kind of stuff. after her husband passed away, she had a whole bunch of wood sitting around, and one day someone stole some of the bigger 6/4 logs, so she decided to give what she had left to sell at this hardwood store so that she could get something out of it. if i remember right, the ban was in '71....? so means no paperwork is neccecary for this wood, and that expains how there is such a large amount here in the states. anyways i was able to get some pics sent to me, they were taken by the guys cell phone so theyre not the greatest, but here they are. Hopefully its the real stuff cuz i really want it thanks for all the help and input guys

This sounds awful. If you feel it's the deal of a lifetime, go for it. Maybe you can turn around and make money off of us. You've received the best advice possible from this board. Take it or leave it.

Btw, whatever happened to spelling and grammar? Seems those Nigerian emails have finally brought about the final demise of such.

Mike

Sorry if I misspelled something, I do alot of this by phone. And I do thank everyone for all the advice and info, people just asked to see pictures to help figure out if it is the real BR. As a begginer, I think it WOULD be a great buy if it really is real. Sorry I'm really not understanding everything you said

Look, from what I can tell, you are new here. And all of a sudden, you are discussing a rare BRW find. And money. And better than realistic prices. And so on. It's not like your the first one to do so. And, you might very well be on to something. Some of the most respected members of this board have responded to your post. But you're still trying to convince us.... But to do what? Advise you? You got that already. To give you permission? You're a big grownup, right? Buy it. Let us know how it turns out. And if it's for real, you have a ready made market. It's your find... Your score. Take what you know, and what folks here have said and make a decision. Do something. Toss your money out there and see what happens. I for one hope you are right.

Mike

Thanks Mike for the imput, and like I said sorry if I said anything wrong. Just wanted to post the pictures for those members that wanted to see it. Thanks again, Mike, and everyone else that took their time to read and give me advice. I really do apprecaite it

Thanks Mike for the imput, and like I said sorry if I said anything wrong. Just wanted to post the pictures for those members that wanted to see it. Thanks again, Mike, and everyone else that took their time to read and give me advice. I really do apprecaite it

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

Mike

Based on those pictures, that could be almost anything. I certainly wouldn't buy anything based on cell phone images of that poor quality, and they aren't going to be enough to go on for people to advise you properly as to IF it is Brazilian rosewood, which it doesn't look like to me. In truth, you're probably best to stay clear of that stuff. Of course you need paperwork...without it, there's no proof that it wasn't brought into the U.S. illegally and can be seized by the Gov. But as others have said, if you want to spend $100/bf for wood that might be BRW but probably isn't, take the risk. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole these days. There are other woods that can be had legally and that will work just fine.

BTW...6/4 isn't a log, it's a board. And that stuff doesn't look very wide, either.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

You need to get a better picture. This can be any number of woods . Old Growth has a different appearance .

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it