Official Luthiers Forum!

Good evening people. Transition is messy and those with outstanding orders are caught in the scatter. HMTC has always been a side job for me that has truly outgrown my capacity to do it any credible justice. I have also recently left my nice secure and predictable government job to run a consulting business that has me out of town a lot and totally exhausted when I return. So, for the good news! The new owners are well on their way to getting up and running and are thrilled for the opportunity to work with all of you. I have been informed (as I am out of town for another couple of weeks yet) that they have the resaw shed built and a new electrical service is nearly installed. The snow is receding fast so they will have access to the logs soon as well. So, they are prepared to start taking your orders. I will be transferring all of the orders that I have not filled to date over to them and have also agreed to help get them started and show them how to get the best out of each billet and how to grade properly and consistently. So it should be exciting!!

The new owners are Bruce Andrews, Leanne Turner and Jim Carlaw, all from Terrace, BC Canada (just down the road from my place). You can visit their current operation at http://www.lakedrivelumber.ca and they will get you on the list for wood by email at lakedrivelumber at citywest dot ca. They are working on a tonewood section for their webpage as well.

I wish I was able to fill all of the orders I had but we processed nearly 1,000 sets and it was just not enough. I have every confidence that the crew at Lake Drive will ensure much better customer service than I have been able to offer of late and that the quality will not suffer, they are excited and committed to this venture. More to come!

Thanks for all of the years of great relationships!

Shane

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Canada

Thanks to you Shane and take care. Hope the new venture works out for you.
Tom

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

Good to know you'll be working with them to get the most out of each billet!

I'll go visit their website.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks Shane,

One of your top is going into my current guitar. A great looking and sounding top. Good luck as a consultant.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Shane, I wish you all the best for the future. I want to thank you for providing me with your excellent products and service, you will be missed by many I'm sure.

With your tutelage I'm sure the new operators will be up to speed in short order.

Cheers,
Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

Thanks Shane. Good luck. Your wood has been very good to me.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I too wish you good luck but I also have an order that's over 9 months old that was never filled and to say I'm frustrated is a severe understatement. Even newer orders were filled from the previous post in this forum while my e-mails and gentle reminders went by the way side. Many of you received wood while my order sat there.

Will my old order ever be fulfilled? What about pricing? I really hope that the new owners can provide better customer service because I have never received worse customer service from any business - ever.

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Thank You and Best To All

Good news, Shane! Best of luck in your new ventures.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi Shane, I've built many nice instruments from your Lutz spruce, and I still have a small stack left. Is it OK if I now start charging extra for "Shane era" tops, hmmm? Best wishes and good luck with your new job!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

You bet Larry, your order will indeed be filled. Like I said, I was not nearly able to keep up with the demand...so I am passing the business along to people who I hope can. I acknowledge and accept my failings in that department but I can only do what I can do. I do feel bad about that. If I don't have the wood in the shop then Bruce and his crew will process your order for the same price that was offered when you placed your order.

Shane

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Canada

Thank you Shane.

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Thank You and Best To All

Best wishes Shane. I hope to see some of your future builds posted here in the future.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Hi Shane and thanks for the update.

I will assume you have passed my order on and I look forward to doing business with Bruce, Leanne and Jim. I'm not in a rush for the wood.

Good luck in your career change Shane and thanks you so much for your past support.

Much appreciated!

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

All the best in your new job Shane, and for your family too.
Pleasure doing business with you, also very nice wood.
I already have one earmarked for a Hauser style build!
Can we look forward to seeing some builds from you on the OLF?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Best wishes on your new endeavors Shane. I'll remember you as the guy that went the extra mile for me for some odd-ball requests for the 8 string guitar.

Can you tell me if the new owners will be carrying stuff like the bindings and purflings you offerred?

Cheers,
Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

I am always a bit taken aback when folks denigrate Shane's customer service. High Mountain Tonewood up to this point has been a single person operation, and a moonlight profession at that. Instrument quality Lutz is fairly scarce. It is hard to imagine the amount of work it takes to find the logs, get the logs out of the woods, saw them up, sticker, dry and then ship. Add to the mix that Shane's family has had some health concerns and I have to tip my hat to Shane for getting any wood at all out of the bush and in the hands of guitar builders. "Customer Service" as a term is more applicable to a reseller that has a number of employees and is selling goods that are not in short supply.
Shane can be credited with developing a market for a resource (Lutz spruce) that was being squandered as pulp for paper or framing lumber. I have high hopes for the new High Mountain Tonewood company.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Shane,
Endorsements and congratulations such as these are earned by honest dealings and personal integrity. It is clear to me that you deserve all these endorsements and well-wishes. Further, you are doing everything you can to ensure a successful transition to the new owners. I don't think anyone here would have expected otherwise from you. My best to you, and my best to the new owners of HMT.

Patrick

Most people have the same expectations of a single person spare-time operation worked around a full time job and family as they do a dedicated sawmill that has employees and specialized departments for production and order fulfillment.

There IS language on the web site that implies orders will be filled in a timely manner and inquiries quickly addressed however.

BUT....

9 months and sketchy communication is a little hard to take for a lengthy period of time.

I don't see that Shane is being denigrated, and in fact he has aknowledged the concern as being valid, and has taken the extreme step of selling his company to make it better. If the new people have the time to saw the wood properly and prepare it to the same high standard that Shane has been doing, AND thy have the order fulfillment capacity to satisfy the demand, Shane has done this luthier community a great service, once we are able to get past this period.

A lesser person would have just said "Screw it! I'm filling orders and getting out of here!", or even just disappeared!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

My post wasn't meant to denigrate Shane's customer service, it was meant to illustrate in my case it was non-existent. And I posted in a desperate attempt to understand a company that has/had very poor customer service and to finally say something publicly after months of gentle reminders and a paucity of communications. It's not my opinion, it's a fact and consequence of trying to run a business that got away from someone who's heart is obviously in the right place.

And believe me I get it. Business is hard and takes a really large commitment that Shane apparently wasn't able to fulfill and like was just mentioned he did a very honorable thing admitting that and moving on in a very graceful manner. Hat's off.

I only wish the best for Shane and his future and for the future of the company that will take over the tone wood business but that future will depend on good communications and a commitment to the business just like any other business. I e-mailed that new company today to check on the status of that long over-due order and haven't heard back yet. But I'm hopeful as always until taught otherwise.

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Thank You and Best To All

I e-mailed them yesterday too and asked to be put on their mailing list.
I'm hopeful too.
They may still be setting up that part of the business.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Lake Drive Lumber will be a couple more weeks in setting up. They have not run a web based business before so expect a bouncy start.

I would like to state my feelings on some of this as well. You can believe me when I tell you that I have lost a lot of sleep over trying to fill orders over the years. There have been many days when the family has asked that I take them to lake and I have said they have to go without me, and there have been a few when I should have stayed behind and worked more but went anyway. At the end of the day if one feels a sense of entitlement to a product then they may find a sense of disappointment. Tim Olsen, Bruce Petros and Linda Manzer, just to name a few, have all been waiting years to get wood from me and every few months they send an email looking for an update. They never did get any wood from me. But they don't get upset, they go elsewhere and try again in a while. I truly did my best with all of the balls I had in the air. The demand just totally outgrew what I was able or prepared to produce....who knew! Bob C told me a few years ago I had to decide whether to step away or go full time. I guess I just stayed on too long. Anyway, I did enjoy the positive experiences I have garnered from the 11 years I did this work and hope for the very best from Bruce and the crew. Just give them some time to get set up and ready, if you need to vent, give it me, I know how to walk away from the computer!

And to those of you that are sending your well wishes, THANK YOU, it is most appreciated and it has been an extreme pleasure to have worked with you all. I do hope to remain here and just show the odd guitar shaped object under construction.

Thanks
Shane

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Canada

Good for you, Shane! With all the hurdles you've faced over the last few years, you should be considered for sainthood!

I assume my PM order was passed along. I never had any issues with timing, so have not followed up.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

We'll miss you Shane!

I hope the new guys can cut like you do. You showed them everything, right? Best of luck in your new endeavors, drop me a line if you're ever in Vancouver to check out the shop!

Cheers,

Ed

(PS, I don't suppose you have half a dozen of the ones I like hidden in a closet somewhere?)

You bet Waddy, I have a record of all of the orders and when I get back home in 10 days or so I will be going over that list with the crew and will work to endeavour that everyone is covered off and will likely send out a role call for anyone that was missed once they have covered off the list to a certain date. In any regard, I will be helping them ensure that everyone gets the wood they have on order, if they still want it.

Thanks again for all of the support over the years Waddy!

Shane

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Canada

Shane - I must admit that when I first contacted you to buy a few tops my e-mails went unanswered for some time and I was a little put off. That was before I understood the nature of your operation. It's impressive to consider all the spruce you have supplied to luthiers around the world, and then realize you did it on the side as a husband and father with a day job. I'm glad I persisted and I feel blessed to have a stack of your Lutz tops tall enough to last me for a while.

Best wishes with your new gig. You will be missed.