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Gilmer Wood has some very nice Bois de Rose logs -- they run about $375 per log. This stuff is a major pain to cut. I got about 50 bridge blanks from a previous order of 2 logs from Gilmer. It is among the nicest material for bridge blanks. It oxidizes to a beautiful dark red/black (it doesn't stay the eggplant purple/red for very long) and it is incredibly musical and the perfect weight. It also has super tiny pores -- in short, it is bar none, my favorite material for bridges.

I've got about 45 mastergrade bridge blanks and this stuff is super rare -- but I really don't want to spend $900 and so I'm looking to see if someone wants to split the order. I will spend about 1 solid day cutting this stuff up and maximizing the best possible yield since it is so expensive. I figure tacking on an extra $150 for my time and labor -- bandsaw, dust collector, and jointer plus having to clean my shop as this dust gets everywhere. It also has a habit of caking up the bandsaw blade and staining the machine red. We would split everything evenly and just add the $150 to the total cost. If you would prefer to cut it up, then that would be fine with me and you can tack on the $150; however, you would need to be experienced at maximizing yield because it is easy to get poor yields with this kind of material if you don't cut carefully.

Of course, you are welcome to go ahead and purchase the logs for yourself -- I don't think I'm interested in outlaying that much money unless I can split the order. Why not just buy one log? Well, Gilmer charges about $75 in shipping and the reason to buy two of them is because one of them might yield very little good material -- 2 logs will hopefully even out the yield. The logs do look really good and so I'm hoping for a really good yield.

Let me know if you are interested.

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Simon

Boys DE rose is super nice stuff. I love it for bridges. I bought two sticks from Gilmer about a year ago. I'm good forever I would guess.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Well, 45 bridge blanks should last me a while but given its rarity and the quality that I got from Gilmer Wood -- I hate to pass up this opportunity as I may never see it again.

Check out this back/side set that I also got from Gilmer years ago.

Looks beautiful Toonces, wish I could join in on this venture but it's too much for me right now. Hope you get someone along soon.

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久保
美智え

even if money wasn´t a problem, i don´t think that it´s allowed to be ship this stuff outside of the US. beautiful wood, though.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Forgot to mention -- this will be for Americans only. I believe the wood is on the CITES Appendix II but import/export without paperwork is illegal. I should have stated this in the initial posting -- sorry for the confusion.

I think Appendix II is only for unprocessed rough wood, so if you make it into a bridge then it's ok to ship. Or you can make it into a "80% bridge" (rough cut the outer shape, sand it to thickness, etc.) and call it finished product.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Simon, how many bridge blanks do you estimate you'll get out of the two logs you're talking about purchasing?

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Brad

UPDATE -- I found someone that is going to split the order with me. I imagine some of this stuff will make its way to the OLF classifieds as I don't need that much material to cover my future guitar needs. I will say that the prices Gilmer Wood has on their site are pretty good -- I don't think I will get a much better price point even milling it myself. This stuff really is fantastic and I encourage you all to try it if you can -- I view it as having the aesthetics of a dark red Ebony but the tonal qualities of Brazilian RW.

Simon, if you or the person you're splitting it want to split their half or if you both want to split it 3 ways I'd be interested. Please let me know if this is possible.

Thanks,

Brad

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Brad

Will there be / could there be any QS fretboard material in there?

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"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."

I'll keep my eyes peeled for some milled material, I would love to try Bois d'Rose. It's so beautiful, and from the sound of it, it seems to have that elusive, magical, musical quality shared by few, Brazilian for one..,?


Ken Jones
Mountain Song Guitars

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Hi Don
Yes, but they would be priced similarly to what Gilmer Wood has them for right now. You might check out their site as they got a few nice fretboards available right now. This stuff doesn't stay purple for very long -- it will oxidize to a very deep burgundy, greyish black and the pores are hardly visible -- in other words, it would make for a very nice fretboard material although I prefer the cold aesthetic of black Ebony for my own instruments. I spoke to Jim Gilmer and he thinks this is the last of their Bois de Rose (they purchased it decades ago from Madagascar); however, they might find some more in their warehouse -- so keep your eyes open for it if you are interested. In general, Gilmer Wood is a great place to check periodically as I have gotten some killer material from them over the years. If there is any Bois de Rose left over, then I will notify the general forum once it hits the classifieds.

Did you check the "Sales & Specials" section at Gilmer? They have 10 nice pieces of Bois de Rose for $65.00 that look to me like they would yield 2 - 4 bridge blanks each. Here's the link: https://www.gilmerwood.com/items.php?sp ... ose&CID=32 If I lived in the US, this is what I would go for.

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 wish I had the money to jump in on that deal. I have a couple fingerboards and bridges from Gilmer and the stuff is top notch. I love the look of it. If I could find a B&S set like the one you have I'd have to go to the bank and ask for a loan! Can't wait to see what you do with that set. I'd love to see a fan fret with all bois de rose appointments blinged out with green abalone. Ahhhh that's my dream machine there.