Official Luthiers Forum!

WAY too many...

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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."

Sounds like Lean Manufacturing hasn't caught on in the luthier world.
Just a few thoughts on inventory:
-All that wood is material you have paid for, but haven't been paid for. That's poor cash flow. Some woods have actually come down in price over the past 20 years (adjusting for inflation) so how is that a good investment??
-All that wood is costing you more money every year in storage. No one will pay the storage cost but you so your margin is shrinking
-All that wood limits your production flexibility. Just look how many new woods have come into fashion over the past 20 years....but you're still pushing that inventory of EIR you bought back then (can I sell you some grunge flannel shirts too?) The storage space also limits your shop layout.
-All that wood is at risk of ruin. A stray spark, a burst pipe, rabid termites and you're S.O.L.

Guitar woods are still a commodity and can usually be delivered within one week. There's no benefit to keeping more than a few days stock on hand.
I know...the good wood is getting scarce. I've been hearing that my whole life. Yet, guitars are still as good as ever.
I know....your wood stash is from some amazing tree...Cut by virgins in the light of the full moon. Show me the money for it.
Buy it as you build 'em people!!

But where's the fun in that? I don't want to feel like I'm working for Toyota or similar.

You do have a point about the risk of ruin, but I pay zero dollars to store my wood.

I don't see guitar wood as a just a commodity. Gasoline, granulated sugar, and 5/8 minus gravel are commodities. There's essentially no variation in them from one purchase to another. Personally, I've never placed an order for any type of wood with the idea that it doesn't matter what specific piece of wood I get.

While I've bought more wood than I need for the near term, I've been very selective about what I buy. Several years ago I bought an amazing waterfall bubinga back and sides set the likes of which I've not seen since. It was a while before I got around to using it, but I would be kicking myself today if I had passed on it because I didn't have an immediate need for it.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

This thread makes me feel better: At least I am normal.
I've got about 50+ tops / neck / fb etc and 70+ b&s sets.
Which means I need to get more tops

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Around 85 tops. Mostly Lutz, Engelman and Carpathian (and 1 sitka). Around 60 B&S. IRW, Ovangkol, Claro, Sapele and a half dozen Koa.
A 4"x12"x16' pattern grade Hond Mahog plank for necks, and don't get me started on fingerboards and bridge blanks.

Brent

I have around 500 BS sets and 300+ Tops. I have enough rough billets for another 100 tops and 150 BS sets. I have tons of neck stock, bridges, fingerboards, etc. I guess at this point it is more of a sickness than just plain WAS. I was really hoping I wasn't the guy with the most wood - who am I kidding though. The sad part is that I'm an amateur who has started but not finished my 1st guitar.

I would hate to have to tally the $$ spent over the past 18 years on wood and tools. I'm sure I've helped Uncle Bob pay off a large chunk of his mortgage. Hopefully this will make you guys feel better about what you thought was a bloated wood stash.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

John... take a class with a luthier. Git her done. I sat on the set I bought for 7 years before I finally admitted I wasn't going to get it done on my own. Best thing I ever did.

Now... any houses next to you for sale? I'd like to be your neighbor.

Good grief!
I had bought some Brazilian quite a long time ago (still have most of it), enough red spruce for 10-15 guitars, had stocked up on too many Italian spruce mandolin tops, a few claro, sapele, honduras, but ended up selling most of that.
You have to figure on how many instruments you want to make a year. Someone with hundreds of tops and backs must figure on automating to a factory. I doubt at my high point in the '90's-'00's I ever made more than 5-6 instruments/year.
I had enough wood to build 30-40 instruments when I had to quit...

If you like building with uncured wood. By all means have at it. I like my wood aged and stable.

I understand your points, but have to disagree in some respects.
1. All that wood we bought years ago, if top quality will have increased in value, since exotic woods of that quality are getting more and more difficult to find, and more expensive, making the lower grade stuff of today less valuable than the top quality stuff we hoarded years ago. Unless like Brazilian, it is banned by CITES and you risk the gov confiscating it.
2. I understand the cash flow thing, but frankly most of us aren't manufacturers per se, so it doesn't really apply. That's almost like saying it's better to rent a cheap apartment than own a house...
3. Most of us plan where to store our stashes carefully and build our shops around that, because without that great wood, we have nothing to build!
4. As to the time it takes to get wood, that means almost nothing, because it still should sit in your shop for a couple of months to acclimate to your climate before you should build with it. Many tops ordered don't come completely dry, either, and if you cut B&S sets from billets or planks like I do, then you know those have to be stickered and left to dry carefully for months as well.
5. That old EIRW with the super dark purple color and tight tight QS grain lines isn't ever going to be available again, so no sense selling it off now when it will be worth more later, unless your real cash flow requires it.

BTW, I know a guy with more BRW in his shop than most of you could ever dream of. He has *logs* from decades ago. Literally hundreds of sets, and a couple of large pallets of those great old figured Madrose bass fretboard blanks that everyone was drooling over ten years ago. Yeah, seriously. Huge stash beyond description.

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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."

good try!
Your wrong in this context.

Mike

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Mike Collins

And I was looking for the punch line, where Kevin would offer to take all our old outdated overstock wood off our hands for a moderate price drop.

Solution: Start a tonewood store on ebay

I'm at about 50 tops and 75 back/sides, which is probably more than I'll ever use since I have too many other interests to ever focus on guitars exclusively. Some of them are very rare. Either entirely unique, or with just a few similar sets coming from the same tree and thus unlikely to ever be encountered again. I'm extremely grateful to have had the money to buy them when they came along.

I thought I had a fair amount of tops to keep me building for a long while (40) but then I had the unforeseen opportunity to buy some seconds for $2.60 a top. Some nice wood if you are not worried about them being picture perfect. The rest of the wood, shorts and rough sawn lumber. Not a heck of a lot of money as compared to some hobbies.

Yeah, I always tell people it's better than playing golf.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Forwarded this thread to my wife with a note.... "See!!! It could be worse."

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Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

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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.

Ha this thread makes me feel almost normal.. It also pushed me to start inventorying what I have. Turns out about 40 B&S sets of all types of wood and going to do the tops tonight then the Uke stuff and all the necks, fingerboards etc.. I get the feeling I'm short of neck & FB when compared to body wood.. At my build rate this should take me to my 70's which by then I should have a clue what I am doing and can buy more wood.....

On a somewhat more serious note, you can't do this and not love a nice piece of wood so when you see something that "speaks" to you - you buy it... or at least I do and it sounds like I have more restraint than some .. I think of it was cash in the back for later LOL...

Kerry

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My Website http://klw-strings.com
My Luthier's Blog...http://klwstrings.blogspot.com

I try to keep about 10-12 sets of all the woods to make a guitar. If I get busy and build a few, I will buy some stuff to fill in the empty spots.
I like to have the wood in the shop at least a year before I use it, but the Rosewood sits around a lot longer because I would rather build with Mahogany and other "lesser" wood.
I have a soft spot for Red Spruce, and top quality Rosewood fret boards of all variety.

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