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Stewmac


Idunno

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Anyone here peruse their site just for grins? I went on it the other day to get something and have to say the place does inspire the building bug. If I didn't know better I might be tempted to assemble the stuff for it, or make my own just based on the optics.

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If I'm in a bind and need purfling or binding or a rosette I will order it from there and it usually gets to me in 2 days. Whenever I see tuning machines for sale I will buy a set from them too. Probably the most I ever spent on a single item was for a set of walnut back and sides when they had a special, but generally I prefer to buy tonewood from RC Tonewoods up in Buffalo, NY. I've been known to hit up the local lumber yard for flat sawn maple, walnut and mahogany; that's why my first two builds have laminated necks. It's cheaper than spending $160 for a finished one from Stewmac. I find that carving the neck is one of the most satisfying parts of the build.

...speaking of which, I need to see if RC Tonewoods is still having their special of sets of "student grade" sitka spruce for $20 each. It's a world cheaper than spending $600 on a kit with "Torrified" spruce from Stewmac.

I feel like their jigs - and LMI's too - are overly pricey and I search for alternatives on Amazon. I usually just try to copy their jigs using hardware from Ace and birch plywood from Lowe's. Building the jigs helps me focus on how I'm supposed to actually use them. It also reduces the cost when I screw up.

 

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I will occasionally order from StewMac, but they are, as noted, pricey, and like kwak, I tend to look at their stuff, and figure out how to make it myself for less...but I do repairs, not builds, and sometimes the challenges require some very unique tooling.

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Stew Mac is awesome. Several years ago I built a cigar box guitar. The basic parts came from CB Gitty,  I needed a few extras which came for Stew Mac. They have everything in the world a luthier would want.

My luthier doesn't even use 10% of what they sell. You can really rack up a nice bill at Stew Mac without trying.

Building the cigar box, I spent a lot of time get the neck set angle I wanted, so I could play it. My first build ever.

Turns out, I do some nice fret work.

The cigarbox guitar is up in my attic, my wife says I should hand it up. I put a little piezo pick up in it too.

I would buy there again, in a heart beat. 

 

 

 

 

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