where to buy quality tonewood in the US?

[windsurfingphd]

Hi guys, the last time I was buying quality Englemann spruce and curly maple was about 10 or so years ago.  Now, I cannot find any place selling tonewood in the US.  I encountered one place in internet, called Old Standard Wood in MO, but I have no idea how reputable they are.  International Violin is another source but they have a quick turnaround time, and you don't always get lucky.  Anyways, some references would be appreciated.

[Matthew_Graesch]

I will say that International Violin has been really great to work with when I wanted something between conferences when I could handle the wood myself.  They were perfectly happy to send me individual photos of wood so that I could select the exact ones I wanted, and they were very clear about things like pin knots and such.  I know they have gotten some nice wood lately.  

[Don Noon]

Yes, VSA (or other vendor-attended conferences) and IV.

Where do you windsurf?  There aren't too many of us left using the old stuff, now that wingfoiling has taken over.

[Brian in Texas]

I've been very happy with International Violin so far. Although admittedly, I only have a sample size of one purchase.

[Nick Lewis]

Where are you at? I just visited Bruce Harvie from Orcas Island Tonewood (WA) last week. He still has tons of wood and is happy to send you home with some…But he’s “retired” meaning he just doesn’t deal with shipping, you have to pick it up in person. Definitely worth a visit, the islands are beautiful to visit if you ever get a chance. 

[JacksonMaberry]

15 hours ago, windsurfingphd said:

Hi guys, the last time I was buying quality Englemann spruce and curly maple was about 10 or so years ago.  Now, I cannot find any place selling tonewood in the US.  I encountered one place in internet, called Old Standard Wood in MO, but I have no idea how reputable they are.  International Violin is another source but they have a quick turnaround time, and you don't always get lucky.  Anyways, some references would be appreciated.

Old Standard is excellent. They've been around a long time, and are major dealers to the big guitar companies. They cure their wood in a vacuum kiln, and it makes for very stable stuff. I don't use their spruce (not an Adirondack fan), but I bought a log of maple off of them that I will be working through for a while yet. Outstanding wood in my view. I'm not a euro tonewood elitist, though, so if you prefer the old world stuff it's cheaper to buy direct. Pahler is highly recommended. 

[ernym]

As Jackson said Old Standard has excellent wood. My understanding from discussions with the owner is they cut primarily red maple from northeast Appalachia. Red maple can have what is called "brown line" which are streaks that make it very recognizable. Similar to big leaf maple's dark late growth lines that some makers find undesirable. So tonewood can vary quite a bit.

[JacksonMaberry]

2 hours ago, ernym said:

As Jackson said Old Standard has excellent wood. My understanding from discussions with the owner is they cut primarily red maple from northeast Applachia. Red maple can have what is called "brown line" which are streaks that make it very recognizable. Similar to big leaf maple's dark late growth lines that some makers find undesirable. So tonewood can vary quite a bit.

That's a good point, so be sure to talk with John Griffin (the owner, who is a fantastic guy to deal with and a brilliant woodsman) to make your needs clear. For the log I bought from him almost ten years ago, I had some pretty strict requests about the figure, appearance, and general density. He has a virtually photographic memory of the trees he's brought in, and within an hour he'd sent sample photos of pieces from a few different logs. 

I had asked for as radical as possible a rake (or angle) of figure to the long axis and for it to be virtually free of any brown line, and he delivered in spades. I've all but a couple of my ~30 instruments from it, and let me tell you that being able to get that familiar with the properties of your wood stock is a major benefit. It also came out to a very good price. When I crunched the numbers, it came out to around $70 a set, and the rib stock he had milled was very generous - enough so that using a very fine kerf saw I can split it down the middle and only have to do a little scraping to bring the thickness where I want it. 

When I'm down to about 6 backs, I'm planning to order another log from John. I haven't bought maple from anyone else once I found him, other than picking up pieces from retired/deceased luthiers or if I happen to encounter something interesting at a mill here in the northwest.

Recently I dropped in at Hard Woods to Get in Bellingham, WA on the way back from BC. For $30 I picked up two really lovely slab-sawn big leaf viola backs. Nothing too flashy, but the value was impossible to resist. 

 

[windsurfingphd]

6 hours ago, JacksonMaberry said:

Old Standard is excellent. They've been around a long time, and are major dealers to the big guitar companies. They cure their wood in a vacuum kiln, and it makes for very stable stuff. I don't use their spruce (not an Adirondack fan), but I bought a log of maple off of them that I will be working through for a while yet. Outstanding wood in my view. I'm not a euro tonewood elitist, though, so if you prefer the old world stuff it's cheaper to buy direct. Pahler is highly recommended. 

Hi Jackson, May I ask why you don't like red spruce?  John told me they are very stiff along the grain.  My first thought was ok I will be getting a high mode 5 frequency probably way over 370Hz.  What spruce do you prefer?  I used Englemann spruce in the past, and was happy with it.  Take care.

[fscotte]

Old World Tonewood.

[JacksonMaberry]

2 hours ago, fscotte said:

Old World Tonewood.

Only dealt with them once, around 2017 when John Preston still owned it. He was a pleasure to deal with, too. The wood was great, but I later committed to using domestic materials. Otherwise I would have continued to work with them, nice folks that know their business. I would imagine that John handed the reins over to someone worthy. 

[windsurfingphd]

On 5/14/2025 at 6:39 AM, Don Noon said:

Yes, VSA (or other vendor-attended conferences) and IV.

Where do you windsurf?  There aren't too many of us left using the old stuff, now that wingfoiling has taken over.

Hello Don, I windsurf in the bay area, close to Burlingame, and have been doing it since 1985 :-)  Never got into foiling.  I like the water contact to my board.