The Varying Cost of Madagascar Rosewood?

[billgennaro]

I have noticed that the upcharge for commissioning a new guitar with MadRose varies quite a bit from builder to builder. Some builders will charge $3k-4k (which is 3-4 times as much as some other builders). Is it because some may have bought a stash of MadRose some time ago when it wasn't as expensive to procure as it is now, while others have bought recently and are paying through the teeth because of rarity and CITES?

Bill

[Tim McKnight]

Originally Posted by billgennaro

I have noticed that the upcharge for commissioning a new guitar with MadRose varies quite a bit from builder to builder. Some builders will charge $3k-4k (which is 3-4 times as much as some other builders). Is it because some may have bought a stash of MadRose some time ago when it wasn't as expensive to procure as it is now, while others have bought recently and are paying through the teeth because of rarity and CITES?

Bill

Yikes Bill, perhaps we should raise our prices to keep up with the Jones' ? All kidding aside, the quality of Madrose on the market today is a far cry from what it was 10-15 years ago. I doubt you'll ever see any quarter sawn sets on the open market in the foreseeable future. However, I am sure there are a few of us old curmudgeons who still have a stash of the primo stuff from years gone by

[Burton LeGeyt]

I would bet there are more sets stashed out there than it seems like. I see a small (or big) pile of the bass fingerboards that those great old sets were cut from in most people's shops. I know a guy from here who bought 2 pallets years ago and still has a bunch. I stocked up years ago too and haven't used any of my really good stuff yet. When I do sell a set the price is higher every time, you just never see it on the market.

[theEdwinson]

I have one set of Mastergrade-figure Dalbergia baronii left, which I am keeping in reserve (NFS) for my 100th guitar. This will probably be sometime next year, and I hope to hang onto it until Healdsburg 2016. I'm going to pull out all the stops on this build. It's going to be the most special guitar I've built, so far. And it is going to be expensive.