Joseph,
EIR is a fine choice. The lutz adds warmth to the tone over sitka, without sacrificing anything at all IMO. We use it 90+% of the time. Though perhaps that is because I recommend it to everyone unless they specifically want something else, which is also ok. The modest upcharge is very much worth it I feel.
bhbayless
No I don't mind questions about facts at all. If I don't want to answer a question I just won't, and will probably say so, but no harm in asking, I say.
It's important to distinguish that I worked 'for' Jean, not 'with'. The majority of my tenure there was after JCL left Canada in his past for sunnier climes. It would be more fair to say that I worked 'with' his son, JML, and the many, many, dedicated folks that kept the ship afloat in arduous circumstances.
We do indeed use a compound radius fingerboard, on an old Larrivee machine. A very clever contraption for certain. You can go from a raw fingerboard to ready for fretting in under a minute. That, and the general neck profile, a C neck which is pretty much what happens when you attack a neck with rasp and chisel, are about the only things similar. And clear pick guards perhaps. And same nuts and saddles. And pins. And frets. And truss rods. Lol
But as for general construction practices, I have developed my own methodology based on the tools and circumstances of my own needs. I have different objectives.