The Tree (rarest wood ! ) blanks for sale

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fazool

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SOLD OUT The Tree (rarest wood ! ) blanks for sale SOLD OUT

This post is for the rarest-of-the-rare and most discriminating collectors. The story is vital so please read it all:

"The Tree" is arguably the most famous single piece of wood in woodworking history. It was originally valued for its quilting (and fascinating history) but over many years it was realized that The Tree has incredible tonal properties and has become the most sought-after wood for guitar builders.

All the wood from The Tree is gone (distributed to builders). Some have even started reclaiming furniture pieces because it's such an important piece for guitars (see links below!)

For those not familiar , read these and google "The Tree Quilted Mahogany" for more info.

Olson Guitars PDF writeup
Tale of Two Trees
The Legend of The Tree
Guitar Aficionado article

I am very active on the Acoustic Guitar Forum. One of our members is the famous Luthier, inlay artist and inventor of the Voyage Air guitar - Harvey Leach. Harvey permitted me to divulge his name for this topic. Harv had previously supplied me with some leftover pieces of The Tree for another woodworking project.

Well, recently, one of my engineers gifted me a gorgeous handmade pen from East Indian Rosewood (he knew that was my guitar's wood). The bigger gift he gave me was an introduction to the world of pen turning.

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I contacted Harvey who had a very small stash (23 pieces) of cutoffs and drops which were perfect for this. I procured these from him as pen blanks.
I've made several pens from The Tree and one example is shown here.

I've come to the conclusion that I have too many of these blanks and that only very specialized collectors will appreciate them. I am not selling these as a business or to make any profit. I am releasing one dozen of these blanks for sale (to cover my costs).

Again, the value in this is from the fame, rarity and collect-ability of The Tree. The ideal recipient of one of these is an acoustic guitar fanatic.

Each blank is for sale for $50, Paypal-ed, including ConUS shipping. Included will be a certificate of authenticity and a copy of the packing list from Harvey Leach Guitars (for traceability). If someone wants to corner the market, I will sell all twelve for $500, as a package.

Once again, this may seem like an exorbitant price for a pen blank. This is not about a $5 piece of wood. In Luthier circles a piece of this wood is as collectible as a piece of The Titanic is to a ship collector.
 
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Dehn0045

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Welcome to IAP, I dabble in playing guitar and have always wanted to build something I could play (maybe a Uke for starters). For now its pens though, maybe someday after I retire... Anyway, regarding your post, my initial thought was "this is a horrible scam". Keep in mind that I am extremely skeptical about most "story woods", unless I cut up the whiskey barrel myself. But the stories sell, and people buy it based on how credible the seller seems. Anyway, I decided to pursue your post a little further and looked you up over on the Acoustic forum that you mention. Although I am still not a customer, your story appears to check out. On that forum, Harvey Leach (who appears to be a prominent luthier) talks about acquiring quantities of "The Tree", he is still active on the forum, and you mention him by name in a post over there. I assume that if you were a scammer he would call you out (and it would be pretty strange to start a scam after several thousand posts). Now, is the wood actually from "The Tree", I don't know, but from what I can tell you genuinely think so, as did Harvey Leach. Was the guy that Harvey got it from a scammer? Who Knows...

I am in no way vouching for your credibility, just sharing my observations and offering a piece of advice: this being your first post on the forum, many people will assume it is a scam. You could have said "Hey, hows it going? Here is a pen I made from "The Tree". I have some more blanks that I won't use if you are interested in buying them. Kinda steep price at $50 each, but "The Tree" has quite a history. Here is a link to my sale posting on the acoustic forum...."

Lastly, be consistent on pricing on different forums.
 

fazool

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Thanks for your comments Sam,

The price is inconsistent because I make guitar accessories. I just do this as a hobby. When I made my "box" I had people clamoring to buy one, but there was only ever one of them.

Harvey provided me with way more blanks than I could use, so I started offering them for sale and had to pay for a sposnor membership just a couple days ago.

But they are different prices because over there I am selling finished pens and here I am just selling the blanks.

Yes I absolutely agree about the scam-caution. In fact, if you search over on AGF you will see me calling someone out with the age-old story "I inherited this Holy Grail pre-war Martin guitar and awwww shucks dont know nothing about how much this is worth"

So I totally agree with you.

And yes, I have 12,000 posts on AGF so not about to run a scam.

By the way all the blanks are sold (through this ad)
 

Dehn0045

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segmenting, casting, stabilizing, dying, feathers, decals, snakeskin, metals... I'm convinced there is no way to get to bottom of the penturning rabbit hole :)
 
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