How good is the dollar at the moment.

[Bob Connor]

I know some people will disagree but for a serial importer like me it's great news.

I've wanted one of these Slothead routing jigs for a while now so I just pulled the trigger on it.

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Available from

http://www.luthiertool.com/

Last time I looked it was going to cost about $400 so I'm saving about $100. Maybe I should buy two and save more money

[Allen]

If you by 4 you can send me one for free

I've just dropped about $2,500 on wood from the USA, and another $1,000 from good ole StewMac and I'm loving it.

[Kim]

Ooooow, nice pickup buddieeee

I covet thy tool score brotha.....but I guess it is spendomania for a lot of the AU crew

Here's mine:

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Thank you Zootster ....... Bobc and Pete from RC Tonewoods always looks after the ANZLF crew

Cheers

Kim

[Stu]

Nice haul fellas.

I just received another 30 F/B's of mixed variety from LMII.
Great on the U.S to AU dollar Conversion.................got bitten with postage though. Should have asked for a quote first. DOH !!!

[Bob Connor]

That's lovely looking Honduran Kim. Doesn't come much better than that.
It's becoming very difficult to find large sets quartersawn like that.

[ozziebluesman]

I bought myself a PRS SC245 electric guitar from the USA a week ago when our $ was 97 cents to the greenback. It arrived yesterday and it is a class instrument. This one is secondhand but mint condition. I think all guitar companies around the world have had it tough since the downturn and PRS prices have come down dramatically. I was considering a Les Paul but they are not very consistant and way to expensive anyway for one of the custom shop jobies! Over the last few years working in the music shop I never saw a poorly made American Fender or a PRS.
The finish is nitro and although it looks great, the back of the neck is very sticky!
Don't like that one bit!
Any suggestions on how to remidy that issue?
Cheers
Alan

[kiwigeo]

Shane Neiffer is benefitting from the favourable exchange rate......I'm gonna build me a Lutz spruce house!!!

[Puff]

Alan - could you unbuff the neck with steel wool?

[peter.coombe]

While it certainly is good for the spendorama's among us, it is not good for the exporters. I used to sell 80% of my instruments into the USA. That has now dried up completely, no sales, no queries from the US any more. I'm not the only one in this position.

Peter

[Puff]

As Peter says the importers, both here and in Oz, will be clapping for parts, gizmos and finished 'instruments' prices. No point in building what you can't sell unless it's just a hobby.
Am of the belief the same manipulators are behind this as were behind the 'recession'. Give 'em all the Lillian's cat treatment - oil of wintergreen!

[liam_fnq]

Damn you Aussie Dollar!
Damn you Zootman for putting HRW uke sets on special

All my regular excuses have been foiled.

Is the look on those people's faces in the pokie room pitty because they know I have WAS?

[graham mcdonald]

I'm in the US for the next month and it is great being able to spend a dollar and knowing it is only costing me a dollar. Mind you, I totally agree with Peter, it is going to make selling things here a whole lot harder. But for the moment it is good

Spent the morning visiting Gregg Miner, the harp guitar guru and this afternoon met up with a few folks from the Mandolin Cafe. LA is very big and the freeways are quite exciting

cheers

graham

[Lillian]

Graham, I'm just up the street from you, so to speak. So close, yet so far. Sorry we couldn't cross paths.
We are in San Francisco, headed home tomorrow. Fran has been attending Bouchercon 2010. While she was talking with authors, I've been I have been hanging out with you guys. We've both been having great weekend.

[graham mcdonald]

Lillian

I hope to be in Tacoma next year for the GAL convention in July, and probably driving up from SF. Hopefully we can meet up then. Now in Bozeman MT and visiting Weber and Waverly tomorrow, then off to Kalamazoo, Lansing and Ann Arbor on Tuesday for the rest of the week.

I think I may have discovered the most boring airport in the world in Salt Lake City. Not only ugly, even for an airport, but totally uninteresting.

cheers

graham

[Lillian]

GAL next year. Its a date. First pint's on me, hell, maybe even the second if you can stomach the first.

[graham mcdonald]

There is a little cafe/bar a couple of hundred yards down the road from PLU which has good beer and wine, and where, strangely enough, I seem to spend most evenings at the convention. PLU, being a Lutheran establishment, is dry! To an Australian, having a university without a bar is bewildering

cheers

[Lillian]

Don't try to reason things like that out Graham. You will only hurt your head.

[woodrat]

Bob, When the headstock slot jig comes will you please post a review for us. Is it just the steel string one or the combo?

John

[Bob Connor]

I ordered the combo John.

I don't make classicals but you never know.

Colin Symonds has one of these and swears by it's accuracy and simplicity.

There is another version sold by LMI but you only do one slot at a time and then have to recalibrate things.

This one does the lot including the tuner holes.

Will definitely post a review after I get it but I believe it to be the dogs bollocks.

Regards

[Lillian]

Bob, why not a slot head OOO?

[Bob Connor]

I reckon everything will be slothead for a while Lillian

[Lillian]

I bet it will. I look forward to seeing your take on an old idea.

[jackspira]

I'd like to agree with peter as well!! How bad is the dollar at the moment, argh! Please go down again AUD!

I remeber that bar Graham and Lillian, I went there in 2004ish with Joe Gallacher. Its a lovely place too, much nicer than the average uni bar I'm used to squishing my way through. I remebr walking down that street thinking... a dry university, wow there's a fortune to be made, someone down this street should open up a... ah-ha!

[jayluthier]

Having worked for IBM in Australia for 20 years before returning to the US, I'm loving 97 cents since 2/3rds of my superannuation is held in Australia in $A. Not so much fun transferring monthly pension dollars to the US at 75-80 cents (or worse). So for now life's good.

And just to top it off, I live about 25 miles from Chris Klumper who is Luthier Tools and makes the really cool headstock jig that Bob pictured in his first post. I bought one about a year ago, and had Chris make an additional tuner template to replicate the offset of the 1st and 6th string on a Martin style peghead. That plus the combination which supports routing slotted heads makes this one my biggest time savers in neck building. The is simply outstanding in both design and function. The price hurdle very quickly is forgotten after the 4th or 5th slotted head neck.

I'm sure that Bob will absolutely love it!

[Tim Mason]

As a newbie, I have been going nuts with tools, its great. Im trying to get all i can thats not available over here, and its killing my bankroll, but the shed is starting to look like a luthier work station Boutique pedals also, woohoo!