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Hey OLF, Im working on a commission with all "ancient" and antique materials (ancient sitka, ancient kauri, cuban mahogany neck from an early 19th century table, etc.) and am in need of bog oak for the head veneer and fretboard. It seems incredibly difficult to find, especially in the US. Does anyone happen to know of a source?

The most knowledgeable source I know of is Adamson and Low in UK, who process all their own stuff.
They sell though Etsy -
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AdamsonandLow?ref=shop_profile&listing_id=4508444812
US is problematic I have heard.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I've seen that shop on Etsy and was excited by the quality. Unfortunately they don't ship to the US so I'm unable to order from them; I should have ordered while I was in Spain for a few months early this spring.

EDIT - Just checked Etsy and there seems to be an option for countries to post to including USA
If you click on the pencil (edit) next to "deliver to United Kingdom" you get a menu for countries, no?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

bog oak is some cool stuff when it's either "plain" or as the right figuring for my tastes...

that being said, I of course had to check out the link and for me delivery to my zip code automatically filled...of course that may just be etsy doing its thing as opposed to any indication of what the seller thinks

Lots of left-over material from a recent sinker-bog-salvaged wood themed project over in the MD shop. PM if you want me to check on whether there might be a spare head plate and board blank. This is nice, dark, well-milled bog with some decent ray figure.

Nice one Woody!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Unfortunately after selecting the USA on the drop down menu a pop up comes up that says "Sorry this item doesn't ship to the United States"



Thanks Woodie, much appreciated. I'll send a PM!

To recap a PM sent with regard to content of interest to those reading this thread, Adamson and Low continue to be the most consistent source of stock selected for actual instrument use. As mentioned, their Etsy portal does NOT support sales to the US, but according to those that have purchased material from Adamson and Low, they were able to arrange alternate shipping and import fee payment directly with that supplier on US-bound material. So the recommendations of interest to those US builders seeking well-processed, instrument-suitable bog oak material are:

- Peruse the Adamson and Low store on Etsy (AdamsonandLow) for items of interest and familiarize themselves with the range of stock available

- Using the contact portal on the Adamson and Low web site (http://www.adamsonandlow.com), inform Ms. Adamson and Mr. Low of your desire to purchase those items and request shipping to the US.

The rest should follow apace, to include the expectation that the shipper may collect additional fees associated with both brokerage and tariff costs associated with the order.


An editorial comment that those strictly interested in direct impacts to themselves and their craft will likely not find of interest:

I do not believe small suppliers such as Adamson and Low are being unreasonable with regards to purchase and shipping restrictions. The US is in the early stages of a sweeping change in terms of how we do trade with the rest of the world and it will take time for both US importers and end-users - as well as overseas suppliers - to adjust to the new model where the US has the same type of import barriers we have seen globally since the late 1940s and our post-WW2 rewiring of both finance and trade courtesy of the Bretton Woods Agreements. Those of us that have an interest in geopolitics had some inkling of what was in store for us as the globalist system ends (and with it, a bit of a golden era for some between 1980 and 2020), and whatever takes the place of that system becomes the new normal. Peter Zeihan's The End of the World Is Just the Beginning is a good primer on how we got here and some ideas on where things might go. It is also worth reading Zeihan's geopolitically-focused fellow travelers as well as those critiquing his work for alternative views and interpretations.

In summary, this is not an Adamson and Low issue so much as it is a symptom of the underlying global trade processes playing out (and another item in the long list of things which we cannot control, but must deal with as best we can).

reading between the lines it appears that Etsy's shipping algorithm does not adequately reflect the reality of current international trade and Adamson and Low isn't playing that game but will do commerce if contacted directly and not using Etsy