Official Luthiers Forum!

In my personal opinion I like stewmac. Stewmac has better customer service, but one thing better about LMI is there selection of woods, lots more to choose from.

I don't think one is better than the other. I'm grateful to have both of them. LMI certainly has a better wood selection but StewMac has a better tool selection, in general.

They are both excellent for the products they sell. I use both because I can't get all the material I want from any one place.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Neither is "better", just different focus.

StewMac's wood selection is rather limited and expensive, but their tools are excellent, and worth the price. They also have a decent selection of tuning machines, and very nice to include measurements on all of them.

LMI has a lot of good tools too, and a one-stop shop for all the little odds and ends needed in a guitar. Bindings, purflings, bridge pins, inlay dots, nuts/saddles, fretwire, pickguards, tuners, glue, tape, shellac, etc. Many of their top/back/side/neck woods are overpriced, IMO, but still good for beginners since they have a nice selection, and shipping is quite reasonable, especially when combined with ordering odds and ends.

I use them both and have been for 20 years. Stew Mac's website is better I will say that.

I disagree entirely!! Both are better!!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Since I'm on the east coast, StewMac is better. I usually get my order in a day or two. On the other hand, LMI does carry some supplies that I consider superior to StewMac, and I'll wait a week or 10 days.
It also kind of depends on what you're building. StewMac is better for electric, LMI is better for acoustic.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Any good reviews for LMI's preslotted fretboards?
They have a nice selection of materials.
I ask because I am still an amatuer builder.
One of these days, I hope to invest in the proper fret sawing tools.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

They're great in my experience.

Ditto. No complaints whatsoever.

Cameron, I use them both too, each has their strong points. Both are equally bad at 15% (ish) "taxes" on importing to Canada. I use Canadian suppliers as much as I can (Highmountaintonewood, Timeless instruments, Bow River, etc), so shoparound and expect to pay at the border!

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions....

Laurie

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Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

It's HST man, 12%...

It's the brokerage fees that get me riled. Avoid using Fedex or UPS, they usually charge upwards of 50$ at the border, whether you order 50$ or 500$ of stuff. There is duty on some items as well. Try to use USPS wherever possible, they only charge about 5$....

I like them both. Stew Mac more for tools and LMI more for materials. But thats not to say I don't buy materials from Stew Mac and tools from LMI, just not as often

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I agree that, after establishing that both LMI and Stew Mac are trustworthy, there is not much more point in the thread, as Filippo has pointed out. Hibdon Hardwood is another excellent dealer. All three fill different needs, so there is really no way to say that one is better than the other.

I do have to say that, having ordered many things--both musical and otherwise--from mail order dealers over the years, I have yet to see any dealer better than Stew-Mac in terms of professionalism and customer service.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

I use both but I also search elsewhere for good deals. Stew macs requirement that you must spend at least $30.00 and their ridiculous shipping cost based on dollar amounts and not weight makes me search elsewhere. If I need a set of pickup rings or something else small for a job should I spend $30 on other stuff I currently don't need or maybe won't? If I buy a single fret file is $8.75 a fair price for shipping? I don't think so. But they do have some unique tools that you can't get at LMI or anywhere else..Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

I get taxed on every LMI shipment like they're on some kind of a government blacklist or something. That and my credit card gets double charged which freezes up a good portion of my money (especially when making a large order) for a very long time. On the other hand Stewmac's order always goes through without any problem and the stuff arrives without any tariff, regardless of value.

LMI does carry more wood and stuff for acoustic guitars, but it comes at a high price... One thing I like about LMI's fretwire is that you get a continuous strip of fretwire that has been curved to fit the box, so I don't need to bend it much at all in order to use it with radiused fretboards.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Zappos.

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George :-)

I haven't seen anything about StewMac having a minimum order requirement. My most recent order was for $15.20.

I prefer Stew Mac because they ship so fast. I can put an order in Monday morning and get the stuff on Wednesday. I think the how-to information is a nice effort too.
LMI has much better wood and binding selection but you gotta be prepared to wait and wait

I think it depends on where you live. I always get my orders from LMI in 2 - 3 days.

Thanks Steve, I'm planning to order a Zircote board.
Dan

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

LMI is way better,
because I can drive there in 10 minutes!

It's right on their catalog order form and if you look at shipping charges they start at $30 to $50 at $8.75 for shipping.
http://www.stewmac.com/pdf/orderform.pdf

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Another day, another dollar.

Thanks for the link, Shaw. That's interesting. As I mentioned, my last order was for $15.20 and the shipping was $6.95 so I wonder if their policy has changed. I'm going to give them a call next week and see if I can get some clarification.

I think the minimum order applies to using the order form. You can order anything you want online.