알라스카에서 날아온 편지인데
기타랑 스프르스를 바꾸자는건가봐요....
영어는 하여간 어려워..



Dear Sir,    

Hello!  About 30 years ago in Korea, I served on the DMZ, later attended Seogang, and worked as translator (Korean to English) etc etc.  Although my English is better than my Korean, I could, if you prefer, field any queries in response to the following in Korean.

I don't know whether you or any of your luthiers (past or present) have experience/skill transforming spruce bolts into top and brace pieces or making finished soundboards, but just such a versatile luthier is the intended target of this message.



I have 20 or so old-growth Sitka Spruce trees (photo attached), average
100+ feet in height by 4 feet in diameter, alive standing (not salvage) in my yard in Southeast Alaska, which means easy access and a legal fell. Half of these trees have mostly to completely branchless

I'm not a tonewood dealer, and I am not at all interested in selling to any of them here.   I am just a working homeowner, one with about 30+ years of guitar playing experience, some prior professional experience abroad dealing in a different exotic wood raw material at source, world-traveled and fluent in some other languages. I have some neighbors with large trees in their yards as well, and none of us are in a hurry. I have heard that there are no large old-growth Sitka Spruce logs on the market and that Canada is (e)xporting smaller second-growth to China, and I heard it from a miller in Canada interested in buying my stuff who contacted me unsolicited because original recipient in US passed my e-mail there and others elsewhere.

I would be interested in obtaining a handcrafted guitar, and my idea is to barter for it with a mutually agreeable amount of material which would have to be negotiated. How much does one of your guitars cost? Next, figure out how much material normally equals that in value and then multiply to make it worth your while. The factor to be negotiated is the number to multiply. Also, there would be secondary details to work out re selection and process when/if a quantitative agreement is reached. If luthier would rather prefer just bolts or semi-finished to finished soundboards, instead of rough top and brace pieces, from here, those options are also open to discussion.
I could have some trees selectively felled this winter or next, for example, when tree moisture content is at its lowest and color its best. Seasoning until summer is sufficient to commence the process of deriving bolts from rounds; your on-site QC wouldn't be needed for that portion unless you so desired. Although not your concern, tree tops would be replanted, waste used as firewood, and sawdust used for gardening.

Have you ever been fishing etc here in Southeast Alaska before? Guestroom is available. You won't find many ways one could do all this at primarily just the cost of some time (a couple days to select and line me out on how you want bolts processed into rough top and brace pieces, or do the lot with my assistance, your choice), a roundtrip, and final transport of wood. Within the boundaries of barter, what I'm offering is not geared towards my taking your money from you; however, if I took what I learned from you and used it to my advantage to make a profit dealing with the rest of my property on my own, that would be my prerogative, of course, just like you could, if interested, try to offer/negotiate a different angle otherwise perhaps.
I am willing to negotiate a generous good quality mbf offering, one that supersedes the kind of value found at any warehouse etc by a long shot.  Subtracting obvious waste like branched areas, I figure there's at least 50 mbf of good quality standing here total, and that supersedes the value of one handcrafted guitar by a long shot...

If you are the versatile luthier I'm looking for and interested, let's talk.  
If not, do you know any other luthier(s) who could possibly be up to something like this?   In other words, which luthier would you ask or want to do this material-for-instrument barter with if the shoe was on the other foot and you were me?
In what way or under what conditions could you see this idea as being worth your while re "mutually agreeable amount of material" in barter?
With a barter scenario in mind, what amount of good quality mbf would make a luthier, one with the capability of transforming Sitka Spruce into finished soundboards back home at his own workshop, happy in barter for a handcrafted guitar made back home using aged material, not the barter material, at his own workshop after I have completed my end of the bargain? Factor into the equation that my conception of such trade, although not fixed, involves: my working an over-the-shoulder education via the experience of assisting luthier process bolts into rough top and brace pieces, for example, in summer after I fell in winter prior to that in preparation on my own at my own cost; luthier pays for his summer roundtrip, may stay free in our guest room, and plus gets a free fishing trip etc if he likes, as well; luthier pays for transport of material we produce together, and I am in a position to help make that happen more economically due certain professional privileges. The equivalent amount of separately boxed top and brace pieces in barter for just one handcrafted guitar would hardly necessitate a barge; and I could, for example, get that load to Washington State free and store it there free, but from there the cost would be on the luthier. Notwithstanding, various factors are flexible and open for discussion.
Sincerely.