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Hey all,
Just wanting to get an idea of what peoples experience has been like buying bone blanks from S.F. International.
I placed an order back in late February, close to $500 AUD, and 3 months on, they are still yet to ship to me in Australia. I was told over a month ago that the order was ready to ship and since then, I keep getting told "Dispatch tomorrow".
Anyone else have this experience and still got their order?
I did a 400 pieces 200 nuts and 200 saddles early 2025 , everything looked really good and the tolerances were good. Than I did a large order of 1,000 pieces late last year and I received pretty much junk from them. I heard a rumor that he changed whop he gets is products from and a lot of people are getting sub standard material. He means well but who cares if he is sending junk. It was nightmare to get him to return the bad 1,000 order. He finally arranged a return and a refund but it was a major headache to get to that point.
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Last year, I had a lot of back and forth with him over a big order of nut and saddle blanks. I finally decided to only order 10 sets of bridge pins to give him a try. After a couple months of waiting, he said he forgot to process the order and then sent them pretty fast after that. The pricing was about what we pay everywhere else (i think $280 for 10 sets with black dots) but the bone seems more brittle than the Allparts or stewmac pins. It just didn't leave a good impression so i never placed the full order.
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I have made a very large order with him. Sam is very nice and says he will do anything to please you. I explained that for my application I needed relatively tight tolerances and he said that was no problem and he would make me happy. However, looking at what I received (and pictures of his manufacturing process) there are ZERO tolerance controls. I ordered about 20,000 pieces from him and roughly 50% were undersized and unusable. I am not talking about them being out a couple thou... some were off by 1/16" or more. Of the ones that were large enough there was virtually no consistency.
Through much back and forth communication with him about this issue he agreed to replace the bad ones, however I had to pay shipping, customs and tariffs. I decided not to, simply because it looked like I would be throwing good money after bad.
Like I said, Sam is a nice guy and I think he means well, but he doesn't have a manufacturing process that will meet our quality standards as luthiers.
I bought 400 nut and saddle blanks (camel bone) in 2025.
Shipping took awhile but i was in no rush.
I didn't think the quality was great. Most were bent/curved, wet, with fault lines.
I'd rather pay twice as much and get twice the quality.
They also said i was in a rural area and needed to pay an extra $40 shipping (I live in a small city of a 120,000 population).
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Thanks Beau.
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that's a weird one. I live rural up a gravel road dead end in a town of 600. definitely didn't get upcharged for shipping...
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I had responded privately regarding SFint'l before but still maybe relavent...reposting below for the interest in forum...Also, I 100% agree with Doug's sentiments....Could also be that the amount of us in the looth group now ordering are creating longer lead times? I've found Sameer to also be very responsive to any issues in my dealings...for what that's worth!
I have ordered from sf int’l as well, in May 2025, and was not disappointed…
first the meh:
1. had I known to order oversized I would have. some portion of pieces are considerably and unevenly out of thickness spec. maybe 10%. of my total order of 300.
If you don’t mind thicknessing bone, order larger next time. note to self. width and height were spot on. I’ll use the oddballs for other stuff.
( i inquired with them via social media based off their website nominal specs assuming they had stock…but i think they mill to order )
I ordered :
Nut : 55x12x6.4 mm Saddle : 108×11.9×3.18 mm ( order thicker next time!!!)
2. my package was delivered in multiple sandwich bags wrapped in saran wrap and packing tape and did not hold up in travel. package was torn and missing pieces. only a few. could have been worse. cried no tears.
second the hells yeh:
1. EXTREMELY responsive service and communication. from order to address confirmation to payment to shipping and tracking. They also responded immediately and wanted to replace missing items. ( I declined, not worth the jet fuel and just wanted them to know packing was sketchy ). thickness I did not mention. would I order 4/4 raw lumber to make 1” boards? Nope. My bad. Not their fault… after sawing 100+ pieces my resaw skills tend to drift as well…
2. the bone quality is spot on. No pithy marrow, no softies, no cavities or surprises so far. very few milling chips. unbleached and bleached. blackened too now i believe…
3. the more you buy, the more you pay…but the less per piece! their qty. discount is real. think $3 to under $1 per piece depending on qty. their pricing is not set in stone… inquire and wait for another offer ( they will find you ) or haggle if that’s your style. they smell blood and will keep offering you deals. take one and be content. I’ll easily pay $1 vs. $.98 for awesome service with integrity so hold your breath or push go.
4. it’s my understanding nuts & saddles are sold by pieces. mix and match either sizing, bleached or unbleached etc. do the math on buy 100 pieces get 300 free or whatever and build your order.
-they have other items I have not ordered: pins, wood sets, etc.
-they will talk you through it. ask questions!!!
-took about 6 weeks all-in to order & receive in CA
-manifest claimed ”composite material for instrument manufacture” or something of that tone… should probably just say ”dead camel remains” but hey, I don’t work at customs…
-I can’t speak for possible Canadian order issues, sorry.
-I would absolutely order from them in the future
hope that helps…. Sean RT / Gold City Guitar Repair
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Thanks Sean,
I look forward to getting my order. Long wait times don't really bother me too much, if I know what to expect. I think I was just starting to get a bit nervous for my first time order, after 3 months and still hadn't shipped.
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Hey Matt, I fully expect you'll get your order. I just received an order from Sam this week for an order I placed in January. I've heard other folks having to wait as long for orders. I
I have a good personal and business relationship with Sameer and trust him. I like the quality of the material.
His "business practices" leave a lot to be desired. I'm not sure if it is a cultural thing or what. I know there are huge challenges involved when trying to do business in a developing country like India where businesses and cultural norms are so vastly different than we're used to. Also, it seems that he struggles with keeping up orders because of a number of issues. The relative poverty over there, labor issues, regulations and difficulties in sourcing raw material all seemed to have increased in proportionality to the amount of business he does as his business grows.
It's easy to get upset and out of joint when we live in an Amazon dot com world and are used to vendors like stewmac. I try to approach situations like this with a lot of grace and patience. It's also why I keep a ton of bone in stock.
I will say that it have always know Sam to be as honest as the day is long.
He and I have been doing business together for more than 5 years and I've placed lots of orders with him. I've always known him to be a straight shooter.
Please keep me posted on the progress of your order. If need be, I can intervene on your behalf.
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Thanks Doug,
That's good to know. I am more than happy to wait for a good product, and I can appreciate the differences there are between different cultures. It's just good to be reassured that this is the norm and that there is nothing to worry about.