Guitar makers hit hard by new regulations on prized rosewood

V8

Acoustic guitar exports from the U.S. have fallen by 28 percent, while electric guitar exports declined 23 percent.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/12/guitar-makers-hit-hard-by-new-regulations-on-prized-rosewood.html

RobbieZ

On reading the header of this post, the first thing that came into my mind is "who cares". Yes, I know all the reasons why rosewood is the "best". And yes I intentionally put the word best in inverted commas.

Is it really the best. According to The Journal of sustainable forestry, there are over 60000 species of trees out there. You really want to tell me that rosewood is the only and best one for a fredboard?

The point I want to make is that rosewood is expensive, the same goes for most of the tone woods. Maybe, just maybe the guitar makers need to look into other sustainable woods to use. Then I am sure that the prices will also come down and the mere mortals out there will be able to afford decent instruments.

V8

RobbieZ first thing that came into my mind is "who cares".

The biggest thing for me would be - can I travel internationally with my instrument? Answer so far, seems to be yes.

It's only really seemingly to affect the manufacturers, which will means we'll see more alternatives. But guitarists seem to be rather traditional....

Fender's got Pau Ferro, Gibson burnt/baked maple lined up as a alternatives. I've seen fingerboards of african blackwood, purpleheart and ebanol. Graeme Hayward has got all sorts of interesting chunks of lumber waiting experimentation.

I've asked before - Why don't we have more composite materials? I really liked the ebonol fretboard on my old Cort Curbow. I'm guessing that price/performance doesn't quite line up - yet - wood is light, aesthetically pleasing and durable...and tradition.

Perhaps wood laminates will be explored more. I've a 60's mij acoustic nylon that is tougher than boots and sounds surprisingly good despite being 100% made out of various wood laminates.

peterleroux

V8 something I really like about Ebonol is that it’s a paper/resin composite so it’s still has a grain: it starts out looking super slick but picks up a a patina over time. I enjoyed the board on my Cort Curbow took and I’ve got an Ebonol fingerboard for my eternally stalled fretless bass project

V8

peterleroux Ebonol fingerboard for my eternally stalled fretless bass project

I was thinking about your project when I typed ebanol! Hope to see it completed sometime?

My mate tried to sell my a MkI Curbow last month - it has a rosewood fingerboard and I wasn't interested. Ebanol or nothing I reckoned ?

peterleroux

V8 All that needs to be made is the body- for which I have CAD drawings (and timber), but not the tools or the skills. The current plan is to commission the body and assemble the parts. Hopefully soon...

brentcgp

Depends on your taste. And they do all have different tonal qualities. Some are prettier than others and others are boring. Function, Form, all depends on what you like. The rest doesn’t matter really.

My Stratocaster has a 5A birds eye maple neck and a Madagascan Rosewood Fret board. Shhhhhh don’t tell anyone, thats as illegal as it gets in 2018!!!! ???Who will know or prove, it was done ages ago, long before it became ‘illegal’ to trade.