wraub Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Hey all. Thought this might be of interest to some (most?) here. Musicwood is a new film opening this week in NYC. Probably going to be an online thing for most others. The plot synopsis: Musicwood is an adventure-filled journey, a political thriller with music at its heart. An unusual band of the most famous guitar-makers in the world (Bob Taylor of Taylor guitars, Chris Martin of Martin Guitars and Dave Berryman of Gibson Guitars) travel together into the heart of one of the most primeval rainforests on the planet. Their mission: to negotiate with Native American loggers and change the way this forest is logged before its too late for acoustic guitars. Link to the story at The Dissolve: The Dissolve Sounds worth a look. No affiliation here, just interested. I'm a lot more like I am now than I was when I got here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Not to derail this too much but, WHY the obsession on what wood guitar makers use? Are not violins, violas, cellos, bass violas, lutes and other stringed instuments ALSO made of wood? Do THEY not sound good? What kind of wood do THEY use? And why wouldn't THAT wood be suitable for guitars? Or have the makers of those instruments been hassled too? Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Fraser Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Not to derail this too much but, WHY the obsession on what wood guitar makers use? Are not violins, violas, cellos, bass violas, lutes and other stringed instuments ALSO made of wood? Do THEY not sound good? What kind of wood do THEY use? And why wouldn't THAT wood be suitable for guitars? Or have the makers of those instruments been hassled too? Whitefang The bowed string instruments are made of spruce tops, maple sides & backs, & ebony fingerboards. Bows are made of pernambuco. Ebony & pernambuco have been heavily overharvested. Luthiers & bowmakers who don't already have a stash of those woods are pretty much out of the game at this point. Scott Fraser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyalcatraz Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Not only that, but the guitar is the most popular instrument in the world. No other instrument is produced in the numbers that it is. That translates into more use of raw materials, including woods. So even while the furniture business actually uses more of those rare woods than the instrument biz, taking the lead in responsible harvesting and alternative materials is a good, green thing to do. Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ My FLMS- Murphy's Music in Irving, Tx http://murphysmusictx.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Taylor has taken the lead on preserving ebony in other parts of the world and I'm glad to hear that Martin and Gibson are going to help Taylor with preserving our forests as well... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 When you stop and think about it, NOBODY cared any in the beginning. They all figured there was plenty of forest to go around. It wasn't until about a generation ago that some of these industries started efforts to replace what they harvest. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Thanks for the heads-up Wraub, will look forward to the Musicwood movie when it comes out next week... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipclone 1 Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 When you stop and think about it, NOBODY cared any in the beginning. They all figured there was plenty of forest to go around. It wasn't until about a generation ago that some of these industries started efforts to replace what they harvest. Whitefang The same could be said for fish in the ocean. In that case and probably in the forest too, the scale and sophistication of technology in use has made it a one-sided vacuuming of resources, to the point where it`s self-defeating in the long run. that is what`s at issue. Same old surprises, brand new cliches- Skipsounds on Soundclick: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webe123 Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Not to derail this too much but, WHY the obsession on what wood guitar makers use? Are not violins, violas, cellos, bass violas, lutes and other stringed instuments ALSO made of wood? Do THEY not sound good? What kind of wood do THEY use? And why wouldn't THAT wood be suitable for guitars? Or have the makers of those instruments been hassled too? Whitefang The bowed string instruments are made of spruce tops, maple sides & backs, & ebony fingerboards. Bows are made of pernambuco. Ebony & pernambuco have been heavily overharvested. Luthiers & bowmakers who don't already have a stash of those woods are pretty much out of the game at this point. So are you saying they are not going to be making these instruments anymore? That would be hard to believe. I would think they would switch over to some other more readily available wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Fraser Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Not to derail this too much but, WHY the obsession on what wood guitar makers use? Are not violins, violas, cellos, bass violas, lutes and other stringed instuments ALSO made of wood? Do THEY not sound good? What kind of wood do THEY use? And why wouldn't THAT wood be suitable for guitars? Or have the makers of those instruments been hassled too? Whitefang The bowed string instruments are made of spruce tops, maple sides & backs, & ebony fingerboards. Bows are made of pernambuco. Ebony & pernambuco have been heavily overharvested. Luthiers & bowmakers who don't already have a stash of those woods are pretty much out of the game at this point. So are you saying they are not going to be making these instruments anymore? Bowmakers who cannot purchase pernambuco will not be able to make bows. That would be hard to believe. I would think they would switch over to some other more readily available wood. Pernambuco doesn't really have an alternative that I know of. Bowmakers have been hording the available stock, knowing they probably won't have access to the good stuff for quite a while, if ever. There are very good bows being made of graphite, which perform very well, though in a tradition bound world it's hard to convince classical players to go that direction. There are alternatives to ebony for guitars obviously, but bowed string instruments are very tied to tradition. A rosewood or maple fingerboard on a violin would be a very tough sell. Ebony is still available, it's the darker ebony that is getting quite rare. The lighter color ebony is every bit as good for fingerboards, but seen by consumers as less desirable. Due to this, the larger guitar makers have been dying the lighter ebony black for fingerboards in recent years. Scott Fraser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyalcatraz Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 The same could be said for fish Yep- certain species of fish are so efficiently harvested that the US only allows 1-2 days a year of commercial fishing of them. Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ My FLMS- Murphy's Music in Irving, Tx http://murphysmusictx.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 The US needs to move our fishing borders out to sea before countries that have fished themselves out of fish deplete our waters too... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipclone 1 Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 I`m not sure that can or should happen unilaterally, otherwise everyone else will do the same thing and in this part of the world at least, there`s already several simmering disputes over the issue. Same old surprises, brand new cliches- Skipsounds on Soundclick: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 There has been things the US has done unilaterally like establishing managed protection areas that have been successful in bringing back our fish populations. We have to safeguard against industrial and agricultural water pollution to protect fisheries as well. I would agree that all countries need to get together when it comes to establishing rules and enforcement to protect fisheries inshore and on the high seas. There are many overfishing pirates out there. Greed takes over and before you know it, we're out of fish... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEHpicker Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I had my LP leveled and crowned last week by the good folks at Guitar Repair of Tampa Bay - (these guys were designer/builders of Dean Guitars). While I was there I noticed a big log lying against the building outside so I asked Ben Chafin about it. So he told me that back in the 30s & 40s developers building golf courses (in Florida) planted Rosewood trees from India as landscaping and borders between the fairways. Fast forward 50 - 60 years. There is Rosewood growing in Florida. The 600 lb log at their shop was from one that was felled by the power company to clear power lines. Ben tells me that this Florida Rosewood is actually harder than the original Indian Rosewood because it is cooler here than in India, and so grows slower. The guys at GRTB are building custom tele style guitars using only Florida wood and call them Crackercasters. The Florida Rosewood they are using for the fretboards looks excellent. Here is a link to their site if you are interested. http://www.guitarrepairoftampabay.com And for Bogs or any other builders out there, these guys might be a good source for Rosewood (?) SEHpicker The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." George Orwell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popcritic Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Today's NYT reviews the movie: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/movies/musicwood-looks-at-a-threat-to-instrument-makers.html?ref=arts Dave King Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Thanks popcritic! we think of Kaki King as one of our own and it's great to see she's providing some music for the movie! Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duff beer Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 The lighter color ebony is every bit as good for fingerboards, but seen by consumers as less desirable. All it takes is a few known artists to start using lighter or mixed colour fingerboards and then suddenly a lot of people think it's cool and want it for themselves... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.