OUT OF THE WOODS
Where’s your next acoustic tonewood coming from? It’s a question that’s been getting harder to dodge for some years – and especially since the multilateral wildlife treaty CITES moved in 2017 to protect a handful of wood species that happen to be favoured by acoustic guitar makers and players. In truth, the trade clampdown was just the latest sign that business as usual is no longer an option for traditional tonewoods – the tropical species such as rosewoods and mahoganies, and mountain-grown softwoods like Sitka spruce. Rising prices, tightening supplies, falling quality, ecological pressures… all have been in play for some time.
But as pressures to innovate mount, what’s next for music woods? We’ve spoken to acoustic guitar builders, from major American brands to mid-sized European companies, and independent luthiers, as well as forest researchers and campaigners, about how they’re responding to questions around supply, quality and sustainability of tonewoods – and whether buyers are ready for change.
In part 2 of this report next issue we hear from guitar makers as they hunt for alternatives. But first, what’s driving the change?
It’s early 2017. There’s a
