anyone else buying due to changes in resources?

[pickleweed]

Not to get into a political discussion about this, but we can all kinda see the results already. rosewood has been removed from lower end fenders and who knows if it'll come back even with the exemption. ash has been pulled from production models. mahogany was supposedly not too far off on the cites protections.

Is anyone else buying the guitars they want before we see more changes in what's available? Not saying there wont be guitars next year or whatever, but i think we can all safely say that not all materials will be available as they once were. And if they are, likely much more expensive to get.

I know it was in the back of my mind when i was looking at acoustics not long ago. Curious if anyone else was thinking about it in regards to their near future purchases. Maybe im just nutty and justifying my purchases lol.

 

[Gtrman100]

Since the world is coming to an end in 10 years, send me your guitars and I will hermetically seal them for when the apes re-inhabit the planet.

 

[Jazzandmore]

Zero thought of this on my mind. Probably because I don’t need extra reasons to buy guitars I want, I just buy them cuz I want them

 

[HERSCHEL]

I have rosewood, ebony, mahogany, swamp,ash, etc. already so bring on some new stuff.

 

[mikesch]

This factored slightly into my decision to get a swamp ash build from a builder's inventory. Outside of that I'm focusing more on sustainable woods and materials when I commission guitars. An archtop build I have in progress is going to be sourced primarily from wood grown with 100 miles of me, just to prove it can be done, but also for sustainability's sake.

Of course not buying ANY guitars is the most ecologically sound way to go, but.....

 

[MaxTwang]

Scarcity in woods will be offset by the selloff from boomers and pandemic buyers.

Although, the swamp ash situation has me reconsidering listing a particularly spectacular yet unplayed CS Tele.

 

[Jazzandmore]

This factored slightly into my decision to get a swamp ash build from a builder's inventory. Outside of that I'm focusing more on sustainable woods and materials when I commission guitars. An archtop build I have in progress is going to be sourced primarily from wood grown with 100 miles of me, just to prove it can be done, but also for sustainability's sake.

Of course not buying ANY guitars is the most ecologically sound way to go, but.....

Nah just buy guitars made from stuff like bamboo. There are builders using it. Pretty interesting

 

[mikesch]

Nah just buy guitars made from stuff like bamboo. There are builders using it. Pretty interesting

Yup, bamboo, thermo treated pine, reclaimed woods like the old wine barrels that Paoletti uses. Aristides isn't using any wood at all except for the paper in the Richlite fingerboards.

I haven't had anyone do anything with bamboo yet, I really need to find a superstrat builder who is amenable.

 

[paka]

Not to get into a political discussion about this, but we can all kinda see the results already. rosewood has been removed from lower end fenders and who knows if it'll come back even with the exemption. ash has been pulled from production models. mahogany was supposedly not too far off on the cites protections.

Is anyone else buying the guitars they want before we see more changes in what's available? Not saying there wont be guitars next year or whatever, but i think we can all safely say that not all materials will be available as they once were. And if they are, likely much more expensive to get.

I know it was in the back of my mind when i was looking at acoustics not long ago. Curious if anyone else was thinking about it in regards to their near future purchases. Maybe im just nutty and justifying my purchases lol.

Well, your presumption is faulty right off the bat. Scarcity of these woods is largely a result of over-harvesting and poor forest management, not climate change. Like every other natural resource, profiteers just take what they want with no thought for the future.

Does make sense to think ahead with regard to purchases though. May be good investments when woods run out.

 

[customguitars87]

Not to get into a political discussion about this, but we can all kinda see the results already. rosewood has been removed from lower end fenders and who knows if it'll come back even with the exemption. ash has been pulled from production models. mahogany was supposedly not too far off on the cites protections.

Is anyone else buying the guitars they want before we see more changes in what's available? Not saying there wont be guitars next year or whatever, but i think we can all safely say that not all materials will be available as they once were. And if they are, likely much more expensive to get.

I know it was in the back of my mind when i was looking at acoustics not long ago. Curious if anyone else was thinking about it in regards to their near future purchases. Maybe im just nutty and justifying my purchases lol.

I'm not concerned. I buy all my guitars used anyway (99% of them, at least) and guitars with those woods will always be available on the used market in droves.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

justifying my purchases

This gets my vote.
I've found strange ways to justify buying, once it was just because I had an empty Coffin case.
What happens when you want to travel with your 'restricted wood' instruments?

 

[sahhas]

that sounds like a good plan:

Since the world is coming to an end in 10 years, send me your guitars and I will hermetically seal them for when the apes re-inhabit the planet.

 

[Jayyj]

Rosewood is a complex one, in some parts of the world it's farmed fairly intensively and really isn't endangered or a major issue to ecosystems, the difficulty is there are also large areas where rosewood harvesting is catastrophic and trying to come up with rules that allow control over the species and territories where it's a problem without disrupting trade of the remainder is a difficult one, particularly when it all looks pretty similar. CITES has to work quickly to solve these problems and sometimes gets it wrong, but their remit is somewhat unenviable given the speed with which we're tearing through our planet.

If it's Indian rosewood you're concerned about for example, don't be too worried as it's farmed in large quantities for the timber industry - in the other hand with something like Madagascan rosewood it's absolutely critical we stop right now and don't cut any more down at all, as there's a whole ecosystem going pear shaped over there and deforestation (which is as much to do with the value of the land for palm oil plantations as it is cutting down trees with pretty looking grain inside them) is wiping out multiple species that are unique to that country.

The big question I think the industry has to ask itself, and the rosewood debacle has forced the industry's hand on this, is why we default to certain woods when there are multiple alternatives available? Yes, if you're buying a Martin D28 you want rosewood and mahogany in there because that's the signature sound of a D28, but why are we using those same timbers to make $150 acoustics where the target market couldn't tell you rosewood from other dark looking hardwoods in a month of sundays? I guarantee Fender haven't seen any measurable loss in business from using laurel on Squier and cheap Fender acoustics, and I'm sceptical there's been that much push back on pau ferro on the MiM stuff beyond a few sulks on forums.

I think that's the shift we'll see in the medium term: premium instruments will continue to be made from traditionally prized timbers and the majority of those timbers will be available for some time yet, but the budget stuff will start to move more aggressively towards alternatives. It might mean paying a little more but you'll still be able to buy rosewood and mahogany guitars if that's your preference.

 

[Leveraged Sellout]

I'm buying as many guitars as I can before all types of wooden instruments are banned and only available for viewing/playing in museums. I'm not interested in letting all you rando's put your grubby little fingers on my wood when we all line up for our daily allowance of guitar playing at the local guitar bureau in the future. ONLY I TOUCH MY OWN WOOD...my wife won't touch my wood anymore either .

 

[Johnny Ballache]

pickleweed, how many guitars do you already own

 

[stilesg57]

This “get it while you still can” mentality combined with “get what you want now before the kids show up” has not been good for controlling my guitar or gun collections the past couple years...

 

[pickleweed]

pickleweed, how many guitars do you already own

3.

And I know without a shadow of a doubt i have no shortage of quality instruments I already own.

It was just a thought

 

[Johnny Ballache]

pickleweed, 3 may be enough...but I suggest it isn't. My suggestion is don't worry about anything made new anyways- go for the old stuff.

 

[PremiumMember]

that sounds like a good plan:

Too late! Obviously

 

[Well Done]

Here before the lock