Ebony vs rosewood on electrics

Of course its wood, but as you know, not all wood is the same. But if we keep using hardwoods like Ebony, Mahogany, Spruce etc. unsustainably, there won't be any left. That's what the fuss is about.

I've read a little about the Gibson case now. It seems that, while they probably did get the Ebony from Madagascar where harvest of Ebony is illegal, the law regarding this isn't enforcible in US.
 
I think people worrying about wood is about as silly as it gets. I understand the worry about "sustainability", which I think is an idiotic trendy hipster catchphrase anyway that's applied to fucking everything, but I facepalm the fact that people worry about "tonewood" and the appearance of a fretboard or top. That's just me. I'm of the belief that none of that shit matters. I personally don't care about quilted maple tops and ebony fretboards. If sustainability is a problem, then people need to get over their moronic hangups about how wood looks.
 
Fingers, pickups, amplifier. Those are the three things that matter most, assuming your guitar is constructed properly. The rest is mostly snake oil, IMO
 
Well sustainability might be an annoying catchphrase but its pretty basic really - don't use stuff to the point where you're gonna make it extinct.

I agree, that most of what is written about Tonewood is bollocks and an Ebony fretboard won't make a blind bit of difference to the tone of a guitar. I'd chose Ebony for a fretboard just 'cos its the nicest feeling fretboard wood; I just think that its important that the wood we use is sustainably sourced a) so it doesn't run out and b) so it doesn't lead to environmental damage in the country that you get it from.

My next guitar is gonna be made out of maple, ebony, ash and elm. I did enquire as to the source of the Ebony when I ordered it, but there's not a lot else you can do really as there's no "stamp of approval" type thing as you'd get with something like diamonds. He knew all about legality of Ebony and could describe how he sourced it etc - but I suppose he could have just been lying.

I didn't actually realise when I ordered it that English Elm is actually pretty rare too.
 
JDOD said:
Well sustainability might be an annoying catchphrase but its pretty basic really - don't use stuff to the point where you're gonna make it extinct.

I agree, that most of what is written about Tonewood is bollocks and an Ebony fretboard won't make a blind bit of difference to the tone of a guitar. I'd chose Ebony for a fretboard just 'cos its the nicest feeling fretboard wood; I just think that its important that the wood we use is sustainably sourced a) so it doesn't run out and b) so it doesn't lead to environmental damage in the country that you get it from.
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What about the poor fucks that get paid to cut those trees down? In a way, your tree hugging sustainability crusade can be devastating to a human, families. What a conundrum.

My next guitar is gonna be made out of maple, ebony, ash and elm. I did enquire as to the source of the Ebony when I ordered it, but there's not a lot else you can do really as there's no "stamp of approval" type thing as you'd get with something like diamonds. He knew all about legality of Ebony and could describe how he sourced it etc - but I suppose he could have just been lying.

I didn't actually realise when I ordered it that English Elm is actually pretty rare too.
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Ah, that's what I figured. So it's only important that others actually act on your concerns about endangered woods and sustainability. :laughings:
 
Greg_L said:
What about the poor fucks that get paid to cut those trees down? In a way, your tree hugging sustainability crusade can be devastating to a human, families. What a conundrum.
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Quite the opposite - they'll have fuck all left to harvest if it all gets chopped down. Chop less of it down, do it sustainably and charge more for it. They'll have an industry for future generations.
 
Greg_L said:
Ah, that's what I figured. So it's only important that others actually act on your concerns about endangered woods and sustainability. :laughings:
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To be honest I didn't actually start considering it that seriously until after I had ordered the guitar, I just wanted to check it was sustainable - I didn't realise how rare Ebony actually is. I was telling my bro in law about it (he's Kenyan) and he was explaining to me how dire the situation is getting with some hardwoods. I had assumed that guitars were such a small user that it wouldn't have an impact - I didn't realise just how little was left.
 
JDOD said:
Quite the opposite - they'll have fuck all left to harvest if it all gets chopped down. Chop less of it down, do it sustainably and charge more for it. They'll have an industry for future generations.
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Instead of going fullbore greenpeace hippie with it, why can't someone develop a way to determine if a tree is desirable before cutting it down? Like a core sample or something. What else is ebony wood used for anyway? Fretboards alone can't be the only thing causing them to be endangered.
 
Greg_L said:
Instead of going fullbore greenpeace hippie with it, why can't someone develop a way to determine if a tree is desirable before cutting it down? Like a core sample or something. What else is ebony wood used for anyway? Fretboards alone can't be the only thing causing them to be endangered.
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Taylor have starting using all Ebony that is cut down - not just the black stuff. Was watching a video with Bob Taylor and he said that less than 1 in 10 trees were actually used after they were cut down 'cos they weren't black (they had some striping). He said, fuck that, I'll use all of it. Personally, I wouldn't give a fuck if there was some grey or cream striping through my ebony providing it performs the same.

I think instruments is now one of the major uses, used to be in furniture and stuff, but there's not enough left. I think its now limited to instruments and ornamental useage.

Here is is if you have 10 minutes to spare:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anCGvfsBoFY
Like I said, I don't know if he genuinely cares about the environment or if he's spotted a way of cornering the market - probably somewhere in between.
 
Greg_L said:
So they cut down ten trees to use one? Lol. Hilarious. People are so retarded.
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Yeah, its fucking mental isn't it. They'd cut it down, see that it wasn't all black and just leave it there. Fucking idiots.
 
JDOD said:
Yeah, its fucking mental isn't it. They'd cut it down, see that it wasn't all black and just leave it there. Fucking idiots.
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Yeah, I don't care about hot-button hipster ideas like sustainability, but I don't support mindless waste either. In my opinion, use all the fucking ebony you want, just be less stupid about it. Like I said earlier, there has to be way to determine if a tree is desirable or not without chopping it down.
 
Greg_L said:
Yeah, I don't care about hot-button hipster ideas like sustainability, but I don't support mindless waste either
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I think a lot of sustainability is avoiding mindless waste really. If you start using every tree instead of 1 in 10 then you immediately start cutting down 90% less trees than you were previously. Good, eh?

I know you don't like "sustainability" 'cos its percieved as hipster and fashionable by white people with dreadlocks but really its just good for the environment and good for all of us (including business) in the long term.
 
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