Taylor guitars leading the way

Jolly good luck to them, a very worthy endeavour.

Absolutely!

All very laudable, but it's worth pointing out that they still may well fall foul of the Lacey Act, if the federal authorities decide to investigate, as Gibson found out to their cost a few years ago.

If they are harvesting sustainably, then they must be replanting. Can they breed for blacker heartwood?

Great guitars. Wish them well.

JRHardee posted:

If they are harvesting sustainably, then they must be replanting. Can they breed for blacker heartwood?

I'm pretty sure they could just stain the wood if people insist on black. In my view, sustainable tropical hardwood is pretty much a contradiction in terms, but nonetheless, all credit to Taylor for making a big push in the right direction.

I recall reading on the Taylor website a few years ago about the difficulty Taylor was experiencing in obtaining black ebony and that they were planning to use ebony with various coloured or white streaks. Whilst this can look very attractive in a turntable plinth (some Woodsong plinths for LP12 use such ebony to great effect), it just doesn't look right on a premier league musical instrument IMHO - imagine a violin with a stripy fingerboard. But the slow growth rate of ebony means that the chance of obtaining 'sustainably sourced' timbers in my lifetime is low. Luckily my current Taylor guitar, which I've had since 2004, has a pure black fingerboard, as did my former T-5 Koa (shown in my current avatar)  but I fear instrument makers will now have to look elsewhere and players will have to adapt their expectations. 

"Players will have to adapt their expectations" is right IMHO.  (And I'm a guitar player / owner.) 

Times change. When buying African souvenirs, it is common to scratch a non-showing area to see the true colour. Years ago, this was to make sure the wood WAS ebony; but now it is to make sure it isn't!

Good link Paul. Will Naim do something similar with tantalum (a conflict resource) ?