Jump to content

Bob Taylor and the future of Ebony


Help!I'maRock!

Recommended Posts

  • Members

[video=youtube;anCGvfsBoFY]

 

saw this on TGP and thought it could use a repost here.

 

i've never before said that i'm proud to own a certain brand, and i'm not much for brand loyalty. every company has their variances in quality, their miscues, and their controversies. my Taylor 414ce might even be on the lower end of the spectrum visually because it has some streaks in the top. but today, i'm proud to own a Taylor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 100
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

Awesome....! Great video. I'm going to take him at his word. This is the kind of honest and open marketing that just doesn't exist with certain other companies.

 

Lay it out for people. Give them the facts as they stand, and allow consumers to make a choice based on education. I think that nearly everyone..knowing whats really going on will choose to make the ethical choice.

 

I'm the biggest corporate bashing poster on HCEG, but I have huge respect for companies with leaders who DO understand the reality of what's happening on earth and are taking steps to remold their companies to be conscious and proactive about sustainability, and environmentalism.

 

They are a small segment...but growing fast in all areas....it is the future.

 

Spread this video people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Brilliant. I'd rather have wood that sounds the same rather than wood that looks the same.

 

I only wish that with all this extra wood around now Taylor guitars started getting a little cheaper ;)

 

It's amazing to think that 100yrs ago people were making desks and panelling rooms in rosewood and now there's not enough left for fingerboards. Something has to be done and it's good to see that Taylor have started.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I only wish that with all this extra wood around now Taylor guitars started getting a little cheaper
;)
.

 

if the wood was free, a mid end taylor would drop $100 in price at the most. wood is negligable in the total price of a guitar.

 

ive always liked taylors videos. hes just "blunt" and you always learn something new.

 

i didnt realise they actually just wasted trees and left them in the forest. id always imagined the "reject" wood would have just gone to other suppliers with lower colour demands. i guess for ebony, theres a very narrow market.

 

so many ebony fretboards on comercial instruments are dyed these days, i dont think this decision to use the "b grade" logs is relevant at all to the guitar maker / buyer. quite relevant to the forest though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Good video! Shows that environmental responsibility and capitalism can exist together.

 

Dying is a very viable alternative. The only way one could tell would be by cutting into it or doing a chemical analysis. I doubt that many companies are currently dying ebony. The ebony fretboard blanks I've gotten from Stew-Mac and LMI recently have not been dyed, and they have all been pure jet black. I can still buy pure black ebony billets from my local wood store, but I am also seeing more ebony with coloration. My prediction is that we will see more and more of the colored ebony, and the pure black stuff will demand a premium price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'm kind of curious.

 

If Cameroon is the last place to legally supply ebony and the demand is so great, why hasn't the price of black ebony risen to the point where streaky ebony has become an economically viable alternative?

 

We're seeing it become the alternative due to Bob's action as the benevolent monopoly his company seems to be, but I would think market forces should have taken it there sooner. Especially with the global regulations around traceability from seedling to finished product (that would have pleased an Ent) affecting the cost of the product, if not the price from the loggers themselves.

 

Just walking through Home Depot shows how prices help make an economic decision- I'll go with the cheap 2x4s for my project.

 

I wonder what the actual supply is, what its diminish rate is; what the change in price of ebony has been over the last 20-30 years relative to general inflation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...