Tonewoods and the Lacey Act

IWPA, with support from World Resources Institute and the U.S. Agency for International Development offers a Lacey compliance course to help ease the transition into a new era of wood trading.

Dalbergia species are frequently used in Chinese deep red "Hongmu" furniture. The demand for rosewood guitars is, by contrast, relatively minor.

Brazil banned the export of Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) in 1967 and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has restricted any international trade of post-1992 wood by placing this species on Appendix I of the accord. In 2013, CITES extended this regulation to all Dalbergia species from Madagascar.

BIG-LEAF MAPLE: BOOMERS AND METH-HEADS

When you see that wavy, hypnotic pattern on the body of an electric guitar played by someone like Carlos Santana, it is very likely figured big leaf maple. This is a species native to the U.S. and an immensely popular wood, and can fill several roles on guitars, perhaps the most common being a display of its beautiful figure on the tops of electric guitars. Its strength and resistance to warping also lend it to the necks and fretboards of electric guitars, but on acoustics it is most often seen on the back and sides.

Part of the renewed interest in maple is that it is not listed as endangered under the CITES treaty. While the price of logs that exhibit curling or quilting when quarter-sawn continues to rise, maple has generally remained affordable, especially when compared to other tonewoods. The popularity of the wood, has taken a new turn in the Pacific Northwest, where it is often called "meth maple" because it has become popular among the drug community to poach the trees for some quick cash.

GUITAR CONSTRUCTION AND THE FUTURE

Despite being very different woods, both rosewood and maple bend and work fairly easily, and are both hard enough to function for the back and sides of acoustic guitars. In terms of tone, rosewood tends to be clear and strong, while maple is a little brighter, and is often preferred by country/bluegrass players. Maple requires a different type of bracing than rosewood to bring out the bass in a guitar, a challenge that has largely deterred acoustic guitar manufacturers from using the wood to its full potential. They each present a few issues of their own, with maple being prone to burns and rosewood being prone to cracking, but they share a common role on the guitar.

Both woods have been at the heart of recent and historic cases of illegal logging, and the Lacey Act ties their fates together, regardless of their different sourcing profiles. Luthiers can and will debate the different methods of working with the two woods, how the woods play into the aesthetics of a new project, and their relative merits as tonewoods, but there is no question that the first step towards the sustainability of these two very different woods is ensuring their legality. The wood industry is focused on the long-term viability of quality materials, so that we can continue to make outstanding instruments far into the future.

LACEY COMPLIANCE TRAINING

IWPA, with support from World Resources Institute and the U.S. Agency for International Development offers a Lacey compliance course to help ease the transition into a new era of wood trading. According to Cindy Squires, IWPA's Executive Director "Our goal is not another standard or certification scheme, but rather a program to arm those buying and selling wood products with the latest information about resources and procedures that will allow them to tailor a compliance system for their own market niche."

Everyone in the marketing chain of wood, from the mill to the manufacturer, should understand the sourcing of their wood in order to preserve these wonderful resources for woodworkers and guitar manufacturers of the future.

SPECIAL THANKS TO PETER TSIORBA OF TSIORBA GUITARS (WWW.TSIORBA.COM) FOR GENEROUSLY SHARING HIS EXPERTISE AS WELL AS THE PHOTOS INCLUDED IN THIS ARTICLE.