{"id":8599,"date":"2017-12-12T14:30:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T22:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=8599"},"modified":"2017-12-13T10:46:29","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T18:46:29","slug":"rodriguez-guitars-has-an-eye-on-the-future-as-it-celebrates-its-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/rodriguez-guitars-has-an-eye-on-the-future-as-it-celebrates-its-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodriguez Guitars Has An Eye on the Future as It Celebrates Its Past"},"content":{"rendered":"
From the Winter 2017 issue of <\/a>Classical Guitar\u00a0<\/em>| BY OLLIE MCGHEE<\/h6>\n

In 2009, Federal Agents from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service gained access to and seized woods, documents, and guitars from Gibson\u00a0Guitars\u2019 Massman Road facility in Nashville. Gibson was being investigated for violating the Lacey Act (a U.S. Conservation law) by importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar. This was well documented at the time, and Gibson ended up paying their dues, but this story is the tip of a much more widespread issue facing guitar makers worldwide, especially in the classical guitar industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manuel Rodriguez III is passionate about sustainability and the guitar. As we speak on a slightly crackly telephone line, he is promoting his latest range of guitars in Cornwall, England. \u201cThe problem with Indian rosewood is worldwide and not going away,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Indian Rosewood in Africa, for instance, is just being killed<\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Builsa South, Ghana, in July of this year, a Member of Parliament called on the Bureau of National Investigations to look into\u00a0 <\/span>the illegal logging of rosewood. The MP described it as \u201csheer greed for money and insensitivity to and total disregard for the fragile ecosystem of Builsa South.\u201d One estimate states that China\u2014one of the leading manufacturers of classical and acoustic guitars\u2014 imports nearly 96 percent of all rosewood from Ghana. This comes after Ghana\u2019s government supposedly banned the export of all rosewood in January 2017 and gave the Forestry Commission a directive to cease issuing felling permits for rosewood.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one point in Rodriguez\u2019s recent history, the storied Spanish company moved some of its production to China. \u201cThe dollar was so bad with the euro that we had to make the move,\u201d Manuel Rodriguez says. \u201cWe\u2019d survived two world wars and one civil war; we couldn\u2019t let the company go just like that. Now we\u2019ve moved everything back\u2014everything is made in Spain. We have 52 luthiers. But 90 percent of all instruments in the world are made in China\u2014we must battle that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While many countries and continents around the world have laws and acts in place to prevent illegal imports, China itself has no real timber legality framework or legislation to prevent importation of illegal timber or timber products. And therein lies the problem.<\/p>\n

China has purportedly been working to resolve this. Even \u201cThe Implementation Regulation of Forest Law of China,\u201d <\/i>issued in 2000, stated that timber procurement groups and individuals should not purchase timber without a harvesting license or other proof of legal origin. But with the lack of an effective law enforcement system in place, little has been done to achieve this outcome. <\/span><\/p>\n

A recent report on the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) shows that illegal logging in the EU is abundant too, but there is enforcement. In Austria, Interpol seized 60 tons of illegal timber as part of a global operation. As a consequence, FSC has disassociated itself from a company linked to illegal logging practices in Romania.<\/span><\/p>\n

When any of this wood is presented to luthiers, it can look just like the legal species. \u201cThe way to control this is through suppliers,\u201d Rodriguez says, \u201cnot the guitar makers. We guitar manufacturers cannot control this. It\u2019s an issue hopefully going to be discussed by CITES [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora] at the Geneva Convention this year. They decide which woods will be protected and which will not; which woods can be used for manufacturing as selected by the wood brokers, who then sell the wood to us. Everything could change. The musician shouldn\u2019t be having to deal with this [by choosing to buy guitars made from one wood over another].<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe second-hand guitar market is booming worldwide for all sorts of guitars,\u201d he adds. \u201cOurs is the second-oldest brand of guitars in the world\u2014since 1905, so 112 years. Everywhere I go, I see more and more people are buying up older instruments. One of the main reasons for this is that these old instruments weren\u2019t CITES-controlled\u2014and<\/i> they sound better. People are buying all second-hand guitars: brands including Gibson, Fender, Martin, Taylor. Customers want the played-in sound\u2014so that is what we luthiers are all trying to achieve, and it\u2019s a way for guitarists to avoid all this mess [of sustainability].<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have to cut down trees to use for building, we make sure we plant more. We always use FSC woods and, wherever possible, dead wood. We can source all wood that is 100 percent [certified]<\/span>\u2014ebony, mahogany, cedar, etc. The labels on all our guitars show what percentage of wood is FSC-certified. We are now working toward an exciting new model, which is made from 100 percent FSC-certified wood and laminated\u2014this will be due for release at the next NAMM show,\u201d Rodriguez says.<\/p>\n

Another obvious solution to work around endangered wood issues is to use more locally sourced woods. Rodriguez\u2019s response is confident: \u201cWe have to use tropical-sounding woods\u2014they are the best-sounding woods in the world. Some European woods are good, such as maple, spruce, and walnut. But the amount of wood the guitar industry uses is nothing compared to the Chinese market. Our market is considerably smaller; their market is geared around making furniture for domestic use and in hospitals and airports.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also programs out there, such as the Leonardo Guitar Research Project, that are experimenting with building from nontropical woods. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful idea,\u201d Rodriguez says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with Bolivian eucalyptus\u2014it\u2019s a beautiful wood and makes amazing-sounding backs and sides. And it\u2019s a fast-growing tree. We have to investigate other resources. It\u2019s not easy, though, as the guitar has to be light, so we can\u2019t use heavy woods. Taylor is planting ebony in other countries, and these are small trees. The more they plant, the more business they get\u2014we must think that way, to plant more trees around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a really interesting video about the guitar-making process at MR Guitars:<\/em>
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