taylor The Ebony Project - Taylor Guitar

[Randy120]

https://www.taylorguitars.com/ebonyproject?utm_source=email_tg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=apr18_insider

Bob Taylor on efforts to provide quality wood for guitars today and in the future.

[NeilES335]

A really interesting article. An amazing effort for a guitar company to be ecologically and socially responsible. Well worth the look.  While I've not so far been a fan of Taylor's guitars, I think I may look at them a bit differently from now on.

[Nutty1]

8 hours ago, NeilES335 said:

A really interesting article. An amazing effort for a guitar company to be ecologically and socially responsible. Well worth the look.  While I've not so far been a fan of Taylor's guitars, I think I may look at them a bit differently from now on.

That is exactly what I thought too. Well done Taylor guitars!

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

@NeilES335 too bad you didn't come to LM downtown with me on the Taylor show. 

They had that mixed ebony guitar there.... nice

[Plantsman13]

I do own a few Taylors and have only good things to say about the quality of build.  That said, I admire Bob Taylor's approach to sustainability in woods used in guitar building.  We have seen Brazilian and Madagascar rosewood supplies dwindle in our lifetime and we owe our children's children the opportunity to play and experience the joy of playing guitars built with these legendary materials.  New tone woods are being utilized to fill the void and we hear such people as Bob Taylor speak of investing in maple tree farms he will not live to see harvested in eighty (80) years.  Native maple tree stands yield less than five (5) percent of guitar quality wood, or so I recall, and such farming techniques hope to explode that percentage for future production.  High demand and low yield is not a good formula for the future of guitar building as we have come to admire.

[Randy120]

I have read about Taylor's efforts to increase the available woods for guitars for the last few years. Taylor is working with new sources for Ebony, Maple, and Spruce. We need more executives that think like Bob Taylor. Too many people think it isn't a big deal to cut down forests for profit. Sustainability is a winner for us all. Quality wood is a must have for all the guitar manufacturers.  

[Six String]

3 hours ago, Randy120 said:

I have read about Taylor's efforts to increase the available woods for guitars for the last few years. Taylor is working with new sources for Ebony, Maple, and Spruce. We need more executives that think like Bob Taylor. Too many people think it isn't a big deal to cut down forests for profit. Sustainability is a winner for us all. Quality wood is a must have for all the guitar manufacturers.  

And on the other end of the spectrum we have done away with biodegradable, renewable paper bags for petroleum based plastic bags that will litter our planet for generations. Executives in all kinds of industries need to get on board before its too late.  Paper bags come from fast growing pulpwoods, so its less of a daunting issue than growing new trees for guitars.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Six String

[Randy120]

Yes, and paper is highly recyclable. I have been using reusable shopping bags for years. I get irritated when a cashier tries to bag a single item. My standard line is "I don't need a bag".  

[John Wells]

I bought my first Taylor, a 712-CE, more years ago than I care to remember, and one of the perks was a lifetime subscription to Taylor "Wood & Steel." This ecological thing about preserving tone woods in foreign jungles is nothing new to Bob Taylor; he's been at it for years. While ebony is the preferred wood for fingerboards, I have a custom Tele with a solid maple neck, and a maple fingerboard is as durable and comfortable as my ebony ones. I can remember when lignum vitae (ironwood) was used in ship propeller shaft bearings. Tempus fugit!  Lotsa luck.

[Randy120]

@John Wells Yeah, I always enjoy Wood & Steel magazine when it arrives in my mailbox. I wouldn't want a Tele or a Strat with anything other than the standard Maple neck.