composite woods

nepalnt21

nepalnt21

HamerTimeologist
so the problem of deforestation, and this talk of the lacey whatevers has me pretty interested in new forms of wood with sustainability in mind. they have these composite woods out now, just wondering if anyone has heard about them.

like the flaxwood guitars or hemp fiber woods

(sorry if this has been brought up already, the search function still doesnt work for me)
 
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Re: composite woods

Flaxwood guitars are supposed to be amazing. I haven't tried one, but I'd love to. How great would it be to be able to buy a guitar sight unseen and actually know what it sounds like and vibrates like beforehand? With some of these composite products, that could very well be a reality.
 
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I dunno that composite woods are actually a necessity for sustainable guitar manufacturing. Woods like maple, alder, and ash are abundant enough and the fact is that musical instrument manufacturing is a small fraction of demand for most threatened woods like mahogany and certain rosewoods.

IMO, the real issue isn't so much the availability of alternatives as it is guitarists' reluctance to accept equipment that doesn't ape what guitar heroes were playing in 1967. Too many players would rather have a guitar made with crappy mahogany than a nicer piece of a less traditional wood. Would limba even be considered a tonewood if it wasn't for a few cool guitars that Gibson built half a century ago?

The sooner we stop obsessing over aping our predecessors, the better off the musical instrument business--and probably the music business--will be.
 
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I agree 100% with this statement.


aleclee said:
I dunno that composite woods are actually a necessity for sustainable guitar manufacturing. Woods like maple, alder, and ash are abundant enough and the fact is that musical instrument manufacturing is a small fraction of demand for most threatened woods like mahogany and certain rosewoods.

IMO, the real issue isn't so much the availability of alternatives as it is guitarists' reluctance to accept equipment that doesn't ape what guitar heroes were playing in 1967. Too many players would rather have a guitar made with crappy mahogany than a nicer piece of a less traditional wood. Would limba even be considered a tonewood if it wasn't for a few cool guitars that Gibson built half a century ago?

The sooner we stop obsessing over aping our predecessors, the better off the musical instrument business--and probably the music business--will be.
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aleclee said:
I dunno that composite woods are actually a necessity for sustainable guitar manufacturing. Woods like maple, alder, and ash are abundant enough and the fact is that musical instrument manufacturing is a small fraction of demand for most threatened woods like mahogany and certain rosewoods.
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well sure, furniture companies are the biggest perps, arent they? if i had it my way, no trees would have to be cut down anymore for use as a resource.

deforestation is more than just cutting down endangered species of trees... you have to take into account the damage done to the ecosystem as a whole: animals relocated and killed, the soil completely ruined and killed (soil is a living system, as well).

but the fact is, if we can find new ways of using material like hemp, wheat straw, and other quick-growing fibers, we can make a mark, no matter if it is only in musical instrument making right now.

every little bit counts.

i personally think it is very cool, and will support it when i can.
 
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What's the problem with using faster-growing trees that can be sustainably utilized for wood?
 
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I'm certainly not opposed to it, in fact I'm interested to see how guitar manufacturers apply it. Will it be more of a PR coup for some than an actual reduction in deforestation? I don't know. Will it lead to greater consistency in weight, feel, resonance? That would be cool. (Maybe.)

I'm still kind of old-fashioned, though. I like that most musical instruments (with strings, anyway) are still made mainly of wood -- a natural, fickle, inconsistent material that comes from living things that grow in the dirt. And if trees are going to continue to be cut down, I can't think of a better reason.

We'll see.
 
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aleclee said:
What's the problem with using faster-growing trees that can be sustainably utilized for wood?
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the problem is when this is done by encroaching on established forests.

tree farms i suppose are a good alternative to clear-cutting, but i would assume that growing things like hemp for their fiber to be made into wood composites yields much more material in the same amount of time. whereas it may take a tree (i dunno, im guessing) maybe 10 or 15 years to be the right size to yield enough wood, you can grow two, maybe three crops of hemp per year, probably more in temperate and tropical areas.

the problem with growing a bunch of trees and then cutting them down is, after season upon season, growing, cutting, growing, cutting... the soil becomes depleted. it isnt just a matter of adding back the nutrients... any forested area takes a VERY long time to get to a state where it can produce its own food for itself (you have to take into account insects and other tiny critters, bacteria, shrubs, vines, mosses, and EXTREMELY important, fungi).

with traditional farming, you can grow a quick growing crop, be done in less than a few months, move to a different plot and let the first plot go fallow, allowing it to regenerate (or grow a cover crop).

with trees, this just doesnt seem feasible to me.
 
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I think you overestimate the impact of tree harvesting. Also, many traditional fiber plants are about the worst thing for soil. Cotton comes to mind.

If you're removing all/most of the plants for the purpose of fiber on a seasonal basis, I don't think you're being as kind to the land as you may think. Leaving the stuff to decompose is what restores the land. If you're grabbing it to make fiber, what's the diff?
 
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Major edit done:

He's not actually - the impact of tree removal goes far beyond what you can see and manage to usefully measure.

But I agree with you with your other point - cotton is terrible.
Farming practices need to change globally, not only what we grow but land management to profit everything that lives in it. A long term study of US soil conditions in farming areas showed soil structure is noticeably degraded by cultivation. This will affect the soil moisture content, microbial activity, nutrient & water holding etc etc. This could extend to any vehicular activity like logging/harvesting trucks.

Tree harvesting is a real problem, but good quality furniture and musical instruments (ie things that last a long time and have a positive impact) are the best uses of timber I can think of. The worst tree removal I can think of is in Rainforest or its surrounds - remove just one aspect (tree cover for example) and it loses the ability for the area to be rainforest again. Its a closed system which needs every aspect of its makeup to survive. The Amazonian basin is a really terrifying situation as the soil (in the absence of its rainforest conditions) is actually poor and grows open forest poorly.
 
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Guitars made form sawdust sound like sh!t.


Try a Martin DX series. Then try a Martin laminated DM series, After that try a Martin solid wood series. That sawdust DX sounds like sawdust.
 
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There are other woods that are not used in guitar building that can be used like chestnut and pear. Hell a lot of people are liking pine.
 
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You wanna slow down deforestation and do all kinds of great things for the environment? Stop buying corn-based products. Over-production/over use of corn is terrible for the environment and is easily reversed if all of us consumers get on board.

If we all stopped eating mass produced beef and things with high fructose corn syrup in them, that would be a start. Getting the government to stop subsidizing ethanol would be very beneficial as well.

Rain forests are being cut to produce CHEAP corn and CHEAP beef...two things we don't need more of.

Shipping alder and maple to China to build $100 strats doesn't seem like the greatest idea, either.
 
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For "solid body" electric guitars, i say, when woods are not an option any more, go the Blade way - 100% carbon.
I really like this guitar.
Just add some "futuristic-looking" pick up, like Lace Alumitones and you are good to go !

My 2cnts
;)
 
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^ If the thing makes music, why the hell not?
 
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I've played the Blade- and almost bought one right from the rep- but my bank account couldn't take it, even if it was super cheap. If they start making them again, I'd certainly get one. My Adamas acoustic has a carbon fiber top, and there is carbon fiber and phenolic in my Steinbergers.
 
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Mincer said:
I've played the Blade- and almost bought one right from the rep- but my bank account couldn't take it, even if it was super cheap. If they start making them again, I'd certainly get one. My Adamas acoustic has a carbon fiber top, and there is carbon fiber and phenolic in my Steinbergers.
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Good to know - i still want to get a Blade - someday.

Tel me abit more about the Carbon-rop'ed acoustics.
Never tried one, buit always wanted.
Youtube clips sound bad.
How would a carbaon top's tone differ from a wooden top - in general ?
 
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