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Not sure how many acoustic guitar players we have reading the blog, but did you know that Greenpeace is teaming up with Fender, Gibson, Martin and Taylor to help protect the Sitka spruce tree and some tropical woods like like mahogany, ebony and rosewood, which are starting to become scarce? Yes, it seems guitar makers are finally wising up to the simple fact that if we go on logging as we have, there won’t be a future for them.
Martin, for example, has been around for 175 years. Clearly they want to be around for another 175, which is why they’re starting to change tactics.
Sitka spruce trees (that’s Sitka, Alaska, by the way, home of the new Chabon novel), used to make the soundboards in acoustic guitars that produce the richest tone, have to be at least 250 years old. If present logging conditions continue, the last of ‘em will be gone in 7 years. So, in order to ensure that doesn’t happen, Greenpeace wants logging companies to apply for certification by an environmental organization that would require the adoption of different practices. In addition to the guitar makers already named, surprise, surprise, Sting and Dave Matthews are lending their names to the effort, as well.
I’ve owned many acoustics over the years, but for some reason, my favorite is still the very first one I bought in junior high: a Canadian Seagull.
What’s your favorite?
Comments (11)
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My favorite acoustic is a black ovation celebrity deluxe I got my second year in college. It set me back six or seven hundred — a lot of money for a broke college kid. The first night I had it I was playing it on the couch and someone mistakenly thought I’d asked for a beer and threw a full (unopened) one to me. Crack! Big white ding on the black finish, with a crack in the wood underneath. It killed me for years, but I’ve grown to accept it as ‘character’. Just one of many stories that guitar has given me.
Though I’m not such a fan of the round back style, this one will always be my ‘number one’ acoustic.
posted by EV on 7-30-2007 at 8:11 am
when i was in high school, i wanted to learn how to play the guitar. the father of a friend of mine taught me a little, and loaned me his martin. he let me take it home with him. he never wanted it back. he said, “i’ll let you know when i want it back (smile).” he wasn’t a weirdo, just really nice, i guess. this was about 7 years ago and i still have it, and i’m still a beginner.
posted by katie on 7-30-2007 at 8:42 am
My Taylor 614! It’s 10 years old this year and sounding better than ever.
What’s the deal with hyper-rare/expensive Hawaiian koa wood?
posted by Ransom on 7-30-2007 at 9:31 am
My first and favourite guitar was a also a Seagull…I bought it when I first started playing (17 years ago)…unfortunately the neck has warped, forcing a rebuild, that will actually cost more than the guitar originally cost. The soundboard and top are both one piece (not split) spruce and it has the richest sound of any guitar I have heard at 4 time the price. My other guitar is a 12 string Norman, also spruce, also Canadian, eh?
posted by Chris Thorpe on 7-30-2007 at 11:19 am
A $75 Applause from a pawn shop that I bought in 1989. Not even close to the best sounding or playing guitar I’ve ever had, but my favorite.
posted by DW on 7-30-2007 at 12:36 pm
I also have a Seagull – S6. It’s got a great warm tone that doesn’t sound tinny or thin like some other economical (read: beginner) guitars can. I did have the action lowered… (guitar beginner with girly fingers.)
posted by JR on 7-30-2007 at 3:02 pm
I’ve got a $99 special Washburn acoustic. It takes a lot of work to play, but once you master it, you can play anything. It’s also got a very nice sounding buzz on most the strings that adds a very welcome exotic essence. It’s got more character than any top-quality guitar.
posted by Edward on 7-30-2007 at 5:53 pm
My favorite certainly does not have the best sound, but, short of having one made for me, it’s the only one I’ve ever found that fits me. It’s a child’s beginner guitar (small hands) strung for a left handed player.
posted by Truovrld on 7-31-2007 at 7:54 am
When I was 11 or 12, I picked up a book at my school library about Sitka, Alaska. It was an adventure for boys about my age. It was the book that started me on a future of regular and incessant reading. After that book, I almost never was/am without a book on my desk, my side-table, my nightstand.
I no longer remember the name of that book, but I remember reading it, that it was about the gold rush, and that it was set Sitka. 47 years later, the joy of reading continues, thanks to that book.
posted by WizardBoy on 7-31-2007 at 10:17 am
That’s funny, my boyfriend’s first guitar was a Seagull. It wasn’t too expensive, but has the nicest sound I’ve heard, at least from a guitar that cost less than $2000.
My first guitar was my Dad’s, a big old Yamaha that he had since the 1960s, when he was a “folkie”. It’s got tough action and doesn’t always stay in perfect tune, but I’ve mastered it, and it’s appeared on both my albums. I’ll never stop playing that guitar, even if I get a newer, fancier one.(PS I’d KILL for a Martin… and I’d love it even more if they adopt tree-friendlier tactics!)
posted by Molls on 7-31-2007 at 11:32 am
I’ve thought about Ovation or a Martin over the years, but still love my Yamaha FG412sb purchased in 1979.
posted by Vince on 8-1-2007 at 12:01 am