Reidys says "no more rosewood" from Fender on most models

bluechargeboy · April 2017

Probably just applies to the USA models that they secretly make in Mexico, where they filmed the moon landings.

MattFGBI · April 2017

bluechargeboy said:

Probably just applies to the USA models that they secretly make in Mexico, where they filmed the moon landings.

Spot on. We're switching to "moon rock" fretboards. Hand crafted in zero gravity, tone for days etc.

On a more serious note, there are a lot of challenges with rosewood this year. We will be looking to use other woods where appropriate but won't be stopping all together.

olafgarten · April 2017

I think the industry should move towards things like Rocklite. It's a better substitute than just using maple, I think fretboard wood is for most people a cosmetic thing rather than them thinking it changes the tone.

But with all this new regulation coming in, the guitar industry is going to have to change very quickly. How long until someone decides to add Mahogany to CITES, and when will the EU decide to ban Valves for being inefficient?

professorben · April 2017

As the years pass I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get good wood.

Im not sure what this has to do with CITES tho???

fandango · April 2017

If the Wood Database is correct, Pau Ferro is "vulnerable", so don't go pinning your hopes on Pau Ferro to replace Rosewood.

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/restricted-and-endangered-wood-species/

earwighoney · April 2017

olafgarten said:

But with all this new regulation coming in, the guitar industry is going to have to change very quickly. How long until someone decides to add Mahogany to CITES, and when will the EU decide to ban Valves for being inefficient?

Honduran Mahogany is on Appendix II of CITES.

ICBM · April 2017

I think baked maple is probably the way forward as a rosewood substitute, and Richlite for ebony.

I agree to an extent about the guitar industry not being the worst problem in terms of the bulk of the use, but in fact guitar manufacture is horrendously wasteful terms of the proportion of the wood which ends up in the finished product too, so I'm not convinced an exemption would be justified - although I'm equally not convinced that banning it all is the right way either, as already said.

crunchman · April 2017

olafgarten said:

when will the EU decide to ban Valves for being inefficient?

Given that we'll be outside, we'll be able to take all their valve amps off their hands for peanuts.

olafgarten · April 2017

crunchman said:

olafgarten said:

when will the EU decide to ban Valves for being inefficient?

Given that we'll be outside, we'll be able to take all their valve amps off their hands for peanuts.

Being outside or in isn't the issue, it pretty much means that a huge market will be shut off and some manufacturers will stop producing them. And with the trend of the US copying everything Europe does, soon there will be no market at all.

jeztone2 · April 2017

Why isn't the guitar industry using PR to make the public aware of this mess? I don't get it. I'm sure CITES & various authorities would be more efficient if they got called out for hampering trade???

stickyfiddle · April 2017

As someone living somewhere with no good guitar shops this is more than a bit annoying as anything I buy I'd have to import.
I guess the next stuff I hanker for will have to have maple or ebony boards then!

guitars4you · April 2017

stickyfiddle said:

As someone living somewhere with no good guitar shops this is more than a bit annoying as anything I buy I'd have to import.
I guess the next stuff I hanker for will have to have maple or ebony boards then!

Ref a guitar with rosewood - you can actual travel/fly from the UK to the Middle East with a guitar that is yours - but any dealer sending it via a courier would need additional paperwork from CITES - can take 2-4 weeks to arrive and cost a bit extra - can't recall export licence but around £40-60

stickyfiddle · April 2017

guitars4you said:

stickyfiddle said:

As someone living somewhere with no good guitar shops this is more than a bit annoying as anything I buy I'd have to import.
I guess the next stuff I hanker for will have to have maple or ebony boards then!

Ref a guitar with rosewood - you can actual travel/fly from the UK to the Middle East with a guitar that is yours - but any dealer sending it via a courier would need additional paperwork from CITES - can take 2-4 weeks to arrive and cost a bit extra - can't recall export licence but around £40-60

Cheers. That was my understanding. So if buying anything high-end it's not a dealbreaker it anything sub-1k it starts becoming a bigger chunk of the cost.

FWIW Coda recently quoted me £59 for the paperwork, which isn't remotely unreasonable, but obviously factors into any buying decision.

So so the answer is to buy really expensive guitars so the cost becomes insignificant, or make sure I buy in person on trips home

Whitecat · April 2017

It's the £59 plus the time too. Read recently about a guy in the US who bought something from Wildwire - Wildwire got the paperwork but it was almost a month before it could even be shipped.

gavin_axecaster · April 2017

I was told by APHA that it takes about 15 days for the import license to be processed, however you have to have the export license to apply, so you are also waiting for the processing time on that. One of my suppliers has said it's about the same for them, so you're looking at at least a month lead time for shipping, not taking into account whatever hold-up there may be in clearing customs along the way.

Jez6345789 · April 2017

Hi
I think its early days and as much as I think its a sledge hammer piece of implementation.

Having worked in an industry where everything was pretty much Cites based it will all shake down.

Reidy are just trying to cash in

Fender are trying to get themselves a bit of a green halo and keep there cost base as low as possible.

The current backlog of product and delays and everything being hand inspected will die away once the procedures are in line and suppliers have trusted status and ship by the rules.

12-18 months from now it will all be part of doing business

Whitecat · May 2017

https://blog.andertons.co.uk/guitars/fender-rosewood

Voxman · May 2017

Well, I think I have all the guitars I need and I tend to buy pre-owned gear anyway, so if new guitars don't come with rosewood or ebony fingerboards I doubt I'm going to be directly impacted. But I wonder if all this means that the value of rosewood & ebony board guitars will increase on the used market?

Whitecat · May 2017

Ebony is fine, it's not restricted yet - as the Anderton's post I linked to confirms, the Fender American Elite series will be switching *to* ebony instead of RW.

As far as the value of rosewood, it's hard to say - the supply is suddenly a little more constrained, but at the same time the market is more limited unless you are able/willing to do the additional paperwork required to import/export. Especially if/when we leave the EU. No more selling rosewood-laden guitars overseas without additional time and expense, which limits the buyer pool somewhat.

mellowsun · May 2017

Voxman said:

Well, I think I have all the guitars I need and I tend to buy pre-owned gear anyway, so if new guitars don't come with rosewood or ebony fingerboards I doubt I'm going to be directly impacted. But I wonder if all this means that the value of rosewood & ebony board guitars will increase on the used market?

They could be harder to sell if the regulations tighten further

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Reidys says "no more rosewood" from Fender on most models

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Reidys says "no more rosewood" from Fender on *most* models

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Reidys says "no more rosewood" from Fender on most models