New CITES regulations..impact on musical instruments?

CatStrangler

CatStrangler

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So I've been following a thread on TGP

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/interesting-news-about-rosewood.1771538/

All Dalbergia will be listed in Cites appendix II (Nigra Appendix I) as of January 2017:

https://www.fws.gov/international/plants/wood-and-other-tree-products.html

As most manufacturers are using Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), this may create some supply issues. My impression is that imports are are not as much of an issue as exports, any experts in the audience who can comment?
 
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This is going to be the battle of my generation. I'm only 24 so I think I'll live to see this kind of stuff become a big deal.

Already there is pretty massive deforestation of the beautiful and important hardwood trees in the world's jungles. As much as I love what beautiful hard woods can do for instruments, I think there will probably be a big effort to recycle old guitars and old wood as well as development of new materials to replicate the tones that wood can make.

Just the tip of the ice berg.
 
PRSh has actually been ahead of the curve on this, somewhat. I've watched demos he's done at Experience where he's shown various woods and tapped on them to show how they ring, but because they're not rosewood/mahoghany/maple, people just don't want to accept them. There was one demo where he tapped a couple neck blanks. The mahogany one sounded okay, but there was a different wood that rang beautifully. He asked which blank people thought would make a more musical instrument, and everyone picked the one that rang out, and he said, "Then why won't you buy it?" That's one of the lessons that has stuck with me over the years, and I tried to keep it in mind when I was specing my PS. I have my preferences, but I tried not to stay locked into them and keep tone as my driving force.
 
alantig said:
PRSh has actually been ahead of the curve on this, somewhat. I've watched demos he's done at Experience where he's shown various woods and tapped on them to show how they ring, but because they're not rosewood/mahoghany/maple, people just don't want to accept them. There was one demo where he tapped a couple neck blanks. The mahogany one sounded okay, but there was a different wood that rang beautifully. He asked which blank people thought would make a more musical instrument, and everyone picked the one that rang out, and he said, "Then why won't you buy it?" That's one of the lessons that has stuck with me over the years, and I tried to keep it in mind when I was specing my PS. I have my preferences, but I tried not to stay locked into them and keep tone as my driving force.
Click to expand...

Do you remember what the other wood was?
 
There are a few one offs and PS guitars with katalox necks for example...
 
But what will happen to all those guitars that were built prior to these CITES restrictions? They would not be able to travel internationally at all?
If someone wanted to send an old PRS to the PTC for a service, or if someone wants to sell an old used one with a rosewood neck, or an '87 with a BRW fretboard?
Would something like this be even possible internationally?
 
Jazzedout said:
But what will happen to all those guitars that were built prior to these CITES restrictions? They would not be able to travel internationally at all?
If someone wanted to send an old PRS to the PTC for a service, or if someone wants to sell an old used one with a rosewood neck, or an '87 with a BRW fretboard?
Would something like this be even possible internationally?
Click to expand...

You will have to apply for a "preconvention" certificate for every guitar that needs to cross a border and include it with the shipping documentation. This will mean any guitar with any kind of rosewood made prior to Jan 2, 2017. BRW has a different set of rules, mind you as it'a been listed a lot longer.

Here in the U.K. certs are issued by DEFRA. They cost £31 and in most cases take several months to issue (and they are expecting for the wait to get worse, not better). Not something you can arrange on the spur-of-the-moment.

The "workaround", if you will, is that you can hand-carry instruments with the listed woods without papers across borders. It's only when they are shipped via a third party you need the extra work done.
 
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