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Mike Duncan

DGT Player
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
2,271
Location
South Riding, VA
[h=2]How old is the average tree is that’s used for guitar construction and how long it’s been cut? I’ve always wondered at what age a tree is able to be made into a guitar.[/h][h=4]From Mike Duncan, Signature Club member from the beginning, owns 3 DGT models.[/h]Paul: The average time between when wood is cut to guitar production is about four years but again it depends upon the wood. How old is the wood? I have no idea. This is a good question for Michael Reid.

Michael Reed, PRS Senior Wood Manager: Depending on the type of wood and the age of the tree, it can vary quite a bit. The mahogany we use is generally 50–100 years old when it’s cut. Almost all of the mahogany we use now is FSC–certified (Forest Stewardship Council) and comes from Central America with a small amount coming out of Peru. The maple we use for our tops and necks is generally about the same age. The spruce we use for Acoustics is also FSC–certified and tends to be a little older, generally around 150–175 years old. Anything that comes from new wood goes through a lengthy drying process that can take up to a year in some cases. We do sometimes have salvaged wood and also reclaimed wood as well. All of our Brazilian rosewood falls into this category. Some may have been cut as long ago as 150–175 years. Our Indian rosewood comes from plantation grown trees generally not much older than 50 years, and some from wild trees that grew in India that the government harvests and sells at auction. All wild rosewood trees in India are owned by the government and are carefully managed for sustainability, so the supply there is very stable. We obviously have many other types of wood we use, but that is at least a brief overview.
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That's interesting that they are back using Honduran mahogany. For several years they were using the African variety.
 
That's interesting that they are back using Honduran mahogany. For several years they were using the African variety.

We've never dropped South American mahogany from our line up. We do use some African as well, but we've never been exclusively African Mahogany.
 
I dug around until I found a CD-single with the acoustic version of that song. Not a big REM fan, but I love that song and especially the acoustic version.
 
We've never dropped South American mahogany from our line up. We do use some African as well, but we've never been exclusively African Mahogany.

I prefer African. Hog sounds better when a rhino has touched it.

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