A little bit of faith in humanity restored

Ormsby guitars just posted this to facebook, and it's a really great video, reminds you just what weve got, well worth a watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anCGvfsBoFY

That is pretty cool. Good for Taylor! Personally, I don't mind a little color in the Ebony. I love natural grain. If you want a pure black fretboard - stain some Maple.

Yeah good on them for taking a stand where others might not

Amazing! New Found admiration for Bob Taylor & his company (not that I thought less of him before, but this really ups him in my eyes!)

Hmm, better stock up on some black ebony while you can. Also buy some jars of that black fretboard dye.

Actually, Taylor's figured out a great angle--didn't he say they control 75% of Cameroon's ebony production, and they WILL be selling and using the non-black stuff ? That's putting your money where your mouth is, unlike so many who know exactly what YOU should do to solve a problem they're so worried about. Good on Taylor. I don't have any objection, assuming the non-black wood has the same tone characteristics and hardness of the black stuff.

The fretboard on the guitar he was holding in the video wasn't unattractive at all. I didn't notice it wasn't all black until he pointed it out.

Very cool. In this day and age, it is good to see a company doing the right thing. Clearly Bob Taylor has read The Lorax.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

I just watched this video today! Great stuff!!

Taylor is the most consistent guitar company in the world. I have 0 Taylors, but I talk them up so much. Good look trying to find a bad Taylor.

i don't even like the all black ebony

I remember a PBS Nova show about 15 years ago, showing the Buffet Clarinet wood bell exploding while being turned on the lathe. They blamed it on the man-caused frequent burning of the grass lands stressing the woods. I am all in favor of whatever it takes to preserve the species. Perhaps Preeb can plant some seed in Israel and start a new forest for 500 years down the road? Also if they streaked ebony is unfavorable, do like they do with black walnut - steam it to drive the colors out and make all one solid color. If that's even a possibility in ebony.

Hey Bob! People have been staining second rate ebony since day dot.

http://www.stewmac.com/product_images/1lg/4236/Black_Fingerboard_Stain_sm.jpg

http://www.stewmac.com/product_images/2lg/4236/Black_Fingerboard_Stain_sm.jpg

the only taylor i own i bought, maybe eight years ago (?), the paper work talked of whatever marbling you might see in the ebony fretboard should be looked at as a unique one of a kind form of beauty. i agree 100% that we should work with what we have, however he was trying to sell what would have been considered low grade wood by standards of the day to now fighting for the environment and 3rd world countries by being a martyr today. i feel the fact is that they have been selling/buying the same wood (and that is completely fine!) but are now capitalizing on someone like gibson running into trouble with exotic wood(s). bob taylor is trying to look like a hero when he was using the same wood all along and like nick jd pointed out, it could be stained to look black all along

Count me in.

think about it,,, he thought they were all black trees... worked on that budget/harvest.. for the right reasons even..

then finds out for every black log.. there are 9 perfectly useable striped logs just littering the forest... many probably nearer the road than a 5 mile hike...
whhhaaatt!!!???.,,. I can drag them all in and mill them for the next 10-20 yrs without cutting hardly any more trees.. just to get black ones....

man what a windfall.... and a plus for the old ebony trees that no longer need to be cut down for ages.......

an ebony tychoon.. yes sirreeee...

Hey Bob! People have been staining second rate ebony since day dot.

http://www.stewmac.com/product_images/1lg/4236/Black_Fingerboard_Stain_sm.jpg

http://www.stewmac.com/product_images/2lg/4236/Black_Fingerboard_Stain_sm.jpg

+1

Doesn't change my acoustic guitar buying preference though. I can't stand Taylor guitars! Zero Projection and too thin necks!

I have no dobut that if all that's available is multi-colored ebony, and there is still a demand for solid black, that someone will figure out how to dye/stain/treat multicolor to black in a legal way (i.e. not poacking).

I did find that I enjoyed the video quite a bit. I liked how he put forth his thought processes, and thought ahead.

Incidentally, I nominated him to the TED people.

Who has the contract to cut up the other 25% of their ebony?

Who has the contract to cut up the other 25% of their ebony?

I'm sure you're just curious - but that makes you sound kind of greedy :grin:

Great idea and great clip

Bob Taylor is a great spokesperson for his company. He completely convinced me that they still pay the same amount for the non-black Ebony when it's worth much less.

Next, a video on why they have started using flatsawn beetle-kill Spruce and that the holes all through it are actually beauty spots. :mrgreen:

They pay the same price for it though... :wink:

if he's so sad about the forests being cut down why is he cutting down more?

will the price of ebony be going down or up ?

Bob Taylor has a wonderful plan,makes great guitars........kudos!

How many old cut striped ebony trees can be harvested out of the forests now, without the noise of a single chainsaw? Cha-ching$$$.

How many old cut striped ebony trees can be harvested out of the forests now, without the noise of a single chainsaw? Cha-ching$$$.

Had the loggers in Cameroon been given core sampling equipment:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Dendrochronological_drill_hg.jpg

...then they can leave all the stripey Ebony alive in the forest and just select the black stuff.

But then there would be less Ebony to sell and less profit. :wink: And the Black ebony would be selected out genetically eventually.

The environmentally-clever way to harvest wood is NOT selective logging of ALL of a species. How the hell will it regenerate? Where's Taylor's replanting strategy so people 150 years from now can also make fat profits from foreign resources.

There's something inherently creepy about Western business publically justifying their use of Third World resources and their foreign ownership/control being "better". Taylor now has a monopoly on Ebony and is taking it ALL. Betcha most of it is going straight to China.

This isn't "smart", it's yet another smokescreen to justify profiteering off poor people. He could be leaving 90% (one in ten trees being black ebony) of the Ebony trees alive and in place ... but now he's taking 100% of it. Where's the sutstainability in that?

There's something inherently creepy about Western business publically justifying their use of Third World resources and their foreign ownership/control being "better". Taylor now has a monopoly on Ebony and is taking it ALL. Betcha most of it is going straight to China.

This isn't "smart", it's yet another smokescreen to justify profiteering off poor people. He could be leaving 90% (one in ten trees being black ebony) of the Ebony trees alive and in place ... but now he's taking 100% of it. Where's the sutstainability in that?


I had similar thoughts while watching that video. I suppose he might argue that if not Taylor, then someone else would be more than happy to step in and exploit Cameroon's ebony. Which is worse? I doubt the world can count on a third-world economy to decide against it's own economic interest in the name of ecological preservation. So in steps Bob, who apparently was in an incredibly opportunistic position. Either way, naturally jet-black ebony is history soon, save for whatever small percentage is left that will be use to make guitars that will be highly sought after.

Who has the contract to cut up the other 25% of their ebony?

We'd hope this is the Cameroon authorities preservation percentage. Ebony will be effectively extinct from 75% of Cameroon's forests after Taylor's company has removed it all. One would hope the people of Cameroon get as rich as Taylor's company from their Ebony, but I have my doubts.

Check out google maps for the National Parks of Cameroon.