i thought that Cites thing said no more rosewood to be used in exported guitars? Well even Fender is still using it on several models!
What gives?
What am I missing?
What gives?
What am I missing?
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There are a lot of different species of Rosewood, just as there are many species of Softwood, and Hardwood.
It amounts to a tightening up of which species can be used, and proving that they are ethnically sourced.
It amounts to a tightening up of which species can be used, and proving that they are ethnically sourced.
Turnaround
Commercial User
CITES has named ALL varieties of Rosewood, i.e. al Dalbergia. It still can be used in manufacture so long as none of it crosses international borders. So, for instance, if an instrument is made of rosewood that is currently within a certain country, the finished product can be sold in that country, but it cannot be shipped to another country without a special permit.
Yeah, as I understand it (perhaps incorrectly), CITES imposes certain trade restrictions, and depending on which appendix a species is listed in, those restrictions are more, or less severe.
I think Brazillian sourced Rosewood is pretty much verboten, whereas Mexican sourced Rosewood has no international restrictions.
FWIW ; we're still importing instruments with Rosewood fretboards in the UK, it doesn't seem to have all suddenly changed to Pau Ferro for example.
Frickin spellchecker!
I thought it was funny in 2010, when I sent someone a text saying "I'm walking the dog", without noticing the iPhone had changed it to "I'm the walking dead" - but now I'm just fed up with the number of times I type the correct word, and the phone sneakily changes it to something nonsensical.
Going to have to employ a proofreader.
That said, unless someone comes up with a way of factory farming Rosewoods, to circumvent CITES, I'm maintaining that all existing Rosewood was grown ethnically!
Turnaround
Commercial User
Not true. If it is Rosewood, it doesn't matter where it was sourced, it's still restricted. But what is called "Mexican Rosewood" is not Rosewood at all. And perhaps that's what you are seeing being imported into the UK.
Restricted, yes - but that doesn't mean banned (it has to have the correct provenance).
I've read the CITES documents - not saying I haven't misunderstood it - and what's protected in appendix 1 is quite different from appendix 2, where various exemptions are outlined.
It did occur to me though, and I would love to hear official word from Fender, EBMM, and Rickenbacker, if the instruments destined for the European market are using alternatives to Rosewood, or if they differ in any way from instruments for the U.S. market.
I guess it would be ok as long as he didn't travel with it?I mean, a guy should be allowed a Red Panda pelt strap for his bass, right?
I mean, a guy should be allowed a Red Panda pelt strap for his bass, right?
What's the best endangered species pelt strap for metal?
Peruvian snow leopard?
If it's tropical, brown and hard it can be rosewood. It's a colloquial umbrella name that has little to do with the tree itself and covers hundreds of species.
There also is no need for importation with most European countries having territories here and there nearby the equator where rosewood can be grown. French rosewood from Reunion island is easy to obtain.
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I prefer baby albino rhinoceros for all my straps....and pau ferro doesn't look right to me on a Fender imho. I prefer "dark rosewood", whatever that actually is.
Call it passe' if you wish I go for the old stand by, baby seal. Simple, elegant ...timeless
Fender does a pretty good job breaking it down here:
CITES Regulations For The Importation And Exportation Of Rosewood Effective January 2, 2017
CITES Regulations For The Importation And Exportation Of Rosewood Effective January 2, 2017
It’s pretty confusing to me personally. I actually had a bass that didn’t have any rosewood in it at all stopped on the way to Asia because of it. It was a Conklin gt7 and the neck was wenge and purpleheart, body was ash and maple.
eBay was kind enough to let me keep the money and refunded the buyer though. No idea where that bass ended up though.
I’ve seen several instruments like some of the newer Warwick
Rockbasses with rosewood boards and they are coming from overseas into the states. So I’m not really understanding what going on.
