So you are musician and you live in Athens. Your band just did a benefit to save Dysart Woods (website) and you once even chained yourself to a tree (website). You and all your buddies celebrate Earth Day and a majority of your clothes are made of hemp. You recycle everything, including your copies of the Athens News and the Post. The question is, what is that guitar of yours made of? Chances are, your vintage Gibson is made of lumber that was harvested from old-growth forests. The older the guitar, the greater the chance that the wood used to make it was taken from Brazil, Canada, Africa or the good old USA. Your axe may even be made of endangered rare woods like teak, ebony and rosewood.

Bummer, huh.

Now before you get all depressed, smoke a bowl and eat a whole pizza, you should know that there is a new trend in instrument manufacturing that doesn't harm the environment... well, not as much as it once did.

Physicists (website) and guitar craftsmen tell us that the best sounding guitars generally come from high-quality lumber. All stringed instruments produce the same tones. It's the composition and shape of the stuff the strings are attached to which bring out an instrument's unique overtones. The overtones generated by the physical characteristics of an instrument's body are what make a violin sound like a violin and a guitar sound like a guitar.

Trees that grow in dense forests have fewer branches on their trunks and hence, fewer knots. Fewer knots means that the wood is easier to work with and has consistent density. Uniformly dense wood makes for better guitar overtones and resonance. A well built guitar using dense, quality hardwood will have a fantastic tone and a sustain that can last almost forever. Certain hardwoods actually sound better over time as the wood ages where as some cheaper woods and laminates sound worse as they age.

Unfortunately for the world of music and the world in general, quality lumber is getting harder and harder to find. Ebony, a wood used in piano's and woodwind instruments like clarinets and oboes, is so rare that a cubic meter can cost as much as $17,000. Scientists estimate that since man first learned how to fell a tree the earth has lost 20% to 50% of its total forests. Worldwide demand for wood in the next decade is estimated to increase by 40%. As a result of economic and environmental circumstances, not all guitars today are made from wood.

The Fender Stratocaster body type is the most common body type in the world for electric guitars. Most of the wood harvested for a single guitar is rejected, or trimmed off during the milling process, or trimmed off by the guitar manufacturer.

Guitar bodies can be made from metal, stone, plastic, epoxy resin, carbon-fibers, graphite, and any combination of these materials. The question is, are guitars made from these materials better for the environment? What exactly is epoxy resin and is the damage to the environment caused by the byproducts of epoxy resin manufacturing more harmful than chopping down a tree? Although, I couldn't find any stats on the harmful effects of carbon graphite, plastics, and resins... my bet is that yes, the production of these materials can be more harmful to the environment than harvesting trees.

The problem lies with the method used to harvest trees. Currently, the most popular trend for harvesting wood is to clear-cut an entire forest. Clear-cutting is economical for lumber companies and consumers, but environmentally it's a disaster. Due to pressure from environmental groups like the Sierra Club a new trend in forest management is emerging. That new method is selective harvesting.

With selective harvesting, a few choice trees are taken from a forest and others are left so that the forest as a whole remains. Companies that employ these methods can be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (website) as "smart wood" lumber companies. The next time you go to the lumber store, see if any of the lumber has the FSC stamp on it. If it has the label, it's "smart wood."

Selectively harvested wood has a major drawback though. It's much more expensive to produce than "dumb wood." The costs incurred by lumber companies to use helicopters to drop off workers and haul away the wood coupled with the reduced amount of wood harvested means the consumer has to pay more for the same quality lumber... a lot more. Which means that guitars made of "smart wood" are typically more expensive than their heathen brothers and sisters.

Some guitar makers are even trying to break the myth that only rare, exotic woods sound good in guitars. Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars in El Cajon, California stated in a 1997 interview with The Christian Science Monitor (website) that "Consumers have been told by the guitar-makers for years that rosewood and mahogany are premium woods that produce a unique sound. Even some environmentally aware musicians insist on using guitars made with endangered woods because of the sound quality issue."

Taylor goes on to state in the interview, that he believes that fine quality guitars can be made from alternative woods, including American ash, oak, and walnut. To prove his point, he made a guitar out of an oak warehouse pallet and a two-by-four stud. "It sounds great," he says.

Taylor's use of more common, less exotic woods is only a temporary solution at best. Instead of clear-cutting Brazilian rainforest, we would end up clear-cutting different sorts of forests.

I always knew that Clarinets were evil. 90% of the African Blackwood harvested to make a single clarinet is rejected due to imperfections in the wood. This is a photo of a pile of rejects. [ website ]

So, when it is time to buy your next guitar, what should you do? Smartwood (website) maintains a list of eco-friendly products and companies. There is also an organization based in England with an office in San Francisco named Fauna and Flora International (website) which publishes "The Soundwood Guide To Guitars." This list contains the names of instrument manufacturers that use "smart wood" in their products.

I recently contacted FFI and asked them to mail me the Soundwood Guide. I will post it on the AMN as soon as I get it.

The truth is, there is just not enough "smart wood" in existance to meet the demand for new guitars. Which means that a $500 Gibson made from "dumb wood" will cost substantially more if it was forged from "smart wood."

The Soundwood guide claims that there are only 19 instrument companies worldwide that use lumber that is harvested in an environmentally friendly manner. According to Smartwood.org, There are only 3 companies in the USA that use "smart wood" to make guitars--and you have to specifically ask for the "Green Guitars" or you'll get the regular "dumb wood" guitar. Major manufacturer Gibson Guitars of Nashville (website) now sells a green model and Pennsylvania-based Martin Guitars is experimenting with one. Dave Maize Guitars (website), a small Oregon based outfit, offers consumers the option to buy hand-crafted acoustic guitars made from "smart wood."

The next time you buy lumber, see if it has the Forest Stewardship Council Logo on it.

Depressingly, there are very few companies out there that offer musicians a product that doesn't require you buy clear-cut harvested lumber. Many musical instrument manufacturers still don't know about groups like The Forest Stewardship Council, Fauna and Flora International, Sound Wood, Smartwood and their lumber certification programs. Athens based guitar supply warehouse Stewmac is no exception. A source in the company stated that they have heard of "smart wood" but have done little research into purchasing from "smart wood" suppliers.

Many of the programs to market "smart wood" only came into existence in the mid to late nineties. So, you can't really blame Stewart MacDonald and other companies for their ignorance... yet.

This is where you come in. Contact guitar manufacturers and ask them to offer "Green Guitars" as an option. The next time you go guitar shopping, Go out of your way to find a "Green Guitar." Tell your local guitar store to stock "Green Guitars."

Use your wallet to send a message to instrument manufacturers everywhere. Spread the word. Let instrument manufacturers know that there is a demand for "smart wood" products.

In the mean time, don't stop using that vintage Gibson. The tree it came from is already dead and not using the guitar would be even more insulting to mother earth. Just realize the irony of the situation and move on. Or, you can balance the karma of that guitar by using it on stage when you play next years Dysart Woods benefit, where you will once again chain your hemp-clad body to another ancient tree... after recycling the morning paper.