Guitar Gear

When I purchased my Gibson J-45 Avant Garde Walnut Burst earlier this year, a huge factor in my buying decision was that it was constructed of sustainable material. The body is made of walnut, the top is Sitka spruce from a sustainable source, the neck is maple and the fret board and bridge are made of Richlite.

While sustainability and socially responsible manufacturing has been in the back of my mind for years, it wasn’t until I did my research on the J-45 that it really hit home with me.

Gibson has gotten in a lot of trouble over this in years past and I’m glad that they’re finally “getting it.” Their situation is kind of like Apple who was sourcing components from Chinese manufacturers whose factory conditions and production waste were abysmal and treated their workers extremely poorly.

Apple got busted – more from bad PR than anything else – and now takes an active role in ensuring their manufacturing partners treat their workers well and that their manufacturing is more environmentally safe, however dubious the rules are in China, considering the pollution in that country.

What crossed my mind is that I’m at that stage in life where I have the means to buy pretty much any guitar I want and pretty much any time I want. But just because I have the means to do so, doesn’t mean that I can be indiscriminate about how and where the materials that go into the guitars I buy come from.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m being a tree-hugger. But I strongly believe that I as a consumer have a responsibility to the planet and its people, and where I can and as much as I can be aware, apply my purchasing power to companies that not just believe in but actively practice socially and environmentally responsible manufacturing. I will not support a gear company who doesn’t have policies in place that respect our planet and its people.

I applied that thinking to my recent purchase of my Taylor T5z. But I didn’t have to dig too deep with respect to Taylor’s sustainability practices and social responsibility because I’ve been well-aware of Bob Taylor’s practices with respect to these issues. Though I’ve never been a big fan of the Taylor sound, I nonetheless have had a deep respect for how Taylor sources its wood, ensuring that it comes from sustainable sources and is ethically and legally sourced.

More impressive with Taylor guitars is their “Ebony Project.” Taylor purchased an ebony sawmill in Cameroon in an effort to ensure that their ebony is sourced sustainably and that it is processed ethically and legally, following both Camerooninan and US laws.

Taylor has created a video series around their Ebony Project. The introductory message is below:

Check out the rest of the Ebony Project series here.

Other guitar manufacturers have also gotten into the act, and that’s a good thing.

But as far as consumers are concerned, yes, buying a guitar is like voting. Your personal vote may not count for much. But thousands of votes together have an impact. The same goes with buying gear. My refusal to buy a guitar from a company that doesn’t have environmentally and socially responsible practices in place may not have much of an impact. But maybe by sharing this can raise people’s awareness, and at least create a little bit of a ripple in the vast waters of consumerism.