http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576530520471223268.html
Above is an article I thought many may find interesting, especially luthiers.
I won’t give opinions, since I don’t want things to get political. Just putting it out there as recommended reading for musicians and makers.
Same with turtle shell picks and ivory inlays, just more of the same it seems. Seem to remember that a Big Bird costume for sesame street on ice was held up in costumes until they could verify that the feathers weren’t from a rare yellow turkey or some such thing.
Well darn! I would have loved to be on that job! The USFWS OLE rarely makes mistakes, just my opinion and experience.
Yeah, I saw a links to the same article and others on another forum. This is going to be a real issue for musicians and small volume makers alike if enforcement broadens.
I spent the morning yesterday with a friend who happens to be an accomplished luthier (I have two of his instruments) and we talked a bit about the materials he is presently using. Much of the wood he is building with was purchased in the 60’s and 70’s and obviously pre-CITES. No documentation was available then as is required today to show the source of the wood. And new instruments are being produced with materials that are now banned. It’s a big problem for people doing instrument restorations as well. Oh boy!
Feadoggie
I wonder, are there certain woods that used to be common in flute-making that are now off-limits? And could that potentially cause a problem for owners of these vintage flutes? It seems that a person would be fine as long as they could prove the flute was made before that wood was banned. But there’s a lot of what-ifs in the whole scenario.
It sure makes delrin look good, though. 
I hope some makers chime in with their thoughts.
The Fox Street Journal. Be afraid, Obama wants to take away your guitars.
Hey. No politics. Do I have to spank you? 
But I’ll tell you this: it makes me want to swear off gigs altogether, never mind traveling. I’ll just stay at home and play my possible contraband in an inner room in a corner in the dark.
Oooh, let me think about your offer. That sounds humpy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if dendrochronology is used to date woods suspected of being illegally harvested. The AGs would want to have a solid case for prosecution, run rings around the defense as it were. BTW make sure ya don’t use any products made from bauxite mined after 2003
Rings are a lot harder to find in tropical timber. With some, you can see the change between rainy and dry seasons, but many lack even that. Here’s a story on a japanese attempt to use isotope ratios to determine the source of tropical hardwoods:
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1218-agu_kagawa_timber.html
Kagawa says the new technique is more precise, but notes that it doesn’t yet work for tracking tropical timber that lack tree rings. Tropical timber is important because it is the dominant type of wood in the $10-billion-per-year illegal timber trade He says that improving current isotope analysis technique, sampling other isotopes or combining the technique with others used for determining the origin of wood (including DNA and chemical extracts) may hold the key for tropical timber.
Gah. 
I recently sold an antique flute with ivory rings and tusk crown made in the USA in the 19th century. I specified that the sale was to be restricted to the USA. However, I sold the flute to a person living in Ireland who had it transshipped to a friend here in the USA. I’m curious whether the person will have difficulty carrying the flute back to Ireland after his/her visit.
Yes, that’s where I foresee the issues - the proof. I am sure that you would be able to prove your case over time but that doesn’t stop the gung-ho customs agent from confiscating your guitar or flute and storing it in a less than desirable environment.
I think of my vintage Martins - Brazilian rosewood body, ebony board and bridge, ivory saddle and nut. I’m disinclined to travel anywhere with such a thing anymore. My next guitar is being made with the same woods but no ivory. Thankfully, I am too old to carrying such a thing across borders anymore. I’m probably safe until the goons start showing up at festivals.
I know of makers that are using “amazon rosewood” of which I have heard botantist can’t tell the difference from good old Brazilian without invasive analysis of the wood. How do you teach a TSA type agent to tell the difference then?
I hope good sense prevails.
Feadoggie
I suspect the USFWS OLE special agents and the USFWS Forensics Laboratory are not some type of TSA type goons. But send me your address and I have them drop by maybe they can ask some TSA goons to tag along to show them how it’s done.
Here is another article that pertains to this topic.
http://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/magazine/guitar-lover’s-guide-cites-conservation-treaty
OK. I read these articles. Thanks for the information. Sometimes being of less than modest means has it advantages. Sometimes.
My question is related to the exotic woods and stuff. Do all the fancy ornamentations on a guitar serve a purpose? Could the ornamentation be removed completely or could it be done with more subtle woods? I’ve always thought the black and white rings around the sound hole, the black and white blocking around the edge, and the mosiac down the middle of the back looked less than interesting to me. The only ornamentation that I’ve ever like on a guitar that I owned was the big squares of abalone that filled a fretboard. Is this just another one of those things that I’m in the minority fringe about?
I notice nobody has even mentioned the poor Boltaron polymeris that Martin harvests for their nefarious purposes. I have been thinking about using it to side my house.
Now how the heck am I going to get a CITES clearance for a guitar built in 1980? Brazilian rosewood, mammoth ivory.
Right!
OK Mute, you’re right a guitar can be made without these things but they generally originated from a functional need.
The soundhole cut out of the top exposes endgrain in the spruce (assumming a spruce top) which needs to be protected from splitting. It’s not unlike the rings of a flute supporting the mortise for the joints between sections of the flute. So the rings and the glue that hold it in help keep the endgrain from splitting. Of course that’s the function and artistic license then takes over with marquetry, mosaics and inlays, etc. The simple black/white strips are generally plastic - usually PVC and CPVC. Boltaron is the brand that C. F. Martin and others use.
The top edge bindings serve a similar purpose in that they protect the endgrain of the top. Again Boltaron trees have to be cut down. The purfling, like herringbone, originated in violins and served the same purpose but really became an ornament on most guitars. Bindings also protect the edges of the body against the damage from banging the corners of the soundbox in daily use. Wood is an alternative for bindings but it can be a trick to work with if it is a figured wood. Many inexpensive guitars have no bindings and they are notorious for separations along the seams.
The function of the backstrip is to increase the gluing surface where the two (or more) pieces of the back are edge joined. Simply gluing the edges together isn’t particularly reliable or wasn’t in the old days of hide glue when the back strip became an expected specification. The mosaic patterns are purely artistic expressions. The seam is also reinforced with strips on the inside of the back panels too.
The inlays on the fretboard just act as a roadmap for where you are on the board. The can be simple dots or over the top murals of shell and other materials. These are mostly artistic and serve no structural purpose, AFAIK. I suppose it can protect the wood of the fingerboard from wear due to string abrasion if they are big enough. Ever play a scalloped fingerboard? The peculiar thing is that many players don’t use the position markers as intended because they can’t see them when they play. Side dots are more useful to many. I’ve seen a number of custom guitars with a plain fingerboard and only side dots to show the way. Makes sense actually.
I’m listed in the book - Nazareth, PA.
Feadoggie
deleted