About Vintage Tonewoods and Alternatives

Fairbanks guitars are built with traditional tonewoods including Honduras mahogany necks, Red (Adirondack) Spruce or European (German) Spruce tops, and a wide range of back and side woods. I like to build with the same woods used by the original makers. Domestic woods such as cherry, maple, birch and quartersawn oak were often used for vintage instruments. Besides producing wonderful sounding guitars, they have the added benefit of being local! I build roughly half of my ladder-braced instruments with these woods.

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna) has recently placed Honduras (Bigleaf) Mahogany on its Appendix II, which means that trade in the raw lumber is restricted in an effort to preserve Mahogany stands. The price of this wood has been steadily rising and larger companies including Gibson and Martin have started using alternatives and laminates, with good success. Whenever possible, I use FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified woods. The FSC works with wood exporting countries to ensure that forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable way.

A good alternative to Honduras mahogany neck wood is Sapele, or African Mahogany. It is similarly colored and is just as stable as Honduras, but is slightly heavier. I suspect that as Honduran prices continue to rise, woods such as Sapele, which are readily available and cheaper, will become more and more common. But, for now, Honduras Mahogany is still affordable and I will continue to use it as standard on Fairbanks guitars. Sapele is offered as an option at no additional cost.

For more complete information about the CITES restrictions, visit

www.gruhn.com/newsletter/newsltr29.html