We are both firm believers in the need to do something for the planet and in the fact that there are too many people jumping on the band-wagon for purely economic reasons.. however weighing up the two has ended in this page on our site.. hi!!
Now, building the best custom guitars and basses that can be found in the UK does involve using some processes and materials that do not have the eco credentials we would like.. however wherever possible we use alternatives or minimise the impact of what we can’t avoid..
Materials are the obvious issue, wood and a love of it are the reason we build guitars in the first place, and the fact that some people deal in rare and endangered tree species is a danger. There are people cutting down maple trees in Canada and Ebony trees in Africa that are protected just to get a few feet of pretty, and valuable, wood.. All our suppliers are ethically concious and only use certified suppliers of all exotic hardwoods, we will not be party to deforestation or the destruction of any species! Ebony in particular is currently the focus of poaching and is becoming rarer, this is a ‘standard’ fretboard wood that most people do not realise is even endangered!
All our electricity is bought using our suppliers ‘green’ tariff, they state that it is completely generated using wind turbines with negligible environmental impact.. and of course we use low energy bulbs where possible! The lacquer and the oils we use are not particularly friendly either but we consciously use as little of each as possible on each instrument, which insidentally leads to better tonalities! The UK are also in the process of reinventing their spraying law and more environmentally friendly lacquers are soon to be the standard!
Ben