Aside from the tragic loss of human life and damage to property, the high water levels made it almost impossible for our trusted wood suppliers to reach or extract the swamp ash, resulting in one of the worst harvests in recent history. The underlying reason for the ash shortage is climate change. Step into our San Luis Obispo factory in California and the first thing you’ll see, right at the start of the production process, is a stockpile of the best timbers that Mother Nature has to offer. Treehugger reached out to veteran instrument maker Steve Martinko for comment (full disclosure: he is the author's father-in-law). Our recent tests have shown us that poplar and basswood are both great substitues for swamp ash in our bass instruments, with an equally light weight and very similar tone characteristics. Not only does the flooding make it harder for trees to grow, but it impedes logging companies from entering the swamp regions to harvest wood. Being partly submerged for months encourages … We use technologies, such as cookies, to customize content and advertising, to provide social media features and to analyze traffic to the site. OT Swamp Ash wood shortage and Fender guitars-OT. Swamp Ash Shortage: Swamp Ash lumber availability tightened up in early 2019. And as we continue to search the globe for the best woods you’ve never heard of, our factory stockpile is set to grow and our instruments are sure to maintain those sky-high standards. The underlying reason for the ash shortage is climate change. You name it, we’ve got it. We actually only use the bottom part of the tree, where the water is. He said ash could likely be replaced by soft (or silver) maple, which is also lightweight, but would have a different sound and be harder to finish because of larger pores in the wood. The thought doesn't leave my mind that the first, short drought will bring down a lot of the remaining easier to get at trees. While the swamp ash's demise is unfortunate from a musical perspective, Martinko was hopeful that maple could fill the void. I must admit, I hadn't appreciated the environmental factors behind the swamp ash shortage. After looking at it, I'm 99% sure it was Paulownia. Here's my StratPlus. Every winter and spring, rains across the central U.S. combine with snowmelt along the northern reaches of the Mississippi River to inundate the hardwood-dominated bottomlands of the lower Mississippi. Fortunately, after working with wood for the last 35 years, we’ve learnt that Mother Nature is unpredictable. At Ernie Ball Music Man, we select only the highest-grade timbers, and we’ve often worked with swamp ash – otherwise known as ‘punky ash’ or ‘instrument-grade ash’. I heard you can dump baby powder in your drawers to help with chaffing from swamp ash. Ernie Ball Music Man has always put energy into researching and sourcing more left field, lesser-known timbers from around the world for our electric guitars – not just in the name of sustainability, but also to discover new tone woods that could make our instruments even better. Swamp ash Guild D46 1980. Unfortunately, one of the scare tactics used by lumber companies to move product is to warn of pending scarcity. But swamp ash is not the only great timber out there, and true to the firm’s maverick spirit, we’re also looking at the bigger picture. While the swamp ash can survive underwater for weeks at a time, it struggles to thrive when that time stretches into months. Rest assured, swamp ash is very much a fixture in our future plans. Los Angeles, CA (April 20, 2020) -- Fender has announced that they will be moving away from ash for all of their production models. Rock-and-roll musicians are lamenting a recent announcement from Fender. OT Swamp Ash wood shortage and Fender guitars-OT. She holds a degree in English Literature and History from the University of Toronto. You can see maps online of how it's slowly making its way south. When the floodwaters recede and soils dry up in summer, logging crews harvest species of trees that include green ash. We continue to compete with the industry’s major guitar brands for the slim supplies of high-grade swamp ash available for purchase, and look forward to better harvests in years to come. IMO, Fender is proactively diversifying where they can and saving good Swamp Ash for higher end models. As a result, customers feel take advantage of and skeptical of subsequent forecasts. As Ernie Ball Music Man engineer Drew Montell says: We’ve always experimented with different woods. Wood is at the heart of everything we do here at Ernie Ball Music Man. SWAMP ASH Light weight with an open pore structure, with a beautiful flowing grain which can be grain filled in a contrasting colour for special effects. Basswood – LW is the same as Alder and Swamp Ash and depending on the body and the routs it can be pretty low, in the 3lb range. A while back I called on a luthier who insisted his Swamp Ash weighed between 1.6-1.80 LB/BF (insanely light - about 10-20% lighter than what most builders would consider ultra-light Swamp Ash. Mids are pronounced but it still has a nice rounded bottom and and bright top end. Pawlonia – this is a distant cousin of Ash and is EXTREMELY lightweight. Swamp Ash is the new Braz Rosewood? The World's Largest Privately Owned Giant Sequoia Forest Is Now Protected, Viennese Orchestra Makes Extraordinary Music Out of Ordinary Produce, 10 Reasons Making Music Is Good for Your Brain, Pros and Cons of 6 Different Kinds of Wood Floors, 10 Items You Didn't Know Were Made in America, 13 Stunning Images That Amplify the Impacts of Climate Change, The TH Interview: Penny Eastwood of Treesponsibility, As Climate Changes, Global Food Supply Will Become Increasingly Unstable, Saving the Indonesian Peat Forests, One Basket at at Time, Australia's Horrific Fires Were Made Worse by Logging, 'Being the Change: A New Kind of Climate Documentary' (Review), Farmers in New Zealand Are Offended by Climate Change Curriculum. He went on to say, "There are over 100 species of maple in China, so lots to work with" – a point all the more relevant because much guitar production has moved overseas. per board foot. lousubcap Posts: 22,527. Their window of opportunity is shorter and, in the words of Norman Davis, advisor for Mississippi-based Anderson-Tully Lumber, "The bottomlands have been pretty much inaccessible the last two and a half years. ", Then there's the emerald ash borer, an Asian pest that has killed tens of millions of trees in North America since its arrival on the continent in 2002. The best tone woods are a labor of love. Like any firm that deals in natural materials, we’re at the mercy of the environment. The area's flooding has gotten progressively worse over the past 150 years and is likely to continue in that direction as climate change intensifies. Martinko, a luthier with over 40 years' experience building guitars and basses for many well-known musicians, explained that ash has long been a desirable material in electric instruments because of its light weight (under 2.8 pounds per board foot) and unique sound. The company statement explained that “in order to uphold our legacy of consistency and high quality we, at Fender, have made the decision to remove Ash from the majority of our regular production models. You indicate your consent to this use by clicking “I Agree” or by continuing to use this website. Flooding and a wood-boring beetle threaten supplies of storied ‘swamp ash’: “Climate Change Hits Rock and Roll as Prized Guitar Wood Shortage Looms.” (Violin makers have their own version of the same issue…) * “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin… on which Jimmy Page played the solo on his swamp ash “Dragon Telecaster.” ### The thought doesn't leave my mind that the first, short drought will bring down a lot of the remaining easier to get at trees. There are also efforts underway to breed a new species of ash that's resistant to the borer, but that is a long-term project with no immediate benefits.