As the world’s forests, and particularly the Amazon Rainforest, continue to be under stress and attack it becomes more and more important that we manage our forest resources with the highest levels of care and sustainability. High profile products like this can bring needed funding and awareness to this issue.
The guitars in the Les Paul SmartWood Exotics series are made from six of the world’s most prized and rare tropical woods. The trees are harvested from managed, renewable forests certified by the Rainforest Alliance. A portion of all sales will be donated to benefit the Rainforest Alliance.
more info @ gibson.com or buy it @ american musical supply
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[...] I spy a little instrument that I really like. Even though I have yet to test one out, the name speaks for itself. Thanks to Alternative Consumer for pointing this one out to me. This is the Gibson Les Paul SmartWood, and deserves notice by those shopping with sustainability in mind, and especially for fellow guitar pickers. These guitars are made from one of six exotic woods from regions certified by the Rainforest Alliance which ensures the wood comes from forests managed with a focus on sustainability . [...]
Hi. Up here in Finland we have a highly EC-friendly alternative to offer EC and quality conscious guitar players. We spent five years developing a manmade spruce-based tonewood that can more than hold it’s own with the best exotic wood guitars. Vist our site at http://www.flaxwood.com for more info. Be sure to try a Flaxwood ASAP, and…be prepared to be surprised!
Kim Lerche, Flaxwood Oy, kim@flaxwood.com
I had a 1998 Banara smartwood les paul a while back and it was comparable any custom shop guitar produced at the time. Although, I’ve read on Wikipedia and some other sites that Banara is the rarest wood they used, so I don’t know if that makes Banara the most expensive Smartwood Guitar or if the the rarest Gibson Les Paul Smartwood is Banara. I know there are a number of woods they’ve used over the years but as far as I know, they only used Banara for a little while, and I see very few on ebay.
It was in the Nashville Post that the Federal government raided the Gibson factory and the CEO resigned from the Rainforest Alliance board when somehow they thought they were using endangered trees in the construction. I think the whole thing was a mistake, so I don’t think Banara was endangered. I think Gibson was trying to make a marketing move by using Smartwood, so gave very, very special attention to the earliest models, I really regret having given away my Smartwood guitar to my son.
That smartwood Banara is awesome, there’s only like a few hundred because some lumberjack cut down the wrong tree. Not just rare, it was endangered, now probably extinct, “Oh yah, its super rare all right, the tree they made it out of is extinct now.”
Sure love google, very neat stuff. Have a good day.
Wonderful website. Lots of helpful information here. I’m sending it to several buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks on your effort!