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Home , Illegal logging, Reforestation

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[Sustainability]

arrived in Washington, D.C. in well over a decade, but in 2014 the 1993 and began my professional concept took a twist when govern- career working in environmental ments, private companies, and civil Ipolitics. Anyone involved with interna- society groups signed the New York tional policy in the 1990s was Declaration of at the United : likely working on certification, an emerg- Nations Secretary-General’s ing concept that sought to set third Summit. The Declaration is a voluntary, from POLITICS to PLANTING party management standards for active non-legally binding pledge to halve the operations. The idea was (and rate of by 2020, to end still is) that a consumer would choose a it by 2030, and to restore hundreds With Taylor embarking on reforestation efforts product that had an ecolabel over one of millions of acres of degraded land. that did not, if it assured you that the A year later, in 2015, largely due to in and Hawaii, Scott Paul explains the product originated from a well-managed pressure from activist organizations, forest. Think Gifford Pinchot meets the literally hundreds of companies involved politics of and why Taylor’s Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. in the Southeast Asian trade timing might be ideal. The Forest Stewardship Council was announced some sort of new policy. born at this time, and for a decade Looking back at these two events, it’s certification overshadowed much of the fair to say that while lofty words do not global forest policy dialogue. always become universal action, the In the early 2000s the concept of first step of any good 12-step program illegal eclipsed certification and is recognizing you have a problem. became the pressing discussion of the At each of these moments, when day. Its emergence was sudden, as the international forest policy com- for years the topic had been taboo in munity began to grapple with new or international policy circles. Simply put, evolving concepts, conferences, sem- the subject was not suitable to formal inars and workshops were convened. diplomatic niceties because in many Budgets were reallocated, new defini- parts of the world, the practice was too tions created, reports drafted, and argu- closely associated with official govern- ments ensued. It’s really complicated ment . That all changed liter- stuff — it takes time to figure out how to ally overnight on June 22, 1997, when balance social, environmental and eco- at a G8 Summit in Denver, Colorado, nomic needs across cultures, traditions the participating governments declared and markets. they would “eliminate” . It’s a long story, but suffice it to say Taylor Reforestation that for much of the next decade, con- Projects ferences, seminars and workshops met Currently there is a growing sense to define and address illegal logging. that forest restoration and reforestation In 2008, the U.S. amended the Lacey are becoming major themes within Act, making it a crime in the U.S. to international forest policy circles. It’s import that was illegally sourced a long-overdue conversation that has in another country. A few years later, been historically sidelined due in part to in 2012, the European Union followed the simple fact that there has tradition- suit, passing its own legislation. ally been little financial incentive. This and Japan have since done is particularly true in the tropics, where the same. conventional wisdom says that it can More recently, the concept of take hardwood like , L-R: Maxime Ndjankoum and Suel Suel Roger Materne, with young ebony trees at their “zero deforestation” corporate polices , sapele and ebony more than community nursery in Somalomo, Cameroon has captured the political zeitgeist. a human lifetime to reach maturity. According to a highly cited Climate and But recently things have started to Alliance report from 2014, change, and an increasingly sophisti- commercial now drives 71 cated conversation has begun. Once percent of tropical deforestation, and again, budgets are being reallocated, it has become imperative that corpo- conferences are being held, and rations that source large volumes of reports written. Why now? Perhaps traditional deforestation drivers such because crisis is indeed the mother of as palm oil, soy or beef purchase invention. We have 7.6 billion people these from suppliers who on the planet, all in need of food, fiber are not converting primary forests to and fuel. Additionally, the politics of farmland. Corporate zero deforestation , along with the simple commitments have been around for fact that growing trees sequester car- 19

bon (standing forests preserve carbon), of . It has a preliminary goal of trees that were stunted from cattle have combined to shove the subject of planting 15,000 trees at the community grazing, or were simply in decline, to reforestation out onto the main stage. level. The project is only a year old, but make guitars. The of these And by a strange confluence of events, CBI scientist Dr. Vincent Deblauwe is low-grade trees has long been seen Taylor Guitars finds itself, in our own already making important discoveries, as a commercial non-starter in Hawaii. small way, in the middle of this emerg- and the first village-level plant nurser- However, Paniolo Tonewoods was able ing conversation. ies have now been established. Over to find the guitar wood in these trees. Why us? For one, Taylor likes to 1,400 ebony trees were planted in the The wood from these trees has become make guitars from wood, and we’re 2018 April rainy season, and more will thousands of guitars. Our reforesta- looking to the future. Compared to be planted in the fall when the rains tion and restoration efforts are in their other industries, guitar makers don’t come again. In the near future, fruit infancy, but Paniolo has made progress use a lot of wood, but we do tend to and medicinal trees multiplied by the in developing elite lines of koa, or culti- source from the four corners of the community members themselves will be vars (short for cultivated varieties, and globe. We also have Bob Taylor, who, planted with the help of the project. in this case the product of selective koa quite simply, dreams of leaving more In the grand scheme of things, breeding) that will be especially suit- than he takes. Additionally, and per- the Ebony Project’s capacity is small, able for instruments. haps most importantly, the company is but we believe the concept can scale Paniolo’s reforestation efforts fortunate enough to be in a position to up. It’s an innovative and relatively recently got a jump start when Bob act. For example, we use West African simple approach that we’d love to see Taylor purchased a 565-acre tract of ebony for our fingerboards and bridg- grow. You might recall my report in rolling pastureland on the Big Island, es, and we use for backs, the last issue that in November 2017 which will be leased to Paniolo. Before Bob Taylor surveys the pastureland he purchased on the Big Island sides and tops. So, a few years ago we Taylor Guitars signed a Public-Private the introduction of cattle in the 1800s,

What Is ? Although the term “” is commonplace these days, it might surprise you to learn that the concept of sustainable development wasn’t formally defined until 1987. In 1983 the General The politics of climate change, along Assembly authorized the creation of an independent organization to research the world’s environmental with the simple fact“ that growing trees and developmental challenges and explore possible solutions. First known as the World Commission sequester carbon, have combined to on Environment and Development (WCED) and later the Brundtland Commission, the group published a shove the subject of reforestation onto document in 1987 titled “Our Common Future,” also known as the Bruntland Report, in which sustainable the main stage. development was defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” As commonly understood, the three main pillars of ” sustainable development include economic growth, , and social equality. started the Ebony Project in Cameroon, Partnership with the Cameroonian this , which Bob has named and partnered in Paniolo Tonewoods in Ministry of Environment, which pledges Siglo Forest (which means “century” in Hawaii. The two projects are different in to study the feasibility of scaling-up the Spanish) was a thriving koa and ohia almost every way imaginable, yet their Ebony Project. If deemed feasible, the native forest. Paniolo intends to reforest core commonality is the simple act of Cameroonian government will do so. this land with koa and other native spe- reforestation. In the meantime, we’ll just keep doing cies, but with a special emphasis on Will it work perfectly? I don’t know. what we’re doing. growing wood for guitars. We estimate But we’re going to try, and we aim that, beginning 30 years from now, this to be an example for others. I teased Acacia Koa in Hawaii land will be able to sustain an annual Bob Taylor once that we’ll never know Since 2015, Taylor Guitars production of wood (120,000 board if we succeed, since we’ll both be has been sourcing koa via Paniolo feet) that would exceed Taylor’s annual long dead, and he said: “Today Taylor Tonewoods, a partnership set up with needs by three times. Guitars buys mahogany from Fiji that our friends at Pacific Rim Tonewoods These efforts are just a start. They some long-dead British guy planted of Washington State. Paniolo works demonstrate both commitment and 80 years ago. Someday I want to be a with innovative landowners in Hawaii, action — which we can build from long-dead American guy who planted including Kamehameha Schools and perhaps enlist other companies trees that someone will make guitars and Haleakala Ranch, both of whom too. Meeting global restoration or refor- from in the future.” are historical landowners, whose estation targets requires many actions holdings include large areas of pas- taken by many organizations, but Taylor The Ebony Project tureland as well as residual stands of and our partners are now helping to The Taylor-funded Ebony Project trees. Kamehameha Schools (since the show what can be done, in our small but is run out of the Congo Basin Institute 1970s) and Haleakala Ranch (since the important way. We’ll keep you posted. (CBI) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The 1980s) have been spearheading koa project seeks to better understand the reforestation in Hawaii. To increase the Scott Paul is Taylor’s Director of basic ecology of West African ebony pace of reforestation, both landowners Natural Resource Sustainability. CBI scientist Dr. Vincent Deblauwe uses a GPS device to geo-track an ebony (Diospyros crassifloria Hiern) in its began to work with Paniolo Tonewoods native , the tropical to harvest dead, dying and malformed An EBONY PLAN Takes Root

Residents of the village of Ekombite plant a young ebony tree 21

Our new multimedia storytelling experience, The Ebony Project, chronicles our journey toward a Takes Root more sustainable future for ebony in Cameroon

By Jim Kirlin Photos by Chris Sorenson

Remy Eba’a, a sawyer at the Crelicam mill

ob Taylor is reflecting on more (see our sidebar on the mill’s transfor- than six years of work in mation). Better and skills training, Cameroon during Taylor’s along with more defined roles, have B“From the Factory” podcast, teeing up given employees an increased sense what proves to be an illuminating con- of pride in their work, while improved versation about Taylor’s efforts to cre- wages and other medical and educa- ate a more environmentally friendly and tion benefits have helped lift the quality socially responsible future for ebony. of life of their families. It’s a far cry from “That project has been a real the conditions Bob and Vidal encoun- schooling,” he says, alluding to what tered when they first arrived. has been a life-changing journey for “There were no toilets, no running him personally and as a co-owner of water, live electricity everywhere, that the Crelicam ebony together you tried to avoid,” Bob recalls. “You’d with Vidal de Teresa, owner of the be there for an hour and — bam! — Spanish wood supplier Madinter. Since bandsaw blades exploding and shoot- taking the reins in late 2011, Taylor and ing through the air.” Madinter have overcome myriad obsta- When the two new owners learned cles in pursuit of their ambitious plan that employees didn’t eat lunch to transform nearly every aspect of an because they couldn’t afford to, they under-resourced business in a devel- decided to build a kitchen to provide oping country, and vowing to do it all free lunch each day. The only problem legally and ethically, with a commitment was that it was nearly impossible to get to greater sustainability. the basic tools or materials to do the In the podcast, Bob is happy to work, even though the mill was located report major progress. Crelicam’s 75 in Cameroon’s capital of Yaoundé, employees now work in a completely with a population of 2.5 million. renovated factory environment that The whole experience has given he says he himself would be proud Bob a new context for the idea of build- to work in. The environment is much ing something from scratch. safer, with vastly improved and “People hear the story of Taylor machines that have increased efficiency Guitars and they’ll say, ‘Wow, you and reduced waste. In fact, many of the and Kurt started from nothing,’” Bob saws now used at Crelicam were built says. “Well, starting with what we had or refurbished by Taylor’s tooling team in Cameroon was a new definition of in El Cajon and shipped to Cameroon nothing.”

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Over the past six years, we’ve shared periodic reports on Taylor’s prog- ress in Cameroon. Our Wood&Steel cover story from the summer 2012 issue announced the purchase of the Crelicam mill and laid out Bob and Vidal’s plans to become more directly involved in the supply in order to ensure legality and greater trans- parency. The article also relayed the revelation of years of ebony waste in the forest — previously unknown to the guitar industry — in which ebony trees that had been felled and found to have color variegation instead of an all-black complexion were left to rot on the forest floor because of their sub- stantially lower market value. That dis- covery prompted Taylor and Madinter to spread awareness of this across the industry and led Taylor to feature fretboards with marbling more promi- nently across our guitar line (including our 800 Series) in an effort to promote greater acceptance in the market. Bob also shared a “state of ebony” address in a video that we posted on YouTube in 2012, and the message of committing to better stewardship of the we rely on resonated with guitar owners. In the same spirit of becoming more directly engaged in the sourcing and supply chain involving the woods we use, we want to connect Taylor dealers, guitar owners, and others to this experience as well, for a few rea- sons: transparency, for one, because we know that people have a lot of purchasing options when it comes to guitars. While we’re committed to pro- ducing the highest quality instruments, customers also deserve to know where the ingredients used for them come from. They also deserve to know what it takes to procure them. Both Taylor and Madinter’s experiences in Cameroon over the past six years have deepened our sensitivities to the people and work involved along the way. Bob especially remembers those early interactions he had with employees at the mill. Clockwise from top left: “We’re trying to let them share in (L-R) Scott Winder from what we get from this industry,” he Taylor’s machine maintenance says. “And when you go there and and repair team, Emmanuel see the lives they live, and when you Mendomo, Crelicam workshop see what they’ve actually contributed chief, and Madinter’s Cosmin to the guitars that we play, but what Spinoae; Crelicam employees they weren’t getting out of it, you can’t with a new lathe used to make unknow that.” ebony guitar slide blanks; employees on break at the Introducing the mill; improvements at the mill Ebony Project included drilling a well for fresh We wish that we could take every water — which is also piped Taylor owner to Cameroon to experi- outside the Crelicam walls ence firsthand what goes into sourcing to provide the surrounding the ebony used for the fretboard and community with a free, clean bridge of every Taylor guitar made. If supply someone were to walk in the footsteps

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Transforming the Mill When it came to improving the Crelicam mill, the tools for them. This marked the first time a table had that any machines that are shipped arrive without damage. Taylor-Madinter team had their work cut out for them. The been used in the mill. They improved cut quality, efficiency, Logan says one of the most fulfilling parts of the infrastructure and most of the equipment inherited by Bob and yield, allowing us to get more from less. Other modern Crelicam project has been working with his Cameroonian and Vidal were in a state of disrepair. Beyond that, it was machinery and equipment brought to the mill include new colleagues at the mill to show them how to use new tools impossible to get the necessary replacement parts, tools generators, air compressors, pneumatic devices, laser and machines and how to make problem-solving improve- and materials in Cameroon. Bob knew he would need to guides, kilns and dust collectors. ments on their own. leverage Taylor’s advanced tooling and machining capabil- The electrical wiring for the mill was also completely “I’m really proud of how much they’ve learned from ity back in California. Fortunately, he knew how to design redone, and when a new building was constructed on site, working with us when we are there,” Logan says. “Every a factory and who to enlist to drive the transformation: Taylor shipped every bit of wiring, including circuit breaker time I go back I see the ownership and initiative they’ve Wayne Brinkley, the lead engineer on our product develop- panels. Wayne coordinated the entire installation, which taken to make improvements while we were gone. I’ll see ment team and a highly skilled fabricator (see Bob’s col- took a solid two weeks. something new and learn that Ekouma, the head fabrica- umn in this issue). Wayne has been involved in virtually every tor, made it with the welders using the tools we brought improvement project at Crelicam — he’s traveled there at Vehicle Repair over. We didn’t ask them to do that, but they took it upon least 20 times over the past six years. He remembers the Another ongoing area of need in Cameroon has been themselves and did a great job of getting it done.” condition of the old bandsaws the first time he visited. the ability to handle vehicle repair, including 20-year-old “They were constantly eating bearings and breaking Land Cruisers that were reconditioned in El Cajon and Producing Other Ebony Products main shafts due to the heavy use and previous poor main- shipped over, along with two Mercedes Unimogs that One of the goals of bringing better tools, training and tenance procedures,” he says. “And the quality of the saw Taylor purchased to transport ebony from the forest to a infrastructure to the mill is to enable Crelicam’s employ- blade resharpening was terrible.” road, where it can be loaded onto a large truck for trans- ees to have more value-added processing capability in Taylor purchased seven used Stenner bandsaws — port to the mill. The Unimogs are built on a tractor frame, Cameroon. The ability to perform more sophisticated pro- workhorse machines built in the 1960s and ’70s that were which allows them to keep all four wheels on the ground in cessing of parts will in turn create more jobs, and equip

Laser guides help the sawyers make more accurate cuts Wayne Brinkley One of the Unimogs in action resilient and could stand up to the rigorous demands of uneven terrain. But Wayne says keeping them operational employees to produce semi-finished or finished goods. cutting a dense wood like ebony — and shipped them initially proved to be challenging. Ultimately this will generate more economic prosperity for to the Taylor factory in El Cajon, where Wayne and his “The terrain is not very forgiving, and the usage these employees and their families. It’s been part of Bob’s vision team fully refurbished them, and then shipped them to trucks see is pretty severe,” he says. “To get in front of for what Crelicam can become, and the mill is getting clos- Cameroon for installation. New saw guides were made for potential issues we established a and inspec- er to that capability. The other benefit is that finding uses the existing saws, allowing better cutting decisions and tion procedure that occurs after every trip into the forest. for smaller pieces of ebony or those that aren’t suitable for straighter cuts. Wayne and his team also designed what We’ve had to replace a windshield, brakes, axle seals, front musical instrument parts reduces ebony waste and trans- they call a “blockworks” to be used on a large indus- axle universal joints, steering joints, a steering gear box, lates into more economic value generated by a tree. This is trial bandsaw. This allowed an ebony cant to be clamped air compressors and valves, a fuel injection pump, water important because there is a strict limit to how much wood at the ends so pieces could be sliced off at any thickness pumps, a transmission, at least a dozen tires that have we are permitted to bring out of the forest each year. needed in order to get the best use of the material and been destroyed, and upgrade to heavy-duty rear gear sets One example of this is our plan to introduce ebony increase yield. and bearings.” guitar slides made from Crelicam ebony. Our tooling team They also built a “head rig” setup in El Cajon for one One of the most important additions to the mill has recently shipped a Hempel lathe to Cameroon, which is of the bandsaws and shipped it over. It consists of a set been the construction of an on-site machine shop to han- now being used to produce the slide blanks. These blanks of rails and a powered carriage to clamp a large block of dle a variety of repair and fabrication work. are currently the most profitable piece that Crelicam makes, ebony then roll it past the saw blade. Logan Shively is a mechanical engineer from Wayne’s due to the additional work done to transform the material. “This has given us the ability to use the largest material team who also regularly travels to Cameroon. These days The finishing touches are handled in El Cajon. Bob hopes that comes to us and get better use of it,” Wayne says. “It about 90 percent of his work at Taylor relates to Crelicam that Crelicam will one day have the expertise to complete also enables us to cut wood for guitar backs and sides. projects. He has worked on the Stenner bandsaws, the work right there at the mill. (For more on the guitar We also built an overhead crane to help load the head rig designed and helped build the head rig and crane, worked slides, see p. 25.) Bob has also been exploring the devel- carriage, since some of these larger blocks of ebony weigh on the dust collection system for all the saws and laser opment of other product offerings with Crelicam ebony, 700 to 800 pounds.” guides for cutting, helped set up the machine shop, and including a line of kitchenware products. Taylor also purchased and rebuilt four large Northfield more. He also plays an important role in all the container industrial table saws and made robust fences and push shipments out of El Cajon to Cameroon, including ensuring 24 www.taylorguitars.com

of a prospector who trudges into a for the realities of working in Cameroon employees; and our efforts to learn community forest in Cameroon to locate and the challenges of improving the more about the ecology of ebony and an ebony tree; or to try to lift even one conditions and operation at the mill; see develop a scalable model for resto- end of a slab of the ebony (one of the how the lives of Crelicam employees ration and reforestation. (The “Ebony densest and heaviest woods in the are changing for the better; discover Project” title originally referred to an world) that will be hand-carried to a how we got involved with ground- ebony research project funded by Bob Unimog, which will then take it down a breaking research into ebony ecology; to better understand ebony’s ecology, path to a truck at the nearest road that and learn about an innovative ebony but it later came to represent our entire will drive it to the mill; or to meet the planting program that is on the way to story, including Crelicam.) communities that rely on the forest for putting thousands of ebony trees in the The last several chapters of The their livelihoods; and to see the lives ground over the next few years. Ebony Project introduce several key that are impacted by the economy the The Ebony Project content was partners in the research and replanting ebony trade creates, that person would developed by our marketing team, with work. One is Dr. Tom Smith, a profes- likely have a much deeper appreciation videos and photos shot by outside con- sor in the Department of Ecology and for what it takes to procure materials tributor Chris Sorenson (whose photos Evolutionary Biology at UCLA and the for their instrument. accompany this piece), and with sound founding director of UCLA’s Center for Since we can’t take people to provided by his brother Scott. A more Tropical Research (CTR) and Institute Cameroon, Taylor recently developed conventional documentary-style film is of the Environment and Sustainability an immersive storytelling experience in the works, but knowing that we want (IoES). Tom has spent more than 35 on our website called The Ebony to chronicle more of the community years in Cameroon researching trop- Project. Launched on Earth Day (April planting part of the initiative, which is ical . He helped to create 22), the eight-part multimedia feature still in the early stages of implemen- the Congo Basin Institute (CBI), a blends aerial video of the Congo Basin tation, our team will be traveling to multi-institution forest and rainforest with written content, video Cameroon to capture more footage and research center located in Yaoundé. It interviews, and photos. Together, they interviews. In the meantime, the chap- turns out that relatively little research provide the framework of a multifacet- ter-based online experience provides has been done on ebony ecology, so ed story that continues to unfold. The an informative introduction to what has the ebony research funded by Bob story’s eight chapters are divided into been accomplished so far. that’s been conducted over the last different themes. You’ll learn why ebony Essentially, the story content can be two years at CBI has revealed a great is a traditionally used wood for stringed divided into two main areas of focus: deal about everything from how ebony instruments and why Taylor decided to the transformation of the Crelicam seeds are naturally disseminated in the become a co-owner of the Crelicam mill; mill itself — the improved working forest and how trees are pollinated to get a taste of Yaoundé, Cameroon’s conditions, the technology transfer, effective methods of propagating ebony vibrant and sometimes chaotic capital increased in-country value-added using leaf cuttings from parent plants city, where Crelicam is based; get a feel processing and the investment in the as well as via tissue culture. 25

Another central figure in our efforts passed down to future generations so is Dr. Zac Tchoundjeu, a leading expert the family’s descendants legally can sell on agroforestry who has been working the tree — perhaps to Crelicam — at an with forest-dependent communities in appropriate time. the Congo Basin for decades. Dr. Zac’s work has provided a detailed blueprint A Planting Program Wood and Steel for a scalable, community-based agrofor- Takes Root Our new Crelicam ebony guitar slides bring estry program that will enable people to As Scott Paul mentions in his provide food for their families and partic- Sustainability column in this issue, the a unique feel and sound to those open-tuned riffs ipate in the planting of ebony to benefit community-centered planting program their descendants. is underway. Thanks to the work of Dr. There’s something undeniably soulful about the the slide allow him to get a more expressive sound. By consulting with hundreds of Vincent Deblauwe and the rest of the sound of slide guitar, especially in the hands of an “You need to use a little more gain to get the communities, Zac identified the types of team at CBI, the first ebony plant nurser- expressive player. And as slide players know, the ebony to sing the same as metal or glass, but the trees and plants that have value to them. ies are starting to be established within slide’s material — usually metal, glass or ceramic light weight gives me a better feel for the note and These include fruit trees, such as bush communities, and more than 1,400 — plays a role in both the feel (which impacts your for controlling the pitch and vibrato,” he says. “It’s mango, along with plants with medicinal ebony trees were planted in April. We ability to control of the pitch and vibrato) and sound. not as slippery either, which also helps my control. value. The challenge has been for com- set a goal of planting 15,000 trees over Metal slides are known for a rougher feel and brighter I’m just an OK slide player, so it helps me sound munities to see the value in planting a the next few years, after which we’ll eval- tone. Glass slides are often smoother in both feel better because of those characteristics. It’s also a bit high-value timber tree like ebony, given uate and continue from there, perhaps and sound. Ceramic slides tend to live somewhere warmer sounding if someone doesn’t want as much its 80-to-100-year timeline to maturity. with additional support from partners in between, depending on the actual ceramic of that top-end tonal character.” The model that Zac created provides an who can help scale up the program. composition. Taylor product specialist Michael Lille is a big fan ideal planting program. Communities are We’ll be sure to keep you updated. We’re pleased to announce that we’re adding of Lowell George’s slide playing with Little Feat. He provided fruit and medicine trees that In the meantime, we invite you to another material to the mix: ebony, from our Crelicam compared glass, brass and ebony slides on his Strat will begin to produce fruit within two to explore The Ebony Project, which you mill in Cameroon. Ebony’s hardness and density played through his SlideRIG pedal by Origin Effects, three years. Meanwhile, the communi- can access from our home page at tay- help produce a clear sound, while its lighter weight which was designed to emulate George’s heavily ties will also be taught how to cultivate lorguitars.com. (You’ll also find it at tay- compared to other slides translates into a comfortable compressed tone. ebony trees and be paid during the first lorguitars.com/ebonyproject.) To listen playing experience. After introducing these to Taylor “I found the Crelicam slide to be my favorite for five years of a tree’s life to ensure that to our podcast conversation with Bob dealers at the Winter NAMM Show, followed by some this application,” he says. “The light weight of the it becomes established (after five years about Crelicam and our efforts toward an ebony tree becomes self-sufficient). sustainability, go to our home page, The trees are also geo-tagged, and the under Owners, and you’ll see a link to information, including the name of the our From the Factory Podcast on the family that plants the trees, is recorded right. Look for Episode 15: Bob Taylor: in an official registry. This will ensure The Ebony Project Takes Root. that ownership rights to the trees are

fun playing sessions around the Taylor campus over ebony slide gave me more control and comfort. It had the last few months, the verdict is that these slides a little less sustain, but with electric volume and some offer a uniquely sweet sound with a pleasing mix of compression I couldn’t put it down.” warmth and control. Our slides will be produced in four sizes. As of “The part I like is the natural damping factor,” says our press deadline we were finalizing the details, Andy Powers. “With most metal or glass slides, there including the inside diameter for each size, along tends to be a sharp, brittle sound on each note that with the packaging. Because of the mix of black and requires me to carefully damp the length of string variegated coloring, each slide will exhibit its own Opposite page, from top: Research technicians in CBI’s between the nut and the back side of the slide to unique visual character. tissue culture lab; ebony leaf cuttings planted in non-mist prevent a brash sound. These ebony slides have a If you’re a slide enthusiast, consider this a must- propagators can produce large numbers of trees. CBI is teaching slight softening effect on the attack, making them warm have for your collection; if you’re a beginner, this will this technique to local communities; Dr. Zac; CBI scientist Dr. and forgiving. It reminds me of rolling back the tone help you develop your slide skills with greater ease Vincent Deblauwe inspects an ebony tree for flowers. Data on control of a Telecaster just a touch to smooth off the and a pleasing tone along the way. pollinators, seed dispersers and predators has led to new insights harsh edge.” Look for our ebony slides at select Taylor dealers on forest regeneration. Above: Dr. Vincent Deblauwe (right) talks Terry Myers, a 30-year Taylor veteran who works on and through TaylorWare on our website starting later with Maxime Ndjankoum and Suel Suel Roger Materne at their our product development team and predominantly plays this summer. community nursery in the village of Somalomo electric guitar, says the lighter weight and the feel of