Sustainability

Even if I produce a very small number of instruments, I feel the need to use responsibly sourced materials and respect the principles of circular economy and repairability.

The only exotic woods I use are FSC ebony and mahogany that comes from sustainable sources. Most of my acoustic soundboards are made of local spruce from the Jura mountains, as well as other local and european species.

The very few plastic parts necessary for secondary functions are made in the workshop with bio-based non-toxic PLA filament.

The finish I prefer to apply to my instruments is the natural, beautiful and resonant shellac, french polish.

A manufactured guitar, one TREE PLANTED

As a member of APLG association of french luthiers, I partecipate to the campaign of One Tree Planted developed in cooperation with Jacques Carbonneaux, head of APLG wood commission.

This study on the state of health of 123 species used in guitar building produced clear findings (latest data dated October 16, 2019) :

 

  • 41% of the 123 species have a status of worrying (50 species)
  • 62% of the 123 species are tropical (76 species)
  • 59% of 76 tropical species have a status of worrying (46 species)
  • only 17 of the 47 species with a status of worrying (tropical or not) are regulated by CITES
  • 66% of species that have a status of worrying therefore continue to be exploited and traded despite their IUCN status equivalent to or higher than “near threatened”
 

In addition, after analysis of the recent IUCN study on the European Red List of Trees which concludes that out of 454 species, 42% (168) of European tree species have been assessed as threatened, it turns out that 3 important species for the instrument making are not mentioned in the study as threatened but nevertheless seem to be the object of very recent threats and very worrying in the short term. The species concerned are:

 

  • spruce – picea abies
  • ash – Fraxinus excelsior
  • maple – Acer pseudoplatanus
 

In light of this, the APLG wood commission carried out a search for replanting projects that can be seen flourishing around the world in order to select the most relevant. 

For more infos, please go to the APLG website, or One Tree Planted website.