Although there is an ever decreasing supply of fine tone wood, I have over the years been able to locate the finest tone wood available for my instruments. I was not happy with the wood supplies most wood dealers had on hand, I was not satisfied until I found the best wood cutters, with sustainable forests and a reverence for their wood. In my early years of study I knew that the classical designs and woods for guitars and violins came from the forests of Europe, especially the spruce for tops of both the guitar and violin family. I built my early guitars from both European and Sitka spruce. Those early instruments lead me to the belief that while Sitka spruce from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska is an excellent wood that can be made into a very good guitar, especially a steel string guitar, the orchestral instruments suffered greatly with this wood: lack of power and brillance. The Guitars also seem to suffer the same lack of brilliance and clarity and in no place is this more noticeable than with the classical guitar. For the classical guitar there is also one other great wood for the top and that's Western Red Cedar, warm and lush with a quick break in cedar is a fine sound, as a builder one must work hard to get the brilliance since the wood naturally tends to the bottom with it's warm character. For me European spruce from both sides of the Alps, produce the strongest and most singing high register, with a tight controled bass that let's me set the volume level and exansiveness for the best balance against the treble. Maple from Europe for the violin family and a warm rich guitar sound leads me to sell only the best of what the old family wood cutters have. In my travels to Europe I have found two wood cutters who are third and fouth generation in their field and supply me with the highest order found in the world today. Are the green? With their families tradition of wood farming and cutting they know their livelyhoods and their childrens depend on sustainability, it is rather will the world not change so much the wood will lose it's nature or be killed outright.

Rosewoods are yet again a matter of great concern. The supply of Indian Rosewood is still good, but the hardness and density is changing as second, third and fourth generation soils have less nutrient to offer.