The axe might mean the end of... the axe...

Image: Alan Parkinson
Gibson axes... or guitars are made from specialist woods and inlays which help give the handmade guitars their distinctive sound. This article describes the problem that may face future guitar manufacturers: a shortage of the wood that is used to make their guitars.

MUSICWOOD is the title of a documentary which explores how the clearance of forests is threatening the industry. A taster can be viewed below:


Musicwood Documentary - 2 min trailer from Helpman Productions on Vimeo.

A group of the world's top guitar makers have banded together to try and save the acoustic guitar, and the old-growth trees of Alaska's Tongass National Forest — the largest temperate coastal rain forest in the world, and the US's largest National Forest.


The Musicwood Documentary follows the Coalition as they try to change the way this forest is logged.


It is an epic journey: from guitar workshops to the splendor of the Alaskan rainforest; from a Native tree-cutting ceremony to forest devastation. As the two sides begin to see from each other’s perspectives, their task gets more complex.

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